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Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of VertigO is the property of La Revue Electronique en Sciences de l'Environnement VertigO and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Education / Revue Canadienne de l'Éducation is the property of Canadian Society for the Study of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper opens new avenues for reflection on interdisciplinarity via the combinatory perspective that four "young researchers" propose on research evaluation practices, including editorial practices, call for proposals, teaching, recruitment, etc. For instance, all interdisciplinary journals impose specific requirements on their incoming authors. With this paper we wish to take their standpoint in order to highlight, discuss and organize these requirements into a usable product - a compass - that could eventually guide processes of interdisciplinary work evaluation. Therefore, our analysis is driven by the question of how to qualify patterns of interdisciplinarity in order to improve the methodological transparency of evaluation practices. Further, taking the example of editorial practices we start by presenting a brief inventory of the way in which interdisciplinarity gets objectified through practices, from the identification of the authors' disciplinary background via their institutional affiliations to the acknowledgement of combinatory approaches via the use of bibliometric measures. We then insist on the scarcely fixable, ever-changing character of the construction of interdisciplinary objects. We take this feature as the stepping point to revisit evaluation categories in order to make them more suitable to the dynamic process of interdisciplinary construction. Our goal is not to provide an additional analysis of the interdisciplinary object itself; rather we aim to provide a tool to scrutinize the author's interdisciplinary intents in relation to his/her own creation of the research object and his/her own objectivation perspective. Therefore, we propose a compass consisting of 5 axes, each reflecting a specific aspect of interdisciplinary practices at the interface between natures/sciences/societies: temporal dynamics of interdisciplinarity, distance between disciplines, collective dimensions of research practice, style of engagement in public debate and extra-academic scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of French Journal of British Studies / Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique is the property of Centre de Recherches et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of VertigO is the property of La Revue Electronique en Sciences de l'Environnement VertigO and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the last decade sustainable cities have become a leading topic of urban scientific literature. But we wonder if this plethoric number of publications really brings the new and relevant knowledge that the sustainability's utopia requires. Do urban studies moved or are moving to affront the methodological problem of articulating (conciliating) the ecological and social dimensions of development? This paper and the following special issues presented to NSS readers are dedicated to the challenge of clarifying and attempting to answer to such interrogations. The state of art which sets the first section screens the French recent publications through the preceding questions with an epistemological point of view. We must obviously state that the sustainable development perspective did not strongly change the theoretical and conceptual background of the urban research. Most of the topics - urban sprawl, polycentric network, green and open space, compact town… - were yet present in the planning territorial preceding policy age. Few radical epistemological rupture and heuristic results can be found. That is why the second section of the paper objective aims at fetching and offering some young authors exploring unusual ways to approach the sustainable city problem. Though they differ by their research position and key concepts (social representation, inhabitancy mode, affective relation to town), this generation shares the same taste for methodological experimentation and in disciplinary, interdisciplinary practices looking for a cognitive path towards sustainable cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on an interdisciplinary analysis associating sociology and biology, this paper studies the social discourses and practices concerning mosquitoes and mosquito pest management in France. The qualitative and quantitative sociological field studies involved two areas, the Rhone river delta and the French alpine valleys. Recalling the anthropocentric heritage of our western societies, our paper shows an evolution, linked to recent social changes, towards more biocentric references, a fact that is noticeable in discourses and attitudes toward mosquitoes. Rather than a radical switch, processes of cohabitation and hybridizing may be observed, combining popular and scientific knowledge, environmental, medical and social issues. The first part of this paper highlights the social and biological relationships between the insect and its habitat, i.e., wetlands. The second part focuses on the forms of articulation between anthropocentrism and biocentrism, especially through the dualism pest/useful insect. The third and last part analyses how the "taxonomic arrangements" between anthropocentrism and biocentrism have triggered an evolution of French public policies regarding mosquito pest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking Sartre's philosophy as a starting point, our paper is deliberately both theoretical and action oriented. It aims to promote a way to develop the