Municipality of Cabriès Internship Report

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MUNICIPALITY OF

CABRIÈS

Internship report working with the Municipality of Cabriès,

Environmental department.

Thursday, 06 of May 2021

Written by Féline Andre

Examiner: Chris Slootweg

Assessor: Kenneth Rijsdijk

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1. Thematic Summary

This report covers a 4-month internship as part of the University of Amsterdam, Earth Science Master’s programme. It covers my work at the Municipality of Cabriès, working within the public service, in the environmental department. My duties were to assist and research on several environmental projects produced by the municipality in favour for an ecological approach to each issue.

My internship consisted of working with the environmental department on several projects, analyzing the landscape within and outside the communal grounds of Cabriès and Callas, another small department that is under the care of the municipality of Cabriès. As it is the public service, our approach to each project was focused on integrating and including the public’s involvement to create awareness and positive collaboration with the municipality. Due to our newly elected Mayor, Amapola Ventron, Cabriès was to adopt a more ecological approach to each appointed issue. Issues either derived from naturally caused environmental casualties or public complaints. The three main projects that I worked on were:

• Diminishing the pigeon population within the urban center (finding an alternative to trap and gas method)

• Zero plastic waste

o Sorting and recycling of paper and cardboard • Integrating green spaces in two primary schools.

Each project had different approaches, with different people and associations allowing a greater span of perspective and skills towards tackling an environmental issue. Some of the projects I worked on more than others; namely, because some of the projects were given to other departments and others only began later on in the year. Nevertheless, I was involved in providing my research and having direct contact with the public and organizations; inaugurating the zero plastic waste project and working alongside the company Artelia for the green spaces in the primary schools.

2. Municipality of Cabriès

The municipality of Cabriès, is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône, south of France. A small commune, known for its ‘Provençale’ décor between two large cities of Aix en Provence and Marseille. It is a member of the Aix Marseille Provence Metropolis with which it shares its local duties, skills, and partnership devolved by the French law to the “bloc local” since the laws of January 27, 2017 “modernization of public action”.

The department I was working alongside with was the department of Environment. It over-looks the social and technical services that are appointed as environmental, or projects that are to service and benefit the environments integrity, all in keeping with the populations’ well-being. The newly elected Mayor, Amapola Ventron, has strong views on adopting an ecological platform in the community, wanting to build a stronger environmental awareness and to begin a transition towards a more self-sustainable city. Even if a large part of the missions is now devolved to the

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intermunicipal, the Municipality of Cabriès prioritize and oversees missions showed in figure 1 below:

Figure 1. A table of the missions oversee by the municipality of Cabriès from their official website (Les services municipaux, 2021).

The Environment department is committed to preserving natural sites, improve the living environment by developing facilities intended to soften the modes of travel through sidewalks, cycle paths, etc. It encourages the harmonious and controlled urban development of the town of Cabriès, in accordance with the principles of the SRU law (Solidarité et Rouvellement Urbain- Solidarity and Urban Renewal), focused on preserving the quality and stability of the ecosystem and its surrounding.

2.1 French Civil service system: The Communes

A brief explanation of the French civil service system in reference to the communes, to explain how we work as an organism and our authoritative demands and orders compare to a private organization.

France’s Territorial Organization is divided into 3 levels: the Régions (regions), the

Départements (Departments), and the Communes (communes) each one englobing the other.

They are in charge of cascading down the executive policies, but also serve as a political-economical decentralization purpose.

The Communes, smallest and most ancient (1789) sub-division is the closest state arm to the individuals. Their representative the Maire (Mayor) is elected as a state representative with

Mission

Civil status, service to the population, cemeteries, elections, seniors School supplies

Early Childhood and Youth Municipal restauration

Maintenance of heritage and public spaces Maintenance of public spaces

Security, video surveillance, major risks Environment, forests

Management of land rights, administrative authorizations for works and establishments open to the public

CCAS (Centre Communal d’Action Sociale- Center of Social Communal Action) General secretariat, municipal council, communication, general resources Tourism, promotion of the territory

Promotion of sports and sport activities Cultural action and community life

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executive power in terms of état civil (civil status) and administrative policies, and is also a representative of a political party, however not mandatory. One of the Communes duty (to government and as such to the taxpayers) is to organize and operate all the public services at the local level such as, domestic waste collection and process, building permit, maintenance of public space, or even pest control, and among others. The Communes have ways of cross organizing their teams when the circumstances require, either for some scaling factor or for homogeneity purposes, France tries to keep their number under 36000 to avoid excessive micro-management.

