Esta tese tem como tema o conjunto de recursos comuns naturais e os formatos de gestão que permitem novos sistemas de governança nos espaços rurais no entorno de áreas protegidas. Como questão central, busca responder como os diversos atores afetados pelo processo de criação de uma área protegida organizam-se e desenvolvem ações coletivas para a gestão dos recursos comuns no entorno destas áreas. Têm-se como hipótese que há uma aproximação entre os atores conforme seus objetivos em relação aos recursos comuns naturais, o que remete a configuração de um novo sistema de governança que propicia o desenvolvimento de ações coletivas próprias de gestão dos recursos comuns. Outra hipótese é que a ação do Estado, por meio de políticas governamentais, apresenta efeito limitado na coordenação das ações e na promoção do consenso entre os atores. Desta forma, o objetivo deste trabalho é estudar a ação coletiva dos atores sociais na gestão dos recursos comuns no entorno do Parque Nacional da Serra da Bodoquena (PNSB), o qual abrange áreas dos municípios de Bodoquena, Bonito, Jardim e Porto Murtinho no Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul. Por meio da abordagem institucional no estudo da auto-organização e autogovernança em situações de gestão do conjunto de recursos comuns desenvolvida por Elinor Ostrom, buscou-se a fundamentação teórica para explicação dos fenômenos e problemática identificada. Metodologicamente trata-se de uma pesquisa de campo e documental, a qual apresenta um delineamento de estudo de caso small-N, aplicando-se o framework para análise de sistemas sócio-ecológicos (SES), procedendo-se também uma sistemática análise documental próxima à meta-análise. Conclui-se que a esperada mobilização de grupos de indivíduos em busca de objetivos comuns encontra duas vertentes neste caso, com os participantes da arena de ação criando distintos objetivos e distintas ações coletivas de acordo com seus interesses, produtivos ou ambientais, sendo que governo dos comuns permanece sob o controle dos interesses produtivistas arraigados na cultura de produção agropecuária local. / This thesis has as its theme the common natural resources and the management models that allow new governance systems in the rural areas in the surrounding of protected areas. As central question, seeks to answer how the various actors affected by the process of creation of a protected area organise themselves and develop collective actions for the management of common natural resources in the surroundings of this area. There has been hypothesised that there is a closeness among the actors as their goals in relation to common natural resources, which refers to setting up a new governance system that promotes the development of collective actions specific to the management of common resources. Another hypothesis is that state action, through government policies, has limited effect on the coordination and promotion toward a consensus among actors. In this sense, the objective of this work is to study the collective action of social actors in the management of common natural resources in the surroundings of the National Park of Serra da Bodoquena (PNSB), which covers areas of the municipalities of Bodoquena, Bonito, Jardim and Porto Murtinho in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. Based on institutional approach for the study of the self-organisation and self-governance in common-pool resources situations developed by Elinor Ostrom, the investigation sought the theoretical explanation of phenomena and problem identified. Methodologically this is a documentary and field research, which has a feature of small-N case of study, proceeding an applying of the framework for analysing social-ecological systems (SES), conducting also a systematic analysis of documents close to a meta-analysis. The conclusions point out that the expected mobilisation of groups of individuals in the pursuit of common goals is twofold in this case, with the participants of the action arena creating different goals and different collective actions according to their interests, environmental or productive, and that the govern of the commons remains under the control of agribusiness interests rooted in the culture of the local agricultural production.

