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Reconfiguration of collectives and territorial project: The Selune without dams

Coordinator(s)

Marie-Anne Germaine

Scientific context

In 2009, the government announced the removal of the dams on the Selune, specifying that "this operation [should] be exemplary and constitute a genuine development plan for the valley". Works to decommission the Vezins dam began in summer 2019. The Selune valley has entered a transitional phase, during which local players will have to build a new territorial project.

Subject(s) of study

The project focuses on the local, national and international groups working on the issue of dam removal and the restoration of continuity in the Selune and in the United States.

Objectives

Following on the study carried out during the assessment phase on the controversy surrounding the project to remove the dams on the Selune, this project aims to monitor the reconfiguration of stakeholder groups at a time when the valley is entering a transition phase that should culminate in an 'exemplary' project.

The research project studies the mobilisation of stakeholders and the definition of a territorial project. The two strong points of this project are the monitoring of the construction of stakeholder collectives (opponents or promoters of dam removal) at different scales and the comparison of the case of the Selune with other projects, particularly in North America.

Methods

The project is based on a survey (interviews, focus groups), a participative observation approach and an analysis of communication documents from various media (films, press, social networks, etc.).

1. The first aim is to analyse, at a local level, the process of constructing a new territorial project by monitoring the transformation of the existing collectives already surveyed prior to the works, but also the emergence of new collectives or the possible local mobilisation of collectives that are geographically close (Baie du Mont Saint Michel) or from outside in favour of dismantling the dams (NGOs, for example).
2. The place of this unprecedented operation is also analysed on a national and international scale. The aim is to see how networks operating on a wider scale play a part in defining a local project. Conversely, the aim is to understand how the example of the Sélune feeds into the national debate on the ecological restoration of rivers.
3. Finally, we propose to put the case of the Selune into perspective with the dismantling and reworking of dams of comparable dimensions in France (Poutès) and in the United States (Kennebec, Pennobscot, etc.), where the policy of dam removal is the most active. The aim is to provide an external perspective based on concrete examples of the reconfiguration of the interplay of players, the landscapes of the restored river and their reappropriation (or not) by the riverside populations following removal This comparative study can provide food for thought for the regional project currently being drawn up.

Laboratories involved

• LAVUE - Architecture, Town Planning and Environment Laboratory, Université Paris-Nanterre
• LGP - Physical Geography Laboratory, Université Paris Est Créteil
• EVS - Environment, City and Society Laboratory, ENS Lyon
• Nelson Institute, Madison Wisconsin University