3. Objective for the internship

Job objective as presented when applied: Under the supervision of the manager for sustainable development in charge of the organization and monitoring of projects related to the improvement of waste management and eco-citizenship

Missions:

• Implementation of the municipal waste management policy in connection with the metropolis and the municipal technical management:

o Implementation of paper sorting (schools and town halls) o Implementation of a waste process within communal events o Implementation of a composting action plan

o Implementation of a zero plastic action plan

• Awareness of eco-friendly actions (internal and population)

• Organization of events on themes related to eco-citizenship in connection with the metropolis (thematic energy saving / air quality / eco-mobility ...)

• Regular communication on all missions (articles, meetings)

4. Schedule

Due to the circumstances of COIVD, French regulations for sanitation safety was work from home or one person per office room. As a result, I came to work every Tuesday. On a regular basis, on Tuesday was when there was a fixed meeting at 2 in the afternoon with the elected council, the director, and the chef executor for environmental services (my daily supervisor) therefore, I was to come then.

In these reunions, the aim was to discuss and find solutions to problems involving the environmental sector of issues or projects encountered during the week. This was where I could talk about my daily research and progress on the projects given to me including, any concerns or issues I was having personally on the work given to me. Sometimes, on certain projects like the zero plastic waste, recycling and sorting of paper and carboard, I was asked to come into work several times during the week, but simply to retrieve information and location of the places I was going to, to meet up with the other public services to discuss the project at hand.

These reunions were helpful for me as I had a more direct and social contact with my director and other people at the office. It was also advantageous to gain useful insight and constructive

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opinion on the work I was working on, building up to a mind-set of working in a municipality rather than at university.

5. Controlling the pigeon population: finding an alternative to

trap-and-gas

The project involving the pigeon population wasn’t an imperative project; nevertheless, the responsibility and what I learnt when working on it was why I wanted to discuss it in the report. The issue was an increase of pigeon population in the city centre of Cabriès causing damages to buildings, residential vegetation, and many other nuisances to the public. One of the newly elected council of the municipality was opposed to the traditional methods of controlling the pigeon population which was trapping the pigeons to then have them gassed. It was to be the most cost-effective way to treat the problem. My mission was to come up with an alternative to this method in less than 48 hours.

I first started with getting in contact with the person that deals with issues involving urban (infrastructure) maintenance and safety. He gave me the contact of the company ABAIPRO, which were the municipal’s current contact for this issue. To compare alternatives, I reached out to another company that does the same work as ABAIPRO, called Azur Hygiène et Protection, and they mentioned the option of ‘contraceptive dovecotes’. Dovecotes are house like infrastructures used to home flocks up to fifty couples. The concept of making them ‘contraceptive’ was adopting a sustainable solution to diminishing a bird’s population by contraceptive measures through water, food, or placing the eggs by dummies. Here is an example of these contraceptive dovecotes used in communes nearby, in a central park in Marseille, figure 2:

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Figure 2. Marseille continues its fight against the proliferation of pigeons. A new "contraceptive" dovecote was installed in Chanot Park to regulate an estimated population of 80,000 birds. They have installed the same dovecote in other parks in Marseille, seeing that it is an effective and sustainable measure for decreasing the pigeon population (Boccara, 2017).

The alternative was favorable, and I was able to contact other municipalities that had implemented the dovecotes in their communes to provide more information and comparative analysis to find the most suitable dovecote and company to be put in place in Cabriès city center.

