NEWS

The French magazine L'Usine Nouvelle has just published a list of the top 140 engineering colleges in France according to the following criteria: number of partnerships, budget, starting wage for graduates, number of students, and finally, innovation in research. Lyon's INSA (National Institute for Applied Sciences) is in the top 10 of this list, followed by Centrale Lyon (12th), CPE Lyon (18th), ECAM Lyon (97th) and ITECH Lyon (121st).   Among the criteria evaluated by Usine Nouvelle, the INSA has the highest number of students per school with 5303, and comes in second place for sales figures generated by research contracts, with 20 million euros, in front of Centrale Lyon, which appears in 10th position with sales figures of 14.4 million euros. Lyon's INSA has a consolidated budget of 162.3 million euros, which puts them in second place behind Polytechnique. Finally, in terms of partnerships per school, INSA is in second place with 120 partnerships.   Detailed figures, Lyon schools:   INSA LYON: consolidated budget: 162.3 million euros (2nd); total number of students: 5303 (1st); starting wage on graduation: 34,000 (58th); sales figures generated by research contracts: 20.05 million euros (2nd); position: 10th   CENTRALE LYON: consolidated budget: 46.5 million euros (14th); total number of students: 1424 (32nd) ; starting wage on graduation: 37,061 (26th); sales figures generated by research contracts: 14.45 million euros (10th); position: 12th   CPE LYON: consolidated budget: 12.7 million euros (65th); total number of students: 1124 (43rd); starting wage on graduation: 35,000 (40th); sales figures generated by research contracts: 6.88 million euros (26th); position: 18th   ECAM LYON: consolidated budget: 6.7 million euros (103rd); total number of students: 776 (69th); starting wage on graduation: 33,816 (73rd); sales figures generated by research contracts: 0.47 million euros (110th); position: 97th   ITECH LYON: consolidated budget: 4.6 million euros (116th); total number of students: 428 (108th); starting wage on graduation: 32,000 (101st); sales figures generated by research contracts: 0.45 million euros (111th); position: 121st

Following the success of the Montreal company, Moment Factory, at the Lyon Light Festival last December, the city of Montreal has invited two Lyon-based designers: Jean-Yves Soëtinck, from the agency ‘L'Acte Lumière', and Julien Pavillard, from the ‘Congo Bleu' agency, both of them ONLYLYON Ambassadors for the Nuit Blanche (Nightlong exhibitions), to animate the Montreal High Lights Festival on Saturday February 27, 2010. This project, which will illuminate and animate the old Saint Jacques Church, marks the 20th anniversary of the friendship agreement between Lyon and Montreal.    Entitled ‘...Un point, c'est tout !' (a touch, that's all),  this light show, which epitomizes the art of Lyon and the art of illuminating buildings, will reveal the remains of Montreal's religious heritage as lights slide over the walls emphasizing the building's height and projecting graphic animations upon it. This show is part of the lighting project Montreal's Quartier des Spectacles (Show district), which gives the district an identity while illuminating all it has to offer in an environmentally friendly manner. Located in the city center, the Quartier des Spectacles is the cultural heart of Montreal. No less than 80 cultural hotspots and 30 festivals can be found within one kilometre squared, these are activities of unparalleled variety (theatre, dance, music, cinema etc.)   A video of the display will be available on Youtube from February 27 at midday. See the video +

SOLUTRANS, the international transport solutions show, will take place at EUREXPO Lyon, March 2 - 6, 2010. This fast-growing event, with a strong focus on "anti-crisis" solutions, is right at home in the Lyon metropolitan area, a pioneer in urban transport systems, with its own competitiveness cluster: Lyon Urban Truck & Bus. SOLUTRANS is a forum for interaction between users of goods transport (trucks and light commercial vehicles) and their suppliers: truck and LCV makers, bodybuilders, equipment manufacturers. The show, organized by COMEXPOSIUM, under the high patronage of the Ministry of the Economy, Industry and Employment, expects 28,000 visitors, including 12% from abroad, and 500 exhibitors, including 20% from abroad. Conferences and activities will round out the program, spotlighting solutions to the many socio-economic and technical challenges of the industry. On the occasion of the show, Guy Mathiolon, President of CCI Lyon and Patrick Cholton, President of SOLUTRANS, will present the Technical Innovation in Industrial Bodywork Awards, on March 2, 2010 at 8pm, in the Salle de la Corbeille of the Lyon Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Established in Lyon in 2001 and held in conjunction with SOLUTRANS, this award gives recognition to the most exceptional innovations which improve the performance of bodied vehicles, with particular focus on the environment, ergonomics and cost-reduction. In addition to the three award categories, the 2010 competition will also include equipment manufacturers for the bodywork industry (excluding powertrain and cabs).

Lyon Airports announced good news at the beginning of the month, with the signing of the first SLA (Service Level Agreement) in France with British Airways, along with an agreement with ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) for the reduction of environmental nuisances.   > First SLA in France with British Airways   Signed in early February, the contract is the first of its kind between a French airport administration and an airline to include a service level agreement. The main goal is to satisfy passengers. Though this type of agreement is common between airlines and assistance service companies, it is completely new for airports. Lyon Airports is taking pro-active measures towards the airlines operating from Lyon-Saint Exupéry.   In concrete terms, the agreement covers eight areas of reciprocal and quantifiable services. These include availability of the airport facilities, flow at the security checkpoints, rapid response of intervention teams, flight punctuality, luggage delivery times, crisis management (for example, the airline informing the airport of any delays or disturbances concerning flights), as well as customer, airline and passenger satisfaction.   As Pierre-Jean Liotta, British Airways Station Manager, told us: "The signing of an SLA proves the strong commitment of Lyon Airports to providing the best possible service to customers."     In 2010, Lyon Airports hopes to sign an SLA with all of the main airlines operating from Lyon-Saint Exupéry, thus covering more than 80% of the passenger traffic. The SLA with British Airways was immediately followed by a similar agreement with the German company, Lufthansa, also in early February.

