The French term ‘allée’ is used in many parts of Europe when referring to tree-lined ‘ways of passage’ in parks and gardens, in towns or in the country. In the context of landscapes, ‘avenue’ has the same meaning in English. ‘Avenues’ (or ‘tree avenues’) are thus ‘ways of passage’—paths, streets, and roads, but also canals—lined with rows of regularly spaced trees.
Avenues (in this sense) constitute an important cultural, natural, and landscape heritage in France, Europe, and beyond.
To know more about tree avenues, go to the "Quiz" and to the "Tree avenues and road safety" pages.
♦ To foster knowledge about the cultural, natural, and landscape heritage that avenues represent ♦ Through information and education, to raise the awareness of the general public and professionals about the values of avenues ♦ To showcase the heritage of tree avenues and associated best practice ♦ To promote the economic activities and jobs avenues create ♦ To protect and renew existing avenues, and to develop new ones ♦ To support initiatives and protagonists helping to preserve tree avenues ♦
We are avenue lovers, determined to showcase this valuable heritage and convinced it is an asset for all of us. The board is made up of: Eric Mutschler, chair; Isabelle Kauffmann, secretary; Pierre Courbet, treasurer; Pierre Collin ; Qing Liu ; and Danièle Saget. Chantal Pradines, expert on avenues in France and in Europe, is executive director.
ALLÉES-AVENUES /allées d'avenir/ is active at the local, national and international levels. Its actions are of an artistic, a technical and a scientific nature.
Three main actions :
Other important actionsderive from these main actiont :
They have already supported us in 2024:
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The symposia held by ALLÉES-AVENUES /allées d'avenir/ are intended to increase knowledge about the special cultural and natural-heritage aspects of tree avenues.
This involves unveiling facets of avenues that are not studied to any great extent or brought to the fore, and to provide the public with new knowledge and resources for better preservation and appreciation of avenues.
The symposia address both professionals (people working with trees, in landscaping, gardening, roads, the environment, etc.) and an enlightened public (private landowners, lovers of avenues, persons involved in tourism, in cultural activities, other engaged individuals). By bringing professionals and non-professionals together, the symposiums open the way for joint development of preservation initiatives.
Held every three years, they are major events in terms of their international participation, their scientific character, the originality of the issues addressed, and their outreach beyond professional circles.
The international symposium of 2018 brought together 110 participants (from 12 countries on 4 continents) who learned about the memorial avenues that, inspired by France’s tree-lined roads, are a feature of many communities in the English-speaking world, in particular. It was the seed from which grew an exhibition. And it has produced a comic album to be published in 2024.
The international symposium of 2023 (11 countries represented) was inspired by French President Georges Pompidou’s exhortation of 1970: “Safeguarding the trees planted along our roads (…) is essential for the beauty of our country, to protect nature, and to safeguard a truly human environment”. The symposium took place in Carcassonne (France).
Did you know that the word ‘avenue’ (or ‘tree avenue’) refers to tree-lined ‘ways of passage’—paths, streets, roads, or canals?
Did you know that ‘avenue’ is the English equivalent of the French term ‘allée’, used in many parts of Europe when referring to tree-lined ‘ways of passage’ in parks and gardens, in towns or in the country?
Did you know that using ‘avenue’ in this sense is one of the recommendations for helping to preserve this natural and cultural heritage that are listed in the white paper ‘Road infrastructures: tree avenues in the landscape’ published by the Council of Europe in ‘Landscape facets. Reflections and proposals for the implementation of the European Landscape Convention’?
Did you know that the use of a single term for all these different alignments, whatever their context, shows how strongly they are all related to each other?
Did you know that both the term ‘avenue and the term ‘allée’ are connected to ‘French gardens’? The prevalence of the term ‘allée’ throughout continental Europe indicates the influence of 17th-century French garden designers, followed by that of graduates of the Ponts et Chaussées engineering school in the 18th century, then in the 19th century, the application of Napoleonic regulations.
Did you know that cultural exchanges continued into the 20th century, particularly through the planting of memorial avenues in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy to commemorate the First World War?
Did you know that tree avenues do more than just stamp a strong mark on the landscape, but are also a response to the issues of our time? Shade,temperature mitigation, capture of dust and pollutants, carbon sequestration, special biotopes and ecological corridors, etc.: these are some of the advantages that studies have identified, and they were acknowledged in the Infra Eco Network Europe declaration of Lyons in 2016.
Did you know that trees play a positive role in road safety and that there is no correlation between the risk of being killed or injured on roads in a given area and the wealth of roadside alignments of trees in that area? On the contrary, in fact, studies have shown the positive role of tree avenues with respect to road safety.
Did you know that people the world over are extremely fond of this heritage? This is regularly shown by surveys and by the commitment of associations of all kinds.
Did you know that after a strong decline in avenue assets, enthusiasm for avenues has been growing in many parts of Europe for more than twenty years and that October 20 is European Avenue Day?
Did you know that many regions and countries are engaged in a movement for promoting avenue heritage? In France, the Société pour la Protection des Paysages et de l’Esthétique de la France has been awarding its ‘Avenue Prize’ since 2015.
Did you know that tree avenues are protected by law in many countries and regions, e.g. in Sweden, Luxemburg, Wallonia, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern? They have been protected in France since 2016 (article L350-3 of the Code de l’environnement) because of their triple interest—cultural, role in biodiversity, and other rewarding features (landscape, environment).