adequate scientific practices which the sustainable development utopia requires. To this end, it is written as a manifesto designed to stimulate debates and controversies. Following a critical review of all that is being said and done in the name of sustainable development in the political sphere as well as in the relationships social sciences entertain with the political sphere, this paper is a call to consider rigorously the difficulties and even the impossibilities of moving "from the utopia to the concepts". Introducing and articulating the almost contradictory dimensions of sustainability in real urban territories demands that a relevant method be developed to investigate this complex object. We propose the concept of "socially sustainable milieu" to try and reach this objective which requires the interdisciplinary linking of physical and social sciences. GIS and modelling need to be associated with anthropological methods. Most of all, the paper underscores the need to set "inhabitants" at the heart of the scientific project, thus reversing the usual focus and starting with an investigation of the way each individual reconciles the "three pillars" of sustainable development and builds his/her relationship with sustainable urban milieus. This may help rise above the still top-down views of governance, thus enabling scientists to contribute to developing the political sustainable utopia in real sites and situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to demonstrate the benefits of an anthropological approach to literary studies, this paper begins with introducing ethnocritique as a paradigm combining formal analysis and an awareness of the cultural components of texts. It then shifts to evaluate the faculty of ethnocritique to account for literature considered as discourse. Eventually, studying a short story by Maupassant (Saint-Antoine, 1883), it highlights how ethnocritique, integrated within the frame of discourse analysis, can unveil discursive activities, such as the mode of relation between reader and text, and, beyond, the efforts of positioning of the author in the literary field.

Copyright of VertigO is the property of La Revue Electronique en Sciences de l'Environnement VertigO and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of VertigO is the property of La Revue Electronique en Sciences de l'Environnement VertigO and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of VertigO is the property of La Revue Electronique en Sciences de l'Environnement VertigO and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Our paper summarizes work carried out by the scientific committee "Society, Environment and Sustainable Development" (1999-2002), a programming instance of CNRS PEVS-2. We present its main scientific results, the structuring of scientific communities to which it contributed, and the institutional difficulties inherent in science policy dealing with the environment and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using professional knowledge in building scientific knowledge; a comparative analysis of several case studies. This paper results from cross-disciplinary reflection by social and biotechnical researchers engaged in surveys with experts from the agriculture and nature spheres: farmers: technical advisors, managers of nature conservation programmes and biologists. The purpose was to analyse the way professional knowledge is used by researchers to enrich their body of scientific knowledge. How professional knowledge is used depends in part on each scientific discipline, but far more on the final research aims. We first identified three ideotypes based on whether professional knowledge is used (1) in a comprehensive way to understand its origins, (2) to build new biological knowledge complementary to the one produced on an experimental basis, or (3) to build operational knowledge to help professionals manage their problems. A cross-analysis of the survey methods used then led to discussing the nature of the scientific knowledge developed from professional knowledge and the innovative potential of such surveys. Finally the heuristic potential of surveys is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cahiers d'Études Africaines is the property of Editions EHESS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Adaptation refers both to a process and its outcome, leading to much interpretation and debate. The origin of this semantic duality is related to the epistemological rupture occurred during the 19th Century from the collision between an emerging Theory of Evolution and the established Creationism. The temporal scale of Evolution is an abstract concept outside the realm of immediate human perception which makes the adaptation debate more complex. Though, adaptation became a central concept in several major disciplines of social as psychology, anthropology or geography as well as many fields of biology. In each discipline, environment is strongly linked to the concept of adaptation. Environmental sciences are in the intersection of natural and social sciences and have a strong interdisciplinary feature as adaptation does. That's why, because of the acceleration of global environmental and socioeconomic change, there is a growing interest in adaptation in the environmental science. Climate change is one of the major topics concerned by adaptation, since the theme became a priority in research and politic agenda. But implementation of adaptation to climate change faces to barriers, in particular due to its unclear definition. The objective of this paper is to contribute to greater understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of the concept of adaptation in the climate change through a comprehensive and interdisciplinary review of