Yesterday, Lyon hosted a meeting of representatives from 38 European cities, convened by EUROCITIES, the network of major European cities. The purpose of this meeting was to launch a working group that is to focus on Brand Management and Attractiveness in the major cities of Europe.   The participants addressed topics such as urban marketing, the creation of a brand for a city (like the ONLYLYON program), economic governance models and the difficulty of changing the image of a city. Around the table were representatives from cities such as Manchester, Tampere, Lublin, Katowice, Nantes and Gothenburg.   This working group will be followed by other groups of the same kind throughout 2010, and the conclusions of these groups will be published in a report on good practices in local area marketing, which will be presented on 3 and 5 November 2010 in Saragossa, at the General Assembly of Eurocities.

The eighth edition of the Nuits Sonores Festival, a festival devoted entirely to independent music and digital entertainment will be held around Ascension Day from Wednesday 12 to Sunday 16 May, as is its custom. 2010 will be the 8th edition of this festival, which has encountered growing success with each year. The 2009 event welcomed 67, 500 festival goers. Just like in previous years, the festival will present a discovery of Lyon through events in forty or so different venues ranging from concert halls to industrial wastelands, museums, galleries, cinemas, squares and streets, as well as bars and clubs etc. The complete program will be revealed on February 24th, in the meantime here are a few initial announcements: > LES NUITS / Wednesday 12, Friday 14 and Saturday 15 May 2010 / Marché Gare For the second year running, Les Trois Nuits, the festival's flagship events, will take place at the Marché Gare site at Confluent; the staging and set up, however, will be dramatically different from 2009.

2010 is shaping up to be another great year for culture in Lyon. Among many events on the program are the second edition of the Greater Lyon Film Festival, breathtaking exhibitions at the Musée des Beaux Arts (Fine Arts Museum) and an unprecedented look back at the art of Ben at the Musée d'Art Contemporain (Lyon's Contemporary Art Museum)!   At Lyon's Fine Art Museum... > Bram and Geer van Velde Exhibition from 16 April to 19 July > A century of landscape artists, an amateur's selection Exhibition-portfolio from 17 June to 27 September > Pierre-Louis Cretey, a visionary between Lyon and Rome Exhibition from 22 October to 24 January 2011    At Lyon's Contemporary Art Museum...   > The Ben Retrospective From 3 March to 11 July 2010. Over 3000 sq. m -that's the entire space at Lyon's CAM- over 1000 of his works retrace fifty years of the artist Ben's creations.  The return of the Greater Lyon Film Festival...   > Greater Lyon Film Festival 2010 From 4 to 10 October 2010 (back to edition 2009)   Also...   > The 2010 Nuits Sonores Music and Sound Festival , from 12 to 16 May (back to 2009 edition)   > The 2010 Fourvière Nights , from 4 June to 31 July 2010   > The 2010 Biennial Dance Festival , from 9 September to 2 October 2010.   > The 2010 Light Festival , around 8 December 2010 (see 2009 edition in pictures)

To kick off 2010 in style, we asked Bernard Lancelot, Corporate Communication Director of Renault Trucks, and a convinced and convincing ONLYLYON Ambassador, to tell us how he feels about Lyon and his role as an Ambassador.   > Bernard Lancelot, you are an ONLYLYON Ambassador. How have you come to be so fond of Lyon?   Originally, I'm from Normandy, and I lived in Paris for a few years. When I came to Lyon for professional reasons, I fell in love with it. It's surprising and different, and it truly feels like a European-scale metropolis.   As soon as I moved here at the beginning of the 2000s, I tried to get to know this city and its surroundings better. I used every possible means: walking, guided tours, urban hiking tours, bike riding and public transit, going every which way.    > Was it love at first sight?   I extensively revisited everything that had appealed to me or amazed me during my short stays here: the Madonna statuettes on the facades of historic buildings, the wonderful painted walls, the traboule passageways, the hills, the religious edifices (churches, basilicas and cathedral), the arches and siphons of aqueducts, the theaters, amphitheaters and odeons, plus the squares, water displays, 15th and 16th century facades of Old Lyon and 19th century facades of the Peninsula, all which have been so beautifully illuminated for such a long time. And what luck to be able to experience these popular events, such as the Dance Biennial and the Festival of Lights! The Célestins, the Auditorium, the Opera, the TNP, the Museums of Fine Art, Contemporary Art, Gadagne, Textiles and Miniatures. Not to mention all the sports going on, with the OL, the ASVEL, the LOU Rugby, boule lyonnaise and renowned skaters.   Other sites I enjoy on a regular basis: the Tête d'Or Park, the riverbanks, Gerland, the Parc des Hauteurs, and more! The traditional bouchon restaurants and their grumpy waiters, the restaurants, sidewalk cafes, taverns, and I could go on and on! This city is full of advantages - I had to discover them quickly to feel at home in my new living environment. Because you can only appreciate what you know, and on the other hand, you fear the unknown.