🇬🇧 World Café: workshop wrap-up

On Friday, September 26, around sixty of you gathered at the CNRS headquarters in Paris for the first edition of the “Alumni Day,” with the shared desire to reconnect and build the future of the CNRS alumni network together. 

On this occasion, a World Café workshop was organized with the support of Claire Gouny, CNRS National Coordinator for Ecological Transition Education, and the DDCS (Senior Executives Office) team—Louisa, Isabelle, Florence, and Emmanuelle—whom we warmly thank for their involvement.

In a friendly and stimulating atmosphere, alumni from all backgrounds shared their ideas and proposals for strengthening the community, reinforce its societal purpose, and define its major strategic orientations. Organized around five key questions, the workshop gave rise to numerous concrete proposals, as well as suggest ways to enhance the network.

Fête des alumni © David Pell

1. What is the mission and added value of CNRS alumni? Discussions confirmed the role of CNRS alumni as a community of mutual support and transmission. Mentoring, experience sharing, and bridges between research and the socio-economic world emerged as key levers. Other topics discussed included scientific outreach for general public and young people, as well as promoting the role of women..

2. How to strengthen the sense of belonging and develop meeting spaces? The need to create bonds between members was widely shared. Participants want more opportunities to meet: annual event, regional meetings, webinars, and the identification of representatives or ambassadors to multiply these actions and animate the network. Proposal: display your belonging to CNRS alumni on LinkedIn to strengthen visibility and pride in being part of the network.

Fête des alumni © David Pell

Fête des alumni © David Pell

3. How to increase the visibility of research, and dialogue between science and society? Alumni want to play an active role as a bridge between research and society. They propose to improve the flow of information in both directions, identify key players in different regions (mapping), and promote committed members. Key ideas: creation of an Alumni Award for Society, a guide for best practices, and a communication kit for ambassadors.

4. How to identify, promote, and leverage alumni expertise and experience? The network is brimming with skills that need to be better understood and connected to foster collaboration and synergy. Alumni emphasize the importance of accurately completing profiles on the platform and suggest creating a CV database, developing mentoring programs for alumni (competitions, careers, skills, etc.) and supporting younger colleagues. A stronger presence on LinkedIn was also recommended.

Fête des alumni © David Pell

Fête des alumni © David Pell

5. What solutions can be put in place to maintain an active link with alumni who are geographically or professionally on mobility? Alumni who are geographically or professionally on mobility represent a valuable asset for the network. Discussions highlighted the importance of maintaining regular contact through surveys, a participatory suggestion box, the development of a mobile app, and support initiatives for professional transitions. .

And now: time for action!

Thanks to your ideas, several initiatives will be launched in the coming months to strengthen and energize the CNRS alumni network:

👉 Organization of webinars on CNRS services and scientific topics;

👉 Renewal of the “Alumni Cafés,” hosted by alumni and dedicated to their careers, professions, ecosystems, and discussions on how to use the platform;

👉 Recruitment and promotion campaigns for ambassadors;

👉 Creation of a communication kit for ambassadors;

👉 Campaign to update and complete profiles on the platform;

👉 Development of after-work meetings or “Café-copains” in Paris, in the regions, and internationally (depending on the initiative of locally based alumni);

👉 Setting up a “suggestion box” to collect your proposals throughout the year;

👉 Exploring a mentoring program to promote mutual support and knowledge transfer;

👉 Development of a CNRS alumni mobile app to simplify access to the network's services and news.

These actions mark a new stage: that of collective action to make CNRS alumni a vibrant, connected, and forward-looking network. A big thank you again to all the participants on September 26 for their involvement!