Au vu du pont du 1er mai 2025, le Vendredi Découverte (normalement prévue le 2 mai) - se tiendra le mardi 29 avril 2025, à 11h.

Frédéric Grelot nous présentera un travail intitulé : Residents' adaptation to flooding: A response to institutional injunctions or way to construct place

Résumé : Residents of areas exposed to flooding are subject to injunctions to adapt on the part of institutions. In France, over the last thirteen years or so, these have taken the form of incentive policies, successive versions of which aim to gradually remove the obstacles perceived by the institutions: lack of motivation, lack of knowledge, lack of resources. In this article, we show that careful observation of an area can put this institutional vision into perspective.

The observations used come from the so-ii observatory, centred around the urban area of Montpellier (a Mediterranean city in the south of France) and are based on two data collection methods. In this area, repeated field survey campaigns are used to complete a systematic inventory of devices used to close building openings. These campaigns were carried out across the whole of the area, without making any assumptions about the possibility of flooding occurring. In addition, qualitative interviews were conducted with around twenty residents who agreed to work in partnership with the observatory. These interviews focused on the adaptations made to their homes, put into perspective with their attachment to their living environment.

These observations show that the protection devices observed are present in many areas of the territory, without necessarily corresponding to those identified by the risk managers. Discussions with local residents provide a complementary picture of the adaptations made, which were put in place before the risk managers' incentive policies began, without any public funding. They can take many forms, from the most expected (by the institutions) to the most surprising. They can be genuine "cobbled-together innovations" when, in particular, technical or financial constraints seem insurmountable. Attachment to the place where we live is a key factor in motivating us to make these adaptations. Finally, the implementation of these adaptations is part of a set of practices that determine both their effectiveness and their durability.

In the end, we show that there are still major discrepancies between institutional expectations and residents' practices, which may call into question the relevance of incentive policies.

La présentation aura lieu à la fois en présentiel, sur le site Hydropolis Lavalette en salle Aquadémie, 361 rue JF Breton - BP 5095 - 34196 Montpellier cedex 5 et en distanciel via le lien ci-après :

https://ird-fr.zoom.us/j/92505334421?pwd=VO5egHPqcS7WnkvENUTsCSUUlHCd9n.1