In pursuit of the Paysage industriel (Industrial landscape) programme carried out in partnership with Lorraine Regional Nature Park and the commissioning of a guide plan by Notre Atelier Commun, the former Pays des Étangs Community of Communes wished to reflect on pollution issues at the Bataville site.
A phytoremediation studio has been set up with the Le Laboratoire du Dehors (Outside Laboratory). Its approach consists in particular in experimenting with “economical management solutions capable of gradually building an original structure by transforming the premises through gardeners’ gestures.” The action goes beyond the site and opens up onto big landscape, up to the canal. For her research, the artist wished to connect with the Lorraine University Soils and Environment Laboratory – UMR 1120, under Geoffrey Serré’s direction: Doctor, Geological Engineer, ENSAIA lecturer.
The way through Bataville’s polluted lands
“Many of these sites are considered polluted because products that alter or compromise their quality and proper use have been identified in the soil, the subsoil and possibly in the groundwater…(…) This pollution is likely to become a nuisance or a long-term risk for people and the environment, it is important not to forget these polluted lands, not to hide them from contemporaries and future generations. And this is why we have to experiment, take care of this land, make it alive again (…).”
A path was built along the meadow following the alignment of the willows in parallel, and crossing the woods to reach the Canal. This construction was accompanied by spatial analysis, traces of the past, soil quality, visible and invisible pollution, of the vegetation in presence.
It is by looking towards Bataville that we see the Canal. This landscape setting establishes a link between the Bataville site, the ponds/ lakes, the canals and the forest.
The ambition was also to restore the old factory landscape with a new identity built from its geographic and sensitive territory.
The path can be maintained by school groups or technicians from the commune.
Read: Report and conclusions/ Bataville landscape as experience – The way.
Bataville, le paysage comme expérience – le cheminement – juin 2017 – pdf
soutien : la communauté de communes du Pays des étangs, Fondation de France
2016-2017