5.1 Personal reflection on the dovecote project:

Overall, my method and process of finding an alternative to decreasing the pigeon population was successful and recognized by the municipality. This project permitted me to test my level of independency and self-responsibility in the sense that I was given an issue where I had full range in coming up with a solution without any guidance. However, there were several issues that led to having me stop pursuing the project further. The first issue was the lack of information provided to me for what we wanted in terms of material, size, and placement of the dovecotes. I was asked to provide the municipality with quotes from the different companies that provided contraceptive dovecotes. However, the companies evidently could not provide me with such information without the details of what we wanted, that was never given to me and was neither clear nor decided upon by the municipality itself. Due to the timeframe and imperative need of finding a cruel-free alternative desired by the elected council of the

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environmental department, the search for a solution and increasing complaints of the public, resulted to rush actions and unclear demands. Consequently, this led to the second issue.

The transparency and organization between services and directives was the other issue. Because the issue involved many possible concerned services, it led to each one of them finding different or same solution, contacting the same or varied companies; decreasing our credibility externally and our reliability internally. Eventually, my director and supervisor asked that I do not pursue more with the project as too many miscommunication and confusion was established between services.

The positive note despite the issues encountered was that my director discussed with me how this can be a learning curve as to seeing how in a team and workforce these situations can be dealt with or avoided. My director further explained the areas and interest the municipality needs to work towards to and promise to deliver if it wants to obtain its goal and provide a solution to its community’s’ complaints and desires. The idea of working together is challenging yet vital to come up with a solution that is transversal in all sectors and that works in a time frame of immediate and long-term results.

6. Zero Plastic Waste

The biggest project I worked on during my internship was researching possible solutions to plastic waste. The zero plastic waste project was part of a larger movement of generally ameliorating our waste and finding solutions to decrease waste and increase efficient and sustainable practice for collecting and removing it. It is to ensure and organize the collection, treatment and recycling of waste in all communes, which represents an average of 650,000 tonnes per year (Collecte des déchets d'activité économique, 2021). It is also committed to the process of reducing waste at the source. It is a global movement in France encouraged by the law on Energy Transition established in 2015 to:

• Fight against waste

• Reduce waste at the source • Practice sorting

• Recover waste

• Reduce buried quantities

For the Aix-Marseille-Provence Métropolis, this involves reducing by 10% by 2025, the tonnage of waste handled and by 50% the tonnage of waste deposited in landfill (ibid, 2021).

My job was to fill out a commitment charter of each action plan that we will pursuit for each clause, proposed and delegated by the Région Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, and animated by Agence Régionale de la Biodiversité (ARPE-ARB), the Regional Biodiversity Agency. Through the commitment charter, the Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region invites local authorities and their groups to make a gradual but lasting commitment to reducing plastic waste at sea and on Earth. Figure 3 and 4 illustrate the cover page of engagement of the commitment charter, followed by figure 4 with the clauses of objectives and the description of the action that

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wants to be taken by the committed party. It includes examples from other parties that were taken in the past.

Figure 3. Commitment Charter proposed by the Sud Provence Alpes Cote D’Azur for zero plastic waste. It gives a brief explanation of the charter and the associated parties that helped create it.

This document lists the commitment proposals of the signatory of the "Sud Zéro plastique" (South Zero Plastic) charter. This is the first step towards building and reinforcing practices towards plastic waste taken by the municipality. The associated parties can help further with establishing goal-oriented plans of each action proposed especially, if these action plans are being placed or have been already taken place in other communes.

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Figure 4. Example on what was to be filled out be me. The first column was the objectives followed by whether or not it is already been done or is already in progress. Then the description of the action that wants to be taken by the committed party, with finally an example at the end of an action plan that was taken by other parties.

It was broken down into three main categories.