Cette thèse décrit les systèmes de production agricole en termes de flux biogéochimiques d’azote (N), de phosphore (P) et de carbone (C) dans les territoires français de 1852 à 2014 suivant une approche socio-écologique qui permet d’appréhender les logiques qui les gouvernent. Les résultats obtenus mettent en lumière à l’échelle des territoires français le lien systémique entre structures de production, bilans N et P et variations des stocks de C organique dans les sols agricoles. Les systèmes agricoles intensifs et spécialisés engendrent les pertes environnementales et les consommations de ressources par unité de surface agricole les plus considérables et accentuent l’ouverture des cycles d’N et de P. Cependant, c’est seulement après la seconde guerre mondiale que certaines régions françaises se sont spécialisées dans la grande culture ou, à partir des années 1980, dans l’élevage intensif. La période des années 1950 à 1980 est marquée par l’accélération des rendements des cultures végétales, de la densité de cheptel et de l’usage des fertilisants minéraux. Les conséquences en ont été une augmentation des bilans N et P et des apports de C aux sols agricoles, causant des pertes considérables d’N vers l’hydrosphère et l’atmosphère et l’augmentation des stocks de P et de C dans les sols. Néanmoins, l’accumulation du C n’a été rendue possible que par le recours aux fertilisants minéraux et au machinisme agricole consommant des énergies fossiles. Ainsi, le stockage du C dans les sols représente un effet secondaire du passage d’un métabolisme énergétique dépendant de l’énergie solaire à un métabolisme fondé sur la combustion d’énergie fossile. / This work investigates agricultural systems from the angle of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and carbon (C) fluxes in French regions from 1852 to 2014, following a socio-metabolic approach stressing out the underlying logic behind these material fluxes. Results brought out by this research highlight the systemic relation between production pattern and N and P balances, and changes in soil organic C stocks in agricultural soil. Intensive specialized agricultural systems generate high environmental losses and resource consumption per unit agricultural surface and present largely open nutrient cycles due to substantial trade flows. Conversely, integrated crop and livestock farming have more limited N and P consumption and lead to lower air and water contamination. Long-term analysis shows that only after the Second World War, under the pressure of strong interventionist policies, some French regions specialized into crop or livestock farming. Particularly, the period from the 1950’s to the 1980’s was marked by a concomitant acceleration in crops yields, livestock production and use of mineral fertilizers. This resulted in increased N and P balances over cropland and grassland and growing C inputs to cropland, causing important losses of N to the hydrosphere and atmosphere, together with the accumulation of P and C stocks in soils. However, C accumulation resulting from increased crop production was permitted by the increased recourse to mineral fertilizers and agricultural machinery which consumes fossil-fuel energy. Therefore, C storage in cropland was a side-effect of the shift from an energy metabolism based on solar energy to one based on fossil-fuel combustion.

L’insuffisance rénale chronique (IRC) est une pathologie entraînant des complications sur la santé. Au stade terminal, le patient doit avoir recours à un traitement curatif. La qualité de vie s’en retrouve altérée et l’identité de la personne en est malmenée. L’activité physique adaptée (APA), ancrée dans un programme d’éducation thérapeutique du patient, va octroyer de nouveaux rôles. Nous nous intéressons à 10 patients IRC qui bénéficient d’un programme d’APA durant 6 mois. La pensée systémique de la santé nous permet d’évaluer les effets de cette prise en charge globale sur les dynamiques identitaires des patients. Le recours à la méthode mixte nous donne l’occasion de combiner des mesures quantitatives et qualitatives. Le programme APA se centre sur le patient qui devient acteur et prend alors possession d’une identité propre qui fluctue au même rythme que la maladie. L’APA va alors servir de support et de fil d’Ariane, comme une ligne constante dans cet état mouvant. / Chronickidneydisease (CKD) leads to health complications. At the end-stage, CKD patients need to undergo curative treatment. Adapted physical activity (APA) implemented through a therapeutic patient education programme, gives them new roles. This study examines 10 CKD patients involved in an APA programme for 6 months. Systemic thinking in health enables us to evaluate the effects of global patient care on their identity dynamics. A mixed-method approach gives us the opportunity to combine quantitative and qualitative measurements. The APA programme focuses on patients who play an active role and take ownership of their own identity. Reconstruction of individual identity is continuous. It fluctuates in relation with the disease. APA acts as a support for patients, guiding them as a steady guideline through their shifting condition.

