The Comb Lab letter : A word to our readers

In January 2021 we inaugurated the monthly publication of the Comb Lab newsletter. The June 2024 issue marks the suspension of this series of publications for the summer period. Not that we’re A word to our readers going on a dream holiday to the other side of the world… No. We want to take advantage of the next three months to launch a major project for Comb Lab: our communications, in the hope of winning your approval.

In order to disseminate as widely as possible the Mallette des Combrailles which was successfully launched last April, we have created the Comb Lab You Tube channel. So, as well as adding more videos to the Mallette, we’re preparing to feed a modest, but very tangible, stream of appearances on this channel. Short informative thumbnails or longer interviews developing an aspect of the letter or a current event will make this channel of communication lively and, we hope, attractive

At the same time, we are diversifying our presence on a wider range of digital networks, known as social networks. And, to fully embrace the logic of these channels (video channel, networks, etc.), we are interconnecting them to provide a fluid browsing experience for those who follow us.

But we’re still committed to publishing our regular monthly newsletter. Over the last century, the audiovisual media has become an increasingly important means of communication, but the written word has not been dethroned. As a result, the letters that will be published again from Monday 2 September will be punctuated by hyperlinks leading directly to more detailed information on one or other aspect briefly mentioned in the letter.

But, fundamentally, why are we embarking on this communications adventure? Certainly not just to keep up with the times. Rather, it seems to us that the diversity of communication methods (the classic written word, video, short messages and in-depth developments) should enable us to shed more light on the many facets of the global and local issues of our time, using diverse and complementary approaches. We also hope to be able to offer a dynamic follow-up to our actions, particularly with regard to the new initiatives we are launching in the autumn.

To put our words into action, let’s look at an example of a short communication:

• In the society of immediacy that characterises the democracy of opinion, successive governments react vigorously to news stories. These take on political value. Legislating in real time then makes it easier to objectify results and evaluate them.1¹
• On the other hand, it’s hard to turn a blind eye to the refusal to use this principle of immediacy, at both national and European level, to drastically reduce the ever-increasing degradation of our living environment.
• In last May’s newsletter, we drew attention to an economic study showing that the cost of inaction on climate change is higher than the cost of taking immediate action. Let’s broaden the subject here by agreeing that the cost of inaction will go beyond the financial sphere and will indiscriminately affect the psychosocial sphere, worsen inequalities, etc.

For these reasons, we would like to stress once again the critical importance of local authorities and the civil society from which they originate acting together within the deadlines imposed by the atmospheric and oceanic inertia, which is now well documented. This is all the more important because, over and above the physical imperatives (air, water, soil, etc.), the practice of local democracy is at stake, because the shared and sometimes contradictory interests of a locality concern everyone.

Comb Lab wishes every reader a rejuvenating summer full of invigorating social interaction.

1. In last May’s newsletter, we drew attention to an economic study showing that the cost of inaction on climate change is higher than the cost of taking immediate action ↩︎