1. Raise awareness of plastic waste reduction - MOBILIZATION OBJECTIVE 2. Implement a reasoned use of plastics - PREVENTION OBJECTIVE

3. Managing plastic waste - RECYCLING AND RECOVERY OBJECTIVES

Each category had their respective objectives, with a description of the action we wanted to take. I made sure that each action was filled out for each category, with the help of the examples

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provided and the knowledge and research I acquired on the side. It was not mandatory for me to fill out every category, as the point of the committed charter was to begin coming up with ideas and then send it back to the Agence Régionale de la Biodiversité et l’Environnement (ARBE Region Sud), the Regional Biodiversity Agency, for guidance. Therefore, it is to be noted that these

suggested action plans that I researched and proposed, were not set in stone. The process was to help establish a thought process or better yet, a transition towards thinking ‘greener’ and ‘eco-efficient’ within our commune. Everything from fluvial plastic waste to commerce usage, and habitual everyday usage in houses or groceries. As a municipality, it was our job to make sure we could be seen as an exemplar and begin a transition internally (among each service and sector that is public service), before truly asking the public to play a part. It is our job to make sure we are irreproachable and can provide with the proper information and instructions to each action when asked by the community.

A webinar was scheduled by ARPE-ARB, to discuss the engagement and possible ideas to consider when signing off the commitment charter for zero plastic waste. I will describe the main points presented. As previously stated, the main categories to fulfil on a regional basis was to mobilize, prevent and, manage and value (recycle and recovery) plastic waste. This involved the local communities, enterprises, school establishments, associations, and managers of natural spaces and aquatic areas. To do so, we had to be committed by:

1. Voting- a deliberation

2. Complete- the plan of actions 3. Sign- the charter

4. Evaluate- your actions

The tools suggested to succeed in our action plans were to monitor and evaluate your engagements, awareness workshops for you and the public, a source and access to the information monthly updated, and solutions directory.

The presentation continued to then describe a summary guide of firstly, the stakes and what key concepts and issues to take into account when looking at plastic secondly, the wrong ‘right’ messages in relation to receiving right ideas however wrong solutions and finally, how to put forward your plan of action suggested in 9 steps. I present a table with all the key points stated for each summary guide:

The stakes and key concepts/issues to plastic

Wrong ‘right’ messages. The ideas that are right however, the solutions are wrong.

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The production of plastic- the issue of it being a ‘one-time usage’. Plastic is a single use product.

• Plastic consumption, 50% is single use plastic

• 1 second to fabricate, for 20 minutes on average usage, to more than 1 century to degrade

It is a false belief that plastic is a unique or singular form of material. However, often used in the singular for

simplification of language, “plastic” is in fact designated in a very wide range of different materials.

1.

Establish an action plan adapted to its territory and mobilize its stakeholders

How much ends up in natural sites and aquatic areas.

• 80% of the plastic in the ocean comes from land

Recyclable plastic is not necessarily recycled.

Plastic waste is recyclable when there is a proper recycle management process put in place. For it to be effectively recycled it must be correctly sorted by individuals, collected, and treaty or processed well.

2.

Public procurement, an essential lever for reducing plastic pollution in the territory

Biodiversity. Looking at how it affects and creates environmental issues to our biodiversity.

• 701 marine species identified as victims to ingesting plastic

Because your territorial boundary is not on the coast you are still to be concerned with the plastic pollution at sea. You can be hold responsibly by law for this issue.

3.

Be exemplary: eliminate / better manage plastic waste in the community.

Health issues. The different types of chemicals used to fabricate plastic and how it affects our health.

• About 5 grams of plastic ingested each week by a human; equivalent to ingest your credit card

How to differentiate bioplastics: Bio-based: renewable raw materials, regenerate I nature in a ‘shirt’ time Biodegradable: if it can be broken down non-toxic materials for the environment under the action of microorganisms. Compostable: like biodegradables, however, needs specific conditions to break it down, industrially.

Oxo-degradable or “fragmentable”: conventional plastics with additives called prodegredants that accelerate the oxidation process through sunlight or oxygen.

4.

Eliminate / better manage plastic waste in sporting and cultural events in the area

Climatic change. Ways we can mitigate and decrease the effects.

The idea that the single usage of plastic cost less expensive.

5.

Eliminate plastic packaging in collective catering and home meals

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This presentation was only to help us further in filling out the charter. It did not require any work, mostly an aiding tool for us. If you want to know more about the project and what ARBE Région Sud, go on the hyperlink I attached and it will take you directly to the page where the guide for zero plastic waste program is. The presentation was a summary of this guide.