This research focuses on the challenges and opportunities facing local governance agents in advancing an ecosystem approach to conceptualizing and governing community health in Norfolk County, Ontario. Norfolk County is a rural, agriculturally-based community dependent upon tobacco production. This industry has collapsed, triggering widespread socioeconomic impacts and community health pressures. The government is searching for alternative modes of economic development and tensions are high with respect to the direction and nature of these developments. Some citizens are concerned about the security of their rural livelihoods. Others are concerned about ecological integrity. Still others are convinced of the need for aggressive economic growth. Local decision-makers are struggling to meet all of these requirements. An ecosystem approach views health as part of the broader socio-ecological system, recognizing that health outcomes are by-products of complex biophysical, social, political and economic system interactions at nested spatial and temporal scales. The approach contrasts with conventional health models, which tend to be reactionary, narrowly focused, and short-sighted. Such models are typical of the hierarchical, technocratic nature of public administration which renders decision-making structures and processes ill equipped to deal with complex problems. More systemic, integrated, participatory and collaborative approaches to decision-making are needed in order to better address the complexities involved in facilitating healthy and sustainable community development. Additionally, governance agents must also be able to embrace and navigate these evolving approaches to health conceptualization and governance. An investigation into Norfolk County grounds this analysis by revealing the challenges and opportunities facing local governance agents in advancing an ecosystem approach. The case study research effectively tests the utility and feasibility of the ecosystem approach through a qualitative analysis. The research contributes criteria required for advancing an ecosystem approach to community health governance and practice and empirically tests them within the context of Norfolk County.

This research focuses on the challenges and opportunities facing local governance agents in advancing an ecosystem approach to conceptualizing and governing community health in Norfolk County, Ontario. Norfolk County is a rural, agriculturally-based community dependent upon tobacco production. This industry has collapsed, triggering widespread socioeconomic impacts and community health pressures. The government is searching for alternative modes of economic development and tensions are high with respect to the direction and nature of these developments. Some citizens are concerned about the security of their rural livelihoods. Others are concerned about ecological integrity. Still others are convinced of the need for aggressive economic growth. Local decision-makers are struggling to meet all of these requirements. An ecosystem approach views health as part of the broader socio-ecological system, recognizing that health outcomes are by-products of complex biophysical, social, political and economic system interactions at nested spatial and temporal scales. The approach contrasts with conventional health models, which tend to be reactionary, narrowly focused, and short-sighted. Such models are typical of the hierarchical, technocratic nature of public administration which renders decision-making structures and processes ill equipped to deal with complex problems. More systemic, integrated, participatory and collaborative approaches to decision-making are needed in order to better address the complexities involved in facilitating healthy and sustainable community development. Additionally, governance agents must also be able to embrace and navigate these evolving approaches to health conceptualization and governance. An investigation into Norfolk County grounds this analysis by revealing the challenges and opportunities facing local governance agents in advancing an ecosystem approach. The case study research effectively tests the utility and feasibility of the ecosystem approach through a qualitative analysis. The research contributes criteria required for advancing an ecosystem approach to community health governance and practice and empirically tests them within the context of Norfolk County.

