The Braille Revolution!

Thursday, November 13

This day will be hosted by Dorothée Barba.

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From 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

At the National Library of France François Mitterrand (BnF)

SYMPOSIUM "BRAILLE WRITING: A REVOLUTION STILL ON THE MOVE!"

A day of discussion and reflection on the legacy and future of braille. 

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9:30 a.m.

Opening by:
• Rachida Dati – French Minister of Culture;
• Anne-Elisabeth Buxtorf - Director of Public Affairs at the French National Library.
• Santosh Kumar Rungta - President of the World Blind Union

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10:00 a.m.

Inaugural lecture: Gildas Brégain and Zina WEYGAND, historians.

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10:45 a.m.

Speech by Olivier COLIGNON, neuroscience researcher.

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From 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Round table on education: Moderated by philosopher Michel Terestchenko
• Eric Obyn: Professor of Literary Braille at the Institute for the Study of Literature (INSEI);
• Sandrine Jolivalt: Teacher at the Nancy high school;
• Caroline Treffé: Trainer and educational manager at the French Institute for the Study of Literature (INSEI);
• Clémentine Kruck: Visually Impaired Academic

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 12:30 p.m. Rachida Dati – French Minister of Culture;

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From 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Round Table or Key Witnesses "Employment": The Use of Braille in Professional Practice
• Hakim Kasmi: Journalist for France Culture;
• Etienne Rall: Pianist;
• Lucie Uwimana: First Braille Teacher in Rwanda;
• Emmanuel Giroux: Research Director at the CNRS and Professor at École Normale Supérieure (Normandie).

 

From 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Reading in Braille in the Digital Age: Moderated by Fernando Pinto Da Silva (French Federation of the Blind).
• Stéphanie Vieillefault: Director of Operations at HandiCaPZéro;
• Blandine Gallo: President of the CTEB;
• Céline Boeuf: Librarian at the Valentin Haüy Media Library;
• Eva Dolowski: Editorial Director at the INJA;
• Laurette Uzan: Business Project Manager at the BNF.

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From 4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Closing: The Universality of Braille.
• Alexandre Munck: Director of the Dorina Nowill Brazil Foundation;
• Reiner Delgado: Social Advisor at the German Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (DBSV);
• Joel Hardy: Inscription of Braille as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
 

From 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

At the Louis Braille National Institute for Blind youth
COCKTAIL FOR THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF BRAILLE

A festive moment to celebrate this historic date together.

 

From 8:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

At the Louis Braille National Institute for Blind Youth

JAZZ CONCERT

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Friday, November 14

From 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Campus Louis Braille (Quartier Duroc, Paris 7th arrondissement)

INNOVATION AND RESEARCH DAY

This day will be hosted by Anthony Drevet and Laëtitia Bernard, journalist at Radio France and Secretary General of the campus.

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On the agenda: 
 

• 9:30 a.m.: Official opening by Xavier Musca, President of the Louis Braille Campus, Charlotte Parmentier-Lecocq, Minister Delegate for Disability, and Santosh Kumar Rungta, President of the World Blind Union.

• 10:00-10:20 a.m.: Presentation ‘The Louis Braille Campus, one year on,’ assessment and initial results: Xavier Musca and Thibaut de Martimprey, President and Director of the Braille Campus, respectively, Angelina Lamy, General Delegate of the Accenture Foundation, Raphaël Colombier, Sponsorship Advisor at Wavestone, and presentations by AGEFIPH and the Malakoff Humanis Disability Foundation.​

• 10:20-10:45 a.m.: Presentation of three projects for the future: Emmanuel Gutman, Chief Executive of the Vision Institute, Dassault Systèmes, Santosh Kumar Rungta, President of the World Blind Union in India, Sean O'Connor from the United States of America, and Jürgen Dusel, responsible for people with disabilities in the German Government.

• 11:45-11:20 a.m.: Concrete solutions from the Louis Braille Campus: Laurène Messeca, lecturer and Vice-President of the campus, and presentations from Amazon, Apple, Handiexceller and Sonar Vision, as well as startups from the Campus.

• 11:20-11:35 a.m.: Musical interlude by Yakir Arbib, blind international composer and pianist.

• 11:35-11:45 a.m.: Valérie Pécresse, President of the Île-de-France Region: the Louis Braille campus, a major centre of innovation, certified and recognised.

• 11:45-12:15 a.m.: the collective, youth and the future.

• Presentation of the campus's 10 ambassadors: Isabelle Saurat, Interministerial Delegate for Accessibility, Marie-Anne Montchamp, Director General of OCIRP.

• 12:15-12:30 a.m.: Preview screening of the programme À vous de voir on the Louis Braille Campus,
  produced by France Télévisions.

 

12:30pm–2pm: Lunch break, food truck and coffee in the campus gardens

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• Guided tour of the Campus from 2pm: Convention centre, campus club, showroom and start-up studio.

• 2pm-5pm: Innovation Forum – stands, demonstrations and start-up pitches.

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Thematic workshops:

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LOUIS BRAILLE ROOM:

• From 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.: Artificial intelligence for the visually impaired. With: Mehdi Smaël Berahal (Co-founder of Lud’access).

• From 3:45 to 4:45 p.m.: Research on mobility and education. With: Sylvie Lamy-Perbal (Engineer - Researcher at CEA), Eline Hazotte (First-year doctoral student, Gustave Eiffel University), Hanyuan Fu (Postdoctoral researcher at the AME GEOLOC laboratory, Gustave Eiffel University) and Mohamed Saber (Keynoa France Manager, Innovation Keynoa Technologies).

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HÉLÈNE KELLER ROOM:

• From 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.: Digitisation of the Valentin Haüy heritage collection. With: Marion Chottin (Researcher in Philosophy at CNRS/IHRIMENS in Lyon) and Floriane Chiffoleau (Postdoctoral Researcher at OBTIC Sorbonne Universités).

• From 3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.: Innovation and universal design. With: Laurence Verges (General Delegate of Handitech), Emmanuel Perret (General Delegate of the French Accessibility Federation) and Ibrahim Cherradi (Founder of Keynoa, Innovation Keynoa Technologies).

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DORINA NOWILL ROOM:

• From 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.: International alliance open discussion. With: Martine Abel-Williamson, Malak Aldajaan, Jordan, and Sean O'Connor, United States of America. Workshop in English and via videoconference

• From 3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.: Access to higher education. With: Wanda Diaz Merced (Astronomy researcher, Puerto Rico) and Lisa Dondainas (Author, Disability Handbook Paris-Sorbonne). Workshop in English and via videoconference.

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CAMPUS SHOP:

• From 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Workshop by the Digital Accessibility Centre at the Louis Braille Campus.

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The Pitches:​​

• 2:15–2:30 p.m.: ‘Imagine the life of a visually impaired person in 2040’ by: Ani Saargsyan, Marketing and Institutional Relations Manager at ARTHA, and Hugo Mouffok, Founder of Eyelevel and OrientIA.

• 2:30-2:50 p.m.: An international perspective with: Dot Inc.

• 3:00-3:30 p.m.: Education, culture and sport with: Eyelevel, La Bavarde, Virtuoz, GiveVision, Handipulse, OrientIA, CFLOU, SightKick, Eyeclips.

• 3:40 p.m. to 4:10 p.m.: Mobility with: Artha, Sonar Vision, Ezymob, GoSense, EyeCane, etc.

Saturday, November 15

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In and around the Panthéon

VISIT OF THE PANTHEON AND CULTURAL STROLLING

In the footsteps of Louis Braille, an immersive walk through history.
Please note: registration is now closed.