The Juno Beach Centre in Normandy aims to commemorate British and Canadian soldiers and promote eco-tourism in the region.
Nathalie Worthington is the director of the Juno Beach Centre in Normandy, which commemorates the thousands of Britons and Canadians who took part in the D-Day landing on June 1944. She tells Smart Regions about the Centre's eco-friendly approach to the task:
"The Canadian veterans who landed on 6 June 44 returned to the landing beaches on pilgrimages with their children and grandchildren, and they wondered when they would no longer be there to tell the story of who would come after them and how. And that's when they came up with the idea of creating a remembrance centre, a place of remembrance, a place of commemoration, a place of education that would ensure that the story would be told after them.
"The veterans also wanted a hall that showed the Canada of today, the country and the values for which they fought. In 2023 we began the major renovation of this hall so that we could install more digital equipment. We developed tools that would be less carbon-intensive and that would enhance the visitor experience. That's also part of sustainable development.
"We have also invested in the circular economy with tools such as a recycler, which enables us to recycle the plastics we collect following waste collection on the site and inside the museum. These objects can either be resold in the shop, which is really part of the circular economy. Or we can use them to make objects that we need in the museum."
Click on the video to watch the extract in full