The purpose of this study was to analyze and develop a workflow for assessing and representing the value of ecosystems to professionals involved in municipal planning. A thorough literature review was conducted and supplemented by interviews and observations. Frameworks for ecosystem service assessments were analyzed and combined with methods in urban planning in order to assess social and ecological conditions. A workflow was set up and methods were evaluated by applying them to a case study in the area Åstråket in Uppsala. Experience from the case study was compiled in order to improve the workflow. Complex assessments were identified and simplified for the method to be useful for practitioners. A list of relevant urban ecosystem services was compiled. Eleven activities were chosen and divided into three blocks: planning, situation analysis and redesign. In the planning phase strong civil dialogue would be used to identify user needs and based on them formulate goals for the planned change. In the situation analysis the extent to which ecosystem services were utilized, and how much potential there were to increase the use of them without exceeding the area's biophysical conditions, were assessed. The different ecosystem services in the area were evaluated according to how well they helped to achieve designated goals for the area. In the design stage social-ecological urbanism were used to create a design that will increase the value of ecosystem services for the users of the site. Arrow diagram were used to show how the proposed design supports species in the ecosystem that generates an increased value of the prioritized ecosystem services and contribute to achieving the objectives of the area. The study showed that the value of ecosystem could be made visible by showing how different actors contribute to goal achievement. The methods for quantifying ecosystem services are still trivial and ignore some fundamental social-ecological relations. The methods for social assessments could not be fully tested in the case study because there was ongoing consultation on a plan proposal that prevented any interviews with the users to be done. Assumptions that were important to simplify ecosystem service assessment was that 1) a broad definition of value was used, not just monetary, and that 2) the focus was on increasing the value of ecosystem services rather than replacing some services with others. To improve the method more knowledge on social-ecological interactions is required, a broader discussion about values need to be raised and a more standardized set of indicators needs to be agreed upon. Ecosystem services can also be used as a pedagogical tool for learning about systems thinking, complexity and a diversity of values. / Syftet med studien var att utveckla och testa en arbetsgång för att synliggöra värdet av naturen för yrkesutövare inom kommunal planering. En grundlig litteraturstudie genomfördes och kompletterades med intervjuer och observationer. Ramverk för ekosystemtjänstbedömningar analyserades och kombinerades med metoder inom samhällsplanering för att bedöma sociala och ekologiska förhållanden. En arbetsgång utarbetades och metoder bedömdes genom att tillämpa dem i en fallstudie på området Åstråket i Uppsala. Erfarenheter från fallstudien sammanställdes för att utveckla arbetsgången. Komplexa bedömningar identifierades och förenklades för att arbetsgången skulle bli praktiskt användbar. En lista med relevanta urbana ekosystemtjänster sammanställdes. Elva aktiviteter valdes och delades in i blocken planering, nulägesanalys och redesign. I planeringsskedet användes aktiv medborgardialog för att kartlägga användarnas behov och utifrån dem formulera mål för förändringsprocessen. I nulägesanalysen bedömdes i hur stor omfattning ekosystemtjänsterna nyttjades och hur stor potentialen var för att öka nyttjandet av dem utan att överstiga områdets biofysiska förutsättningar. De olika ekosystemtjänsterna i området värderades efter hur väl de bidrog till att uppnå utpekade mål för området. I designsteget användes social-ekologisk urbanism för att skapa en design som kommer öka värdet av ekosystemtjänsterna för användarna av området. Pildiagram användes för att visa hur den föreslagna designen stödjer arter i ekosystemet som genererar ett ökat värde av prioriterade ekosystemtjänster och bidrar till uppfyllelse av målen i området. Studien visade att värdet av ekosystem kan synliggöras genom att visa hur olika aktörer bidrar till måluppfyllelse. Metoder för kvantifiering av ekosystemtjänster bedömdes inte representera fundamentala social-ekologiska relationer. Identifierade metoder för sociala bedömningar kunde inte testas fullt ut i fallstudien på grund av att samråd precis hade genomförts för aktuellt planförslag. Antaganden som var viktiga för att förenkla ekosystemtjänstbedömningen var att 1) en bred definition av värde användes, inte bara monetär, och att 2) fokus var på att öka värdet av ekosystemtjänsterna snarare än ersätta vissa tjänster med andra. För att förbättra metoden behövs mer kunskap om social-ekologiska relationer, en bred debatt om värderingar och en överenskommelse om en standardiserad uppsättning av indikatorer. Ekosystemtjänster kan även användas som ett pedagogiskt hjälpmedel för att lära ut system-tänkande, komplexitet och en mångfald av värden.

