(EN)

• The biocultural interactions between human societies and their environments are constantly being redefined in response to environmental and social changes. By exploring themes where adaptation – both individual and collective – to these changes is pervasive, such as agrobiodiversity, domestication, or food systems, we examine the synergies between local and academic knowledge in our work, which aims, as much as possible, to follow a logic of co-construction with local stakeholders. These detailed studies, involving long periods of fieldwork, allow us to inform global perspectives through the production of indicators of human and ecological well-being, or by participating in international scientific bodies (IPBES, CGIAR, UN agencies such as FAO, UNDP, UNESCO...). Furthermore, the team ensures the integration of various scales of ecological interactions (from local crop varieties to species communities, ecosystems, and landscapes) and social interactions (the roles of individuals, communities, nation-states, or planetary communities). One of the specific features of our approach is to integrate the plurality of modes of relationships between humans and environmental entities. For example, some entities of nature are seen as autonomous agents by certain animist communities or individuals, whose ontologies and cosmologies we strive to understand. Our work focuses on local knowledge, practices, socio-ecological dynamics, and the ontologies of relationships between humans and their environments, adopting a diachronic approach that considers historical contexts. The societies and biomes studied include hunter-gatherer peoples as well as agrarian, pastoral, and peri-urban societies within intertropical, temperate, and Mediterranean regions.

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  Keywords: adaptation, agrobiodiversity, agroecosystems, well-being, biodiversity, planetary changes, diachrony, domestication, indicators, interactions, ontologies, practices, resilience, local knowledge, food, art.

  Study sites: France (Gaillac), Italy (Sicily, Pantelleria), Morocco (Rif), Lebanon, Colombia (Andes), Bolivia, Indonesia (North Kalimantan), Vanuatu, Senegal (peanut basin), Congo.

  Research themes:

  1. Agrobiodiversity and landscape domestication: past and present adaptations
  2. Food systems
  3. Synergies between local and academic knowledge
  4. Dialogues between science and policy

  Methods, Training, and Teaching

  • Participant Observation: Engagement in field sites in France (Gaillac), Italy (Sicily, Pantelleria), Morocco (Rif), Colombia (Andes), Indonesia (North Kalimantan), Vanuatu, Senegal (peanut basin), and Congo.
  • Ethnoecological Methods: Qualitative and quantitative analyses (nomenclature and classification of living organisms), life histories, systematic surveys (food systems, agricultural production), exploration of oral memories through the construction of ethnohistorical timelines.
  • Quantitative Data and Survey Analysis: Consensus analysis, free-listing, Correspondence Analysis (CA) and Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA).
  • Social Network Analysis and Modeling.
  • Spatial Analysis: Remote sensing, participatory mapping and mental maps, landscape reading, and surveys.
  • Integration of Arts and Sciences.
  • Collaborations with Researchers engaged in population genetics, chemical ecology, functional ecology, archaeology, and climatology.
  • Co-construction Methods and Ethics: Planning workshops for research objectives to respect the needs and pace of our local partners, continuous feedback of research results throughout the projects in a format facilitating the participation of all concerned actors, using "Informed Consent" approaches before publishing the research results, and collective writing of articles with local stakeholders.
  • Coordination of a Master's Module: A 50-hour course on ethnoecology and biocultural interactions at the University of Montpellier (Master Biology, Environment, Ecology) and the University Paul Valery (Master Environmental Humanities).