Estivales de la Question animale
The Estivales project
The Estivales is a forum for the exchange of knowledge and information, experiences and opinions, open to all who are interested by the animal question: individuals, representatives of various associations, “intellectuals“, “grassroots activists”, advocates of diverse philosophical and strategical approaches...
The animal question is that of all sentient beings — of all beings, human or non-human, who possess sentience, i.e. a subjective view on the world — and of their ethical and political status. The debates are informed both by philosophy and by the sciences, and by personal and political experiences relative to the relationship between humans and other animals and between humans themselves in relation to other animals.
The Estivales, as such, are neutral. The organisers of the Estivales are, as individuals, convinced of the necessity of a deep change in the relations between human beings and other animals. They hope the Estivales will contribute to making the issues of the status of animals and of our duties (or absence thereof) towards them a subject of serious debate within human society. However, they impose no restrictions on the positions that may be put forward by the participants, who may or not agree with this project. The participants express their opinions freely and are sole responsible for them.
The participants are equal and contribute to the expenses according to the duration of their stay, and eventually according to their personal means.
The animal question
Humans are not the only sentient beings: at least, that is what common sense has us believe, what certain philosophical currents have always asserted and what the recent developments in ethology and biology appear to confirm. 
The animal question, as defined by the organizers of the Estivales, is the issue of sentience and of all its consequences; of its definition, of its attribution and of its cultural, ethical and political consequences.
The current assumption in our societies is that non-human animals are owed no serious ethical and legal consideration and are alien to the field of the political and to the issues of equality. These assumptions can no longer be deemed self-evident. The organizers of the Estivales believe that it will not be possible for society to avoid a real debate on these issues, and hope for the Estivales to be an open forum for the expression of all positions.