Air pollution is ranked by the World Health Organisation as one of the top ten contributors to the global burden of disease and injury. Epidemiological studies have shown that exposure to air pollution is associated with cardiorespiratory diseases. However, most of the previous studies have looked at this issue using air pollution data from a single monitoring site or average values from a few monitoring sites in a city. There is increasing concern that the relationships between air pollution and mortality may vary with geographical area, particularly for a big city. This thesis consisted of three interlinked studies that aimed to examine the spatial variation in the relationship between long-term exposure to air pollution and cardiorespiratory mortality in Brisbane, Australia. The first study evaluated the long-term air pollution trends in Brisbane, Australia. Air pollution data used in this study were provided by the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (QEPA). The data comprised the daily average concentrations of particulate matter less then 10 µm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) between 1 January 1980 and 31 December 2004 in two monitoring sites (i.e. Eagle farm and Rocklea), and in other available monitoring sites between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2004. Computerised data files of daily mortality between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2004 in Brisbane city were provided by the Office of Economic and Statistical Research of the Queensland Treasury. Population data and the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) data in 2001 were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for each statistical local area (SLA) of the Brisbane city. The long-term air pollution (the daily maximum 1-hour average or daily 24-hour average concentrations of NO2, O3 and PM10) trends were evaluated using a polynomial regression model in two monitoring sites (Eagle Farm and Rocklea) in Brisbane, Australia, between 1980 and 2003. The study found that there were significant up-and-down features for air pollution concentrations in both monitoring sites in Brisbane. Rocklea recorded a substantially higher number of days with concentrations above the relevant daily maximum 1-hour or 24-hour standards than that in Eagle Farm. Additionally, there was a significant spatial variation in air pollution concentrations between these areas. Therefore, the results indicated a need to examine the spatial variation in the relationship between long-term exposure to air pollution and cardiorespiratory mortality in Brisbane. The second study examined the spatial variation of SO2 concentrations and cardiorespiratory mortality in Brisbane between 1999 and 2001. Air pollutant concentrations were estimated using geographical information systems (GIS) techniques at a SLA level. Spatial distribution analysis and a multivariable logistic regression model were employed to investigate the impact of gaseous air pollution on cardiorespiratory mortality after adjusting for potential confounding effects of age, sex, calendar year and SEIFA. The results of this study indicate that for every 1 ppb increase in annual average SO2 concentration, there was an estimated increase of 4.4 % (95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.4 - 7.6 %) and 4.8 % (95 % CI: 2.0 - 7.7 %) in cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory mortality, respectively. We estimated that the excess number of cardiorespiratory deaths attributable to SO2 was 312 (3.4% of total cardiorespiratory deaths) in Brisbane during the study period. Our results suggest that long-term exposure to SO2, even at low levels, is a significant hazard to population health. The final study examined the association of long-term exposure to gaseous air pollution (including NO2, O3 and SO2) with cardiorespiratory mortality in Brisbane, Australia, 1996 - 2004. The pollutant concentrations were estimated using GIS techniques at a SLA level. Logistic regression was used to investigate the impact of NO2, O3 and SO2 on cardiorespiratory mortality after adjusting for potential confounding effects of age, sex, calendar year and SEIFA. The study found that there was an estimated 3.1% (95% CI: 0.4 - 5.8%) and 0.5% (95% CI: -0.03 - 1.3 %) increase in cardiorespiratory mortality for 1 ppb increment in annual average concentration of SO2 and O3, respectively. However there was no significant relationship between NO2 and cardiorespiratory mortality observed in the multiple gaseous pollutants model. The results also indicated that long-term exposure to gaseous air pollutants in Brisbane, even at the levels lower than most cities in the world (especially SO2), were associated with cardiorespiratory mortality. Therefore, spatial patterns of gaseous air pollutants and their impact on health outcomes need to be assessed for an evaluation of long-term effects of air pollution on population health in metropolitan areas. This study examined the relationship between air pollution and health outcomes. GIS and relevant mapping technologies were used to display the spatial patterns of air pollution and cardiorespiratory mortality at a SLA level. The results of this study show that long-term exposure to gaseous air pollution was associated with cardiorespiratory mortality in Brisbane and this association appeared to vary with geographic area. These findings may have important public health implications in the control and prevention of air pollution-related health effects, since now many countries and governments have paid more attention to control wide spread air pollution and to protect our environment and human health.

