At just 22 years old, Féris Barkat has emerged as a leading figure in climate and social activism in France.
Originally from Strasbourg, he left the London School of Economics to train his generation on climate issues. As co-founder of the association Banlieues Climat, he advocates for an emancipatory ecology and brings a new social perspective to climate challenges, reaching audiences often invisible in these struggles: young people from working-class neighborhoods and marginalized minorities more broadly.
Féris works to build a fairer world through several avenues: popular education, with the opening of a school in Saint-Ouen, but also through culture. He combines art and political message, as seen in his recent actions: a mural projected onto the French National Assembly (between the two rounds of the last legislative elections), a guerrilla projection at the European Parliament, or the mobilization of a 3-meter canvas with 50 mothers at the Palais de Tokyo a collective performance that became emblematic of his sensitive and radical approach, and which led to his appointment to the board of a major endowment fund.
Continuing this work, he brought this artistic practice outside institutional walls with the Mothers' Exhibition in Strasbourg: portraits displayed in the trunks of cars, accompanied by podcasts broadcast inside a raw, grassroots scenography that brought art back into the streets and created a space of recognition for the invisible.
He also transmits his commitment in the academic field as a lecturer at the Sorbonne, where he teaches on new forms of climate and social mobilization.
Féris also leads his battles on social media, where he has built a community of over 310,000 followers. Celebrated in the press (Le Monde, Konbini, Quotidien...), and the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions (Vanity Fair 30 Under 30, Konbini's Talent of Tomorrow, Les Echos Start's 30 Leaders...), Féris today stands out as an influential and credible voice helping to shape a new narrative of activism.