the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of VertigO is the property of La Revue Electronique en Sciences de l'Environnement VertigO and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of VertigO is the property of La Revue Electronique en Sciences de l'Environnement VertigO and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of VertigO is the property of La Revue Electronique en Sciences de l'Environnement VertigO and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Production of academic knowledge in the past two centuries has been marked by a clear trend towards specialization. The considerable importance currently gained by environmental issues, as seen through the lense of sustainable development, has promoted significant changes in this scenario and highlighted the need for interdisciplinary approaches (de-specialization). The recent creation of interdisciplinary master's and doctoral training programs in Brazil faces a range of obstacles related to the general crisis prevailing in University. Using examples taken from Brazilian graduate programs, our paper outlines and analyzes critically the programs focused on environmental issues nationwide and shows the significant limitations and challenges incurred in building this new field of knowledge. Despite a growing trend towards "environmentalization" of some disciplines, the issue at stake is to interdisciplinarize the focus on sustainable development. The consolidated programs are presented according to the specific institutional arrangements adopted by them. They clearly reflect a need to act creatively in order to break through the impenetrable structure of disciplinary departments. To conlcude, the idea of building a network structure within University is argued as a possible alternative, a solution that does not deny the role of traditional departments, but opens spaces for their interaction with interdisciplinary units and programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper deals with the issues and practices at stake in the interdisciplinary partnership research field. Taking as a starting point the observation of three on-going research projects confronting agriculture with environmental or sanitary issues, the authors analyse the effects produced, in terms of scientific results, by the relationships established among researchers and development partners. The hypothesis is that the partnership is based on a two-sided reality: fiction, on the one hand, goes with the assumption that while researchers and partners do consider each other as allies, they consistently avoid confrontation in order to let things run their course. Friction, on the other hand, may arise with disagreement and thus alter the course of events. As revealed by the results of the study, this two-sided reality is held in tension within each project. Their comparison brings out three key points required in the management of such projects: the degree of solidarity between the groups concerned, the kingpin role of mediators, and the manner in which the research is conducted to meet changes in the partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper discusses interdisciplinary approaches as opposed to increased disciplinary specialization and underlines their value in dealing with the major issues currently faced by biology and with the challenges posed by the analysis and interpretation of high-throughput experimental data. Yet researchers opting for interdisciplinary collaboration in their daily work encounter numerous difficulties. To stimulate the development of fruitful and long-term interdisciplinary collaborations, we have organized since 2002 a yearly Spring School for researchers on the small island of Berder (south Brittany). The School is supported by CNRS and Inra continuing education departments. We describe its specific features and the ways in which it meets participant expectations as regards training and scientific exchanges. This is ensured by securing a wide range of speakers, a balance between the different disciplines, synthetic pedagogical presentations and by reserving ample time for questions, debates, interactions and activities during an intensive week away from daily concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floodplains are a complex environmental "object" which reveal the cultural, economic and ecological as well as safety stakes nowadays to be taken into account in river management. This paper is based on the results of a recent interdisciplinary research involving scientists in sociology, hydrology and soil ecology. Taking three case studies it examines the changes in the river management paradigm in Switzerland. This new paradigm pays growing attention to environmental protection issues and complementarily articulates safety and biodiversity conservation principles. Its application is nevertheless faced with various ecological, hydrological and socio-cultural constraints that limit public action. Floodplains represent a multidimensional ecosystem whose natural dynamic is crucial for maintaining the richness of its biodiversity. In this perspective, the new paradigm aims to reconcile ecological concerns with modern hydrological techniques and public acceptance. Complex social negotiations govern the implementation of the new revitalization measures. Public and private actors are the main pivots of these processes. New communication, collaboration and mediation procedures are enabling a process of social collective training. This process could facilitate in the future a deeper change in the values, the social representations of nature and risks, and the principles of value-based action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Natures Sciences Sociétés is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)