Les catastrophes naturelles au nord-est de l’Inde, tout comme dans le reste du monde, attirent régulièrement l’attention des médias. Au-delà des interventions d’urgence, il s’avère nécessaire de prendre du recul afin de mieux cerner l’origine des évènements et les stratégies d’adaptation déployées par les populations pour y faire face. Suivant une approche interdisciplinaire mêlant hydro-géomorphologie, éco-anthropologie et political ecology, cette thèse apporte un éclairage nouveau sur les dynamiques du Brahmapoutre, les interactions sociétés-milieux et la gestion des risques dans une région peu étudiée. En Assam, chaque année au cours de la mousson, le fleuve Brahmapoutre entre en crue et déborde dans sa plaine, déposant sur son passage des sédiments sableux et des limons fertiles. Dans cet espace densément peuplé, les Mising - population originaire de l’Himalaya oriental, Scheduled Tribe d’Assam - ont longtemps adapté leurs modes de vie à ce milieu dynamique. Au rythme du fleuve, les Mising pratiquent plusieurs types de riziculture, utilisent différentes techniques de pêche et déplacent leurs villages dans les espaces exposés aux inondations en suivant le mouvement des chenaux. Or, en 1950, un séisme majeur provoqua d’importantes modifications de l’hydrosystème fluvial, bouleversant ce système socio-écologique fragile. Pour contrôler le Brahmapoutre et mettre en valeur les territoires, la région connut dès le XIIe siècle des programmes d’endiguement et d’administration foncière sur la rive sud. À partir de 1954, l’État d’Assam étendit l’endiguement de part et d’autre du lit mineur. Ces aménagements incitèrent les communautés paysannes à se sédentariser dans les périmètres protégés en les contraignant à respecter les nouvelles délimitations foncières. Toutefois, depuis 1988, des ruptures de digues soudaines ont été à l’origine d’inondations récurrentes dans les espaces censés être protégés, tandis que l’érosion se poursuit, emportant les terres de plusieurs villages des subdivisions de Bokakhat, Majuli et Dhakuakhana, objets de cette thèse. L’objectif général de cette thèse est de montrer – à l’aide d’exemples pris dans trois localités – comment les aménagements fluviaux et les politiques foncières ont provoqué une crise sociale et environnementale obligeant les Mising à réajuster leurs pratiques agricoles tout en renégociant leur place au sein de la société et du territoire assamais. Ainsi, à Bokakhat, les Mising négocient leurs droits d’accès aux ressources avec les autorités du parc national de Kaziranga ; à Majuli, ils travaillent pour les institutions religieuses vaishnavites et les propriétaires terriens assamais ; à Dhakuakhana, certains d’entre eux se réfugient illégalement sur les débris de digues et espèrent que leurs terres pourront redevenir fertiles, tandis que d’autres émigrent. Dans ces situations socio-économiques distinctes, les Mising adoptent différentes stratégies socioreligieuses. Ils sont partagés entre ceux qui souhaitent s’insérer au sein de la société assamaise en adoptant les cultes vaishnavites localement dominants, ceux qui envisagent d’accéder au monde globalisé par une conversion au christianisme, et ceux qui affirment une identité tribale en faisant revivre des cultes plus anciens. En représentant l’ensemble de la communauté devant l’État d’Assam, les organisations politiques mising demandent plus d’autonomie territoriale vis-à-vis de Delhi. Un projet néanmoins difficile à mettre en œuvre, car les villages mising sont dispersés parmi ceux d’autres communautés d’Assam. Dans quelle mesure ces stratégies permettront-elles aux Mising de maintenir leurs capacités d'adaptation dans un milieu changeant ? / Natural disasters in Northeast India and in the rest of the world regularly attract media’s attention. Besides an emergency response to these events, it is necessary to distance oneself from the disaster in order to acquire a better understanding of the cause of the events and the coping strategies adopted by the population. Following on an interdisciplinary approach combining disciplines such as hydro-geomorphology, eco-anthropology and political ecology, this thesis sheds new light on the dynamics of the Brahmaputra River, the socio-environmental interactions and risk management in an area where few studies have been conducted.In Assam, every year during the monsoon, the level of the Brahmaputra River rises and overflows into the floodplain, covering sandy land and carrying fertile silts. In this densely populated area, the Mising tribe - a group from the eastern Himalayas, a scheduled tribe of Assam - has for long time managed to adapt its way of life to this dynamic environment. The Misings practise several types of rice cultivation; use different fishing techniques and move their villages according to the flow of the braided river’s channels. However, in 1950, a major earthquake brought about important modifications in the river’s hydrosystem, seriously upsetting this fragile socio-ecological system. Embankments have been built and land has been administrated on the south bank of the Brahmaputra since the twelfth century to