Facing reality

The current upheavals are no longer cyclical crises, but structural changes. In the face of accelerating economic, social, environmental and geopolitical change, we urgently need to get out of denial and build a clearer picture of reality.

The Rencontres Économiques d’Aix-en-Provence 2025 propose to tackle this ‘shock of reality’ in three stages: understanding the obsolescence of our reading grids, analysing the intertwining of shocks, and then identifying concrete avenues for action.

These shocks are manifold: environmental, with the growing impact of climate change; geopolitical, with the reconfiguration of alliances and regional tensions; technological, with the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence; confidence, with the mistrust of institutions and elites; demographic, with the ageing of populations and its social effects; and financial, with high interest rates, massive debt and economic uncertainty.

This accumulation creates a saturation effect that makes reference points more fragile and public and private action more complex. Consequently, thinking about these realities in a cross-disciplinary and interconnected way becomes a necessary condition for outlining collective responses that are equal to the challenges.