6.1 Sorting and recycling of paper and cardboard

As part of the global movement of zero waste, a sub project of Zero plastic waste was sorting and recycling paper and cardboard among different services. For this project I had a great deal of responsibility. It began with the same meeting that we had with the Métropolis, about the zero-plastic waste, that lead to the proposed project that was already put in place in their offices to recycle paper and cardboard.

The project was putting tote bags manufactured and provided to us by the Métropolis to be put in each individual’s office of the named municipal buildings and/or services. These services were:

1. Youth Child Service

2. House of the Arts (In France this is the equivalent to community art center). 3. Municipal Technical Centre (Where our offices were)

4. Central town hall 5. Annex town hall 6. Sport Service

The tote bags were used as bins to dispose the paper and cardboard, to then be emptied when full by each individual into the yellow bin (that is the recycling bin in France). Figure 4 shows the bags and figure 5 the yellow bins to empty them in.

Attractiveness of territories Public finances

• 5 euros annual average cost per inhabitant for

communities impacted by illegal deposits.

6.

Eliminate plastic pollution

from green spaces and sports fields

7.

Include the reduction in pollution plastics in territorial initiatives: the local plan for the prevention of household and similar waste, and the territorial climate-air-energy plan. 8.

Eliminate plastic pollution on roads and in water networks (sanitation and rainwater). 9.

Eliminate plastic pollution in natural environments,

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Figure 4 and 5. The bags that we received from the Métropole and the yellow bins to empty the paper and cardboard by the individuals.

The first thing I did was to contact all the services that are listed and set appointments with them to meet and discuss about the project. At each meeting, I described the aims and goals for this project, the project itself and what it entails them to do, and what we hope to gain from it. Evidently, some people were skeptical about the project and others believed it to be a good idea. Projects like these had already been attempted however, with little follow-up and accompaniment they quickly dissolved. We believed to change this and provide as much guidance and support throughout the process, to make sure it became almost a perpetual habit in the workforce and eventually build it up to a larger scale, in ones’ home. Little details had to be taken into account to make sure each person would deliver properly their paper and carboard waste; therefore, I also made sure that the yellow bins were at close proximity and disposition to each building for when they had to empty their bags. I finalized my findings by putting them into an excel table sheet to show the number of bags needed for each sector, with notes at the bottom of possible issues in relation to the yellow bins and any worries or issues from an individual. I contacted the Métropolis and we ordered 150 bags that I then distributed. In making sure people had the right instructions and help to know what to do, I created a poster to be put in each office to describe our overall project and a ‘how to step’ for recycling and emptying the bags. You can find the poster in the appendix.

6.2 Personal reflection on the zero plastic waste project

This part of my internship was interesting as I was able to play part in an initiation of a project. I was able to observe how decision makings and thought process was taken for a project this big that involves many different state levels and service levels. Unfortunately, due to the

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timeframe of my internship I will not be seeing the end of it. It also allowed me again to take on responsibilities of my own, learning how to apply a stronger leadership in decision making on my own, making efficient and cost effective choices that fit within the municipality ‘s capacities, and further improving my research skills in project management.

Having had gain in more project management skills, I did upon reflection enjoy having a wide range of perspectives in terms of looking at not only technical solutions, but economic, social, political. Most of my studies observe a more general over-look in these areas and focus more on the scientific outcome. Here, because I already had my scientific background, that definitely was an advantage in my research for work, I could apply reliable and liable solutions economically and politically, learning how they can be applicable to an environmental issue.

7. Integrating green spaces in two primary schools

This project was very interesting to me personally and in my interest as it involved sustainable urban development. The project was based on the re-construction of an outdoor space in two primary schools, Trébillane and the Petit Lac. Rather than a usual design approach of a school playground area, the municipality wanted to integrate a ‘greener’, more sustainable approach. The company that was chosen for the project was called ARTELIA. Their responsibility was to develop a green area for the rain in the outdoor spaces of the primary schools. The municipality approached ARTELIA in order to assist us in participating in the projects launched by the Rhône Mediterranean Corse water agency entitled "arrange a corner of greenery for the rain". These projects aim to promote solutions of waterproofing and revegetation of existing equipment and constructions (the original landscape) with a dual objective of ecology and education vis-à-vis the importance of the water cycle and the importance of its infiltration into the ground. Therefore, the municipality wished to respond to these projects by installing it into the schools.