control the river and to establish territories. But since 1954, the State of Assam has extended the embankments on both sides of the river. These infrastructures have encouraged farming communities to settle on these new protected lands, forcing them to respect cadastral boundaries. However, since 1988, breaches in the embankment have frequently led to flash floods, while erosion has caused land belonging to several villages in Majuli, Bokakhat and Dhakuakhana subdivisions, which are discussed in this thesis, to be washed away. The main objective of this thesis is to demonstrate — using examples from these three territories — how river engineering and rigid administrative boundaries have led to a social and environmental crisis that leaves the Misings no option but to adjust their agricultural practices and to adopt various strategies to negotiate their space on Assamese land and within Assamese society. Thus, in Bokakhat, the Misings negotiate their right to access resources with the Kaziranga National Park authorities; in Majuli, they work as farmers for Vaishnavite religious institutions and Assamese landowners; in Dhakuakhana, some of them take shelter illegally on portions of the embankment in the hope that their land will be restored to them, while others choose to migrate. In these distinct socio-economical conditions, they are divided into those who are assimilated into Assamese society through Vaishnavite cults, those who have converted to Christianity, which is gaining a foothold in the globalized world, and those who defend their tribal identity and who are reviving ancient faith. Finally, Mising political organizations are claiming to the State of Assam and to Delhi for more territorial autonomy. This would be a difficult undertaking as their villages are scattered among the other communities of Assam. To what extent these strategies will help the Misings to maintain their adaptability in a changing environment?

La préservation des écosystèmes et la performance économique des organisations sont souvent mises en opposition. Ecosystèmes et organisations sont cependant interdépendants et peuvent être appréhendés comme constitutifs d’un même système socio-écologique (SSE). Notre objectif est d’identifier les instruments permettant le respect des contraintes de viabilité environnementales et économiques des SSE que nous proposons : la résilience écologique et la profitabilité des organisations. Après avoir souligné la faiblesse environnementale des instruments de régulation traditionnels néoclassiques, nous évaluons l’efficacité de deux autres catégories d’outils, récents et souvent plébiscités. Les approches volontaires étudiées permettent généralement de garantir la viabilité économique des organisations, mais leurs objectifs environnementaux, dont l’atteinte est variable, ignorent souvent la complexité des écosystèmes. Parmi les comptabilités environnementales, celles qui relèvent d’instruments de régulation néoclassiques poursuivent des objectifs écologiquement inappropriés, alors que les approches hétérodoxes sont plus en phase avec nos contraintes écologiques mais supposent une réforme profonde des conventions comptables. Ces résultats nous incitent à élaborer un modèle de gestion environnementale permettant d’assurer la viabilité des SSE à plus court terme. Il repose, pour son efficacité écologique, sur une démarche de gestion adaptative à l’échelle territoriale. Les désavantages compétitifs susceptibles d’apparaître sont mis en évidence par des comptabilités appropriées, et ces situations sont optimisées via la mise en œuvre de processus redistributifs adaptés. / Ecosystems’ preservation and the economic performance of organisations are often considered to be antagonistic. Nevertheless, ecosystems and organisations are interdependent, and they can be seen as part of the same social-ecological system (SES). The goal of our research is to identify the tools that ensure that the SES environmental and economic viability constraints we provide (i.e. ecological resilience and organisations’ profitability) are observed. After highlighting the ecological weakness of conventional neoclassical regulatory tools, we measure the effectiveness of two other categories of tools that have appeared recently and are often praised. The voluntary approaches analysed generally ensure the economic viability of organisations, but their environmental goals, which are variably reached, often ignore the complexity of ecosystems. Among the environmental accounting approaches, those considered as neoclassical regulatory tools pursue objectives that are ecologically inappropriate, whereas heterodox approaches observe our ecological constraints, but entail a significant reform of accounting policies. These results prompt us to elaborate an environmental management model, set to ensure shorter term SES viability. It lies, for its ecological effectiveness, on an adaptive management approach at the territorial level. The competitive disadvantages which might arise are identified in appropriate accounts, and these situations are addressed with using suitable redistributive processes.

