ESPOL hosts the 12th Student Consensus Conferences, organised by the Hauts-de-France Regional Ethics Forum

An annual student-citizen project

Each year, the Hauts-de-France Regional Ethics Forum organises a consensus conference inspired by the work of citizens’ juries. Two student panels take part: one plays the role of jury, the other is made up of “expert” students.

After an in-depth analysis, the experts present their conclusions to the jury and the public and answer the questions raised. At the end of the session, the jury must produce a consensus text based on the experts’ contributions and the debates that have taken place.

The aim of this event, which is open to the public, is to encourage students from different disciplines (political science, medicine, law, etc.) to reflect on a multidisciplinary topic rooted in reality.

“This type of exercise brings out the strengths of multi-disciplinary training in political science in a very concrete way, including from the point of view of form, through an oral presentation under professional conditions”. — François Briatte, Assistant Lecturer of Political Science

“Progressive dementia: protecting relatives or respecting the patient?”

For this 2024-2025 edition, the topic was progressive dementia and the trade-off between protecting family members and respecting the patient’s wishes. Dr Grâce François, Head of Neurology at Lille University Hospital, opened the debate by presenting a clinical case illustrating this complex issue. Students from Sciences Po Lille, the University of Lille and ESPOL presented their analyses to the jury, each according to their own specialisation and disciplinary perspective.

As part of their ‘Ethics of social and health policies’ course in partnership with ERER, a group of 3rd year European Political Science students from ESPOL, supervised by François Briatte and Pierre-Yves Néron, were able to speak on the topic of ‘The (in)visibility of gender-based violence: public-private dichotomy, vulnerability and medicalisation‘.

Dr Grâce François praised the students’ presentation: “You highlighted things that we experience as doctors. It’s particularly enlightening to hear you speak because you put into words what we experience on a daily basis.”

“Our students were able to show that violence is not just an individual or pathological act, but a social phenomenon that takes shape in institutions, power relations and also in silence. By proposing to rethink violence not just as an act but as an experience, their work has made the invisible visible. They have skilfully combined analytical rigour with ethical sensitivity”. — Pierre-Yves Néron, Senior Lecturer in Political and Social Philosophy