At the beginning of the process I assisted in the first meeting with ARTELIA, when we were discussing ideas and possible plan of action. Interest and focus were in integrating as much green, in the sense ecological and practical, practical as in being a tool for kids in the learning aspects of the environment. And the hydraulic project, of rain infiltration and placing in a proper process of evacuation. Figure 6 and 7 are aerial views of the two schools and the type of terrain we were dealing with.

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Figure 6. Aerial ground view of the primary school Trébillane. It has 4 kindergarten classes, and 8 elementary classes. Overall, brings together children between the age of 3 and 11 years old.

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Figure 7. Aerial ground view of the primary school the Petit Lac. It has 5 kindergarten classes, and 10 elementary classes.Overall, brings together children between the age of 3 and 11 years old.

For both schools, it was important to take into account the age of the children, the children with disabilities, and the teachers, for accessibility and modifications of the grounds when applying the green spaces. It was part of my job to further note any other possible obstacles or conditions to take into account before finalizing the project.

The project was organized in 3 stages before commencing. Firstly, signing off on the request for assistance throughout the project. This meant that ARTELIA provided with the overall procedure and maintenance of the project during all the phrases of construction. Secondly, selection of the projects, which of the two to begin with, also looking at the specifications of each site and what to tackle first in terms of logistics. And thirdly, funding decision. My job during

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these stages was to make sure we respect the time limits and follow-through on all the request on the part of the municipality to ARTELIA. In addition, with my expertise in earth sciences they allowed me to look and confirm the hydraulic actions that were going to take place. Finally, I was to assist and be part of each meeting with ARTELIA, keeping track of the decision makings and any issues that could take place.

A lot of drafting took place however, I was only to observe and take notes. Drafting of financial assistance request, drafting of a joint note presenting the planned activities and communications, and drafting of the plans and graphic outcomes. This work mostly involved ARTELIA and their expertise, having them explain to us what each draft entailed. This is why I was only to observe. Overall, for this project ARTELIA mobilized the skills of its landscape designer in order to identify technical, aesthetic and innovative solutions to deal with this problem of waterproofing and artificialization of soils in the context of climate change. The municipality made sure when conversing with the experts to have as much sustainable input and respecting the physical conditions, looking at the integrity of the landscape, of the existing schools. Unfortunately, I will not be there to see the beginning of the construction phase however, I was able to experience the development and decision-making process of it for which I will discuss in my reflection below.

7.1 Personal reflection on integrating green spaces in two primary schools

This project was something that interested me personally as I’m very interested in urban design and development. Nowadays, a strong movement of integrating sustainable concepts and ecological integrity in buildings and urban landscape is something that catches my attention. With this project, as I mentioned I won’t be seeing the construction phase nevertheless, I was able to witness the development phase of how it all came together and the decision process on our side and the company we hired. An interesting aspect that I witness was at the very first meeting with ARTELIA, was the negotiating and reasoning that ARTELIA had to, in a way, prove or contradict the other proposal of another possible company. Evidently, as we are the public sector, we are very restricted on the amount we can spend on each project therefore, we always had to compare company and their prices.

Another thing that I reflected upon was all the variables to take into account with a project like this. Unlike the zero plastic waste project, here we had to be very terrain specific but also social-needs specific. This meant taking into account certain disabilities, children safety, accessibility for teachers and parents, but at the same time, making sure it meets the ecological aspect one where everyone can learn and benefit from. When I was asked to come up with some design ideas (they weren’t to be given to the company; mostly wanted me to do them as a fun learning process between me and my director) I did take into account the age of the children, but only after having the meeting with ARTELIA did I realize how much more had to be take into account.

I did wish that I could had had more converse with the experts in landscape design and be able to converse more upon the project however, time and pressure was upon us and as I mentioned, it was ARTELIA and their team that did all the presenting ideas and development phase.