Environ 15 % des terres émergées mondiales sont protégées d’une manière ou d’une autre. Conflits homme/faune, prédation du bétail, pertes agricoles, braconnages divers, la liste des tensions entre aires protégées Africaines et leurs périphéries est longue. Ceux-ci peuvent être vus comme des « problèmes pernicieux », caractérisés par la présence simultanée de valeurs culturelles divergentes et de nombreuses incertitudes sociales ou scientifiques. L’approche constructiviste des sciences « post normales », aborde la réalité comme le résultats d’une construction sociale, et reconnait donc l’existence d’une pluralité de réalités. La participation d’acteurs locaux dans nos démarches scientifiques permet de prendre en compte ces réalités. Cette thèse est focalisée sur les interactions entre la Foret de Sikumi (FS), une aire protégée Zimbabwéenne, et les communautés rurales vivant à sa périphérie. Nous nous sommes intéressés aux tensions liées aux pratiques de conduite du bétail. Nous retrouvons là les caractéristiques des problèmes pernicieux : difficulté à identifier le problème de manière définitive ; incertitudes scientifiques et sociales ; valeurs culturelles conflictuelles et liens avec d’autres problèmes. Pour comprendre et modéliser les interactions entre acteurs à travers la conduite du bétail, nous avons co-construit un outil de recherche participatif sous la forme d’un Jeu de Rôle (JdR) nous permettant d’étudier les stratégies locales de conduite du bétail. Nos travaux montrent comment l’utilisation d’environnements virtuels permettent aux chercheurs de s’extraire du paradoxe majeur des problèmes pernicieux : toute action modifie le système et donc le problème, sans jamais le régler. La participation d’acteurs locaux nous a permis de redessiner une vision commune des incertitudes sociales et scientifiques au travers de processus de négociation. Nous montrons comment le résultat de notre effort collectif dépasse les ambitions premières et la manière dont le chercheur doit nécessairement perdre en partie le contrôle de l’objet construit au profit des partenaires locaux. Finalement, nous exprimons notre conviction que des approches comme la nôtre sont pertinentes pour la gestion des aires protégées, particulièrement avec l’émergence des parcs transfrontaliers en Afrique australe. / About 15 % of the world’s terrestrial area has some kind of protected status. Human-wildlife conflicts, crops raiding, livestock predation, poaching, illegal natural resources harvesting, the list of issues taking place at the edge of African protected areas is long. These issues are wicked problems, characterized by scientific uncertainties and involve conflictive cultural values and interconnections with other problems. The constructivist approach of post-normal sciences (PNS) assumes that reality is socially constructed. Studying and addressing wicked problems therefore requires insights on local stakeholders’ perspectives. In this PhD we focused on interactions between the Sikumi Forest (SF), a Zimbabwean protected area, and the rural communities living at its periphery. More particularly, we focused on the tensions related to cattle herding practices. The situation shows characteristic of wicked problems: the difficulty to frame a precise problem; high uncertainties about the studied SES; incomplete scientific knowledge; competing cultural values; and the interconnection to other problems. In order to understand cattle-related interactions between rural communities and the protected area, we co-designed a participatory research tool taking the form of a role-playing game (RPG) enabling us to elicit cattle herding strategies. The RPG was used with naïve villagers (villagers who were note involved in the co-design). This PhD thesis shows how the use of virtual worlds allows researchers to cope with the catch-22 of wicked problems, that is that any action transforms the problem and brings us “back to the beginning”. The co-design of the research tool allows to deal with one of the major characteristics of wicked problems: uncertainties. In the participatory design of the RGP, these were collectively reframed through negotiation. Participation led to the appropriation of the co-designed object by local actors, as a result our project went beyond the initial ambitions and produced a multi-dimensional tool of which we necessarily lose control. In a wider perspective, we believe that with the emergence of Transfrontier conservation in Africa, participatory approaches like ours can provide alternative ways to study and manage coexistence between protected areas and their peripheries.