La Garde, a nice coastal city of 27 000 inhabitants in southeastern France, built around its volcanic rock, will warm welcome you for the symposium « Natural parks and the Union for the Mediterranean». Located in the Var department, the city grew up around its medieval village. The university of  Toulon-Var settles in the city its main research centers. La Garde also shares with its neighbours La Valette, La Farlède et La Crau the largest industrial and commercial parks of the department. 45 minutes from Marseille, 1 hour and 15 minutes from Nice by car and 20 minutes from the international Toulon-Hyères Airport, it is a strategic communication point with the highway and the railway which cross a part of its territory.

The choice of this city seemed natural as La Garde cares about sustainable development dynamics. The city council passed an environmental charter, followed up for every project. The mediterranean species are more resurgent in the green spaces, a part of the children's activity center is warmed up by geothermal science, a school is rebuilt following the HQE methods, an energical diagnosis of  the municipal buildings guides the current rehabilitations, etc. La Garde is possessed of a great natural site in its part called Plan de La Garde, a protected wet plain.
La Garde is a convivial and pleasant to live city, strongly linked to its heritage tradition, its typical markets and to modernity with sustainable development projects and cultural programming.