FREE ENTRY / The Coal Prize - "Fresh Water" Open Call

The immemorial cosmogonies that have come down to us all say that the origin of life is linked to Water. Contemporary science confirms this. However, nothing can exhaust the mysteries of Water. We have recently learned that it has been omnipresent in the Universe since its origins, that it has played a decisive role in the formation of stars and galaxies. Outside our planet, the molecule has only been formally identified in its solid or gaseous states. Which makes its presence in liquid state on Earth all the more remarkable. The unique conditions of our planet allow Water to flow. It is through its liquid form that it has been, and will be, the primordial home of all life.

Every organism that populates the Earth, from the simplest to the most complex, is "a creature of thirst". Its unique properties, including capillarity, its power of dissolution, its permanent runoff make it, according to  Gaston Bachelard, "the eye of the Earth" or "the organ of the world". To the rhythm of its cycles, it passes from one state to another, crosses materials, connects elements, ravines mountains, draws plains, drains minerals, elevates plants, vitalizes animals, composes the climate, by refreshing the atmosphere and capturing carbon. Each drop of fresh water animates life, whether it comes from underground water tables, wetlands, or surface water. Marshes, mangroves, ponds, lakes, springs, rivers, streams condition biological existence.

Fresh water, however, only represents a few hundredths of the water on Earth. In temperate zones, we live in the illusion of its abundance, in arid zones, we live in the knowledge of its scarcity. Also, Water can only be shared. The anthropogenic pressure on the Water cycles, linked to intensive agriculture, industrial activity, urbanization, energy production and most of our consumer products, seriously disrupts its balances. Extreme droughts or major floods, chemical and plastic pollution, are the most visible indicators.