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Another reflection I had during this project was seeing how much of the sustainable aspect and ecological integrity was applied and respected. Due to my educational expertise I was able to understand and acknowledge whether or not it was correctly approached in the project. I was hoping the design could be more sustainably innovative rather than just the overall project itself. A lot of focus went towards the hydraulic input and waterproofing however, in my opinion not enough went towards the ‘greenery’, as they mentioned, in the spaces provided for the children’s’ entertain and environmental experience. But this is a personal view, overall the project and my time spent on it was very inspiring.

8. Personal Reflection of Internship

Overall, my internship was eye opening and I enjoyed all of my experiences whilst working there. During my internship I have learnt a wide range of topics and skill sets for each. I greatly improved in my reporting skills, communication, design, analysis, and teamwork. Compare to university, we do have responsibilities to give in our work on time however, in this case work and your time is also dependent on your team and the company’s integrity and its responsibility to the public. All these skills will serve me greatly as I enter the workplace.

It was interesting, and this is where I learnt a lot in communication, the relationship and converse between the municipality and each company we hired to do a project for us. The negotiations, the debates, and interpretation between the two parties definitely shows a different side of work ethics, one that is not common within a university atmosphere. It truly is stepping into the ‘business’ world of communicating what you want and what you want the person you are hiring to do. This was where I could observe the difficulties or advantage between parties, where they could be obstacles or solutions to the problem trying to solve. For example, with the dovecote project, the issue was lack of clear communication and organization, and I could witness the results of it. With the green spaces with ARTELIA, I could see a difference of communication where each party had a clear understanding of his/her position and responsibility hence, why the project went so well.

I also learnt how to work with a team. Again, compare to university where everyone is expected to work equally, here you have to learn patience, stability, and strong communication skills to make sure that you are able to help make the project happen and not prolong it. Your work is the success of who you work for and not your individual grade. Most importantly, I liked the diversity I experienced with my team, as I never stopped learning and gaining information or getting constructive criticism, making me feel more and more confident to propose new ideas.

Nevertheless, working during the pandemic definitely did make it difficult to get the full workplace experience. I was lucky to come to work once a week however, it still made it a limiting factor. Working at home is not a personally issue for me, however, I do believe that if I was at the office every day, I could have experienced more in terms of workload, diverse tasks and responsibilities. Because I was at home less responsibilities were given to me and overall, less projects were put in place as France was in constant lock-down. Some of the job objectives involved social work in animating environmental events and manifestations however, because of

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COVID we could not do any of that. Therefore, I did miss out on gaining more experiences that could have benefited me for the beginning of my career. That said, my daily supervisor and others at the municipality made every effect to include me as much as they could. Our meetings every Tuesday definitely helped me feel connected to others and improved my motivation to do more in my work at home.

Finally, I want to thank the municipality of Cabriès for offering me this opportunity to work with them within the environmental department. I was given challenging tasks but given full support and guidance throughout each one of them. All assistance that I sought was forthcoming and willingly, with constant constructive knowledge and experience. I want to send special thanks to my daily supervisor Patrick Champelay who was constantly at my aid and helped me throughout my work including, the Director Michèle Luciani and our elected council Danielle Cauhape for all they have taught me and the skill sets that I will be taking with me. I’m very grateful and thank you enormously for the opportunity. Thank you to everyone else who I worked with alongside each project, I was lucky to have such a great team. Merci Cabriès.

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References

Boccara, P., & Maisonneuve, T. (2017, November 06). Un nouveau pigeonnier contraceptif pour lutter contre les nuisances à Marseille. Retrieved from https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/sante- sciences/un-nouveau-pigeonnier-contraceptif-pour-lutter-contre-les-nuisances-a-marseille-1509978993

Collecte des déchets d'activité économique (DAE). (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://www.agglo-paysdaix.fr/environnement/dechets/dechets-dactivite-economique.html Europe, S. F. (n.d.). Toutes les actualités: Surfrider Foundation Europe. Retrieved from https://surfrider.eu/sinformer/actualites/page-7.html

Les services municipaux. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.cabries.fr/les-services-municipaux/

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Appendix:

Poster for instructions and steps as to how to recycle and throw your paper and carboard out with the use of the tote bags.