Estuarine and coastal ecosystems are essential for human activities, as they provide a wide variety of ecosystem services (ES). However, they are subject to increasing anthropogenic pressures incurred by coastal development, marine traffic, overexploitation of aquatic resources and diversification of tourism and recreational use. Accounting for these human-ecosystems interactions in land planning projects, in a comprehensive, holistic and integrated way, is still a challenge in decision-making. The “Cost to coast” research project aims at filling in the existing gaps in this integration and providing the missing elements that prevent the sustainable development of coastal/estuary territories, by using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology and tools. “Cost to coast” project is divided into four inter-related research activities that will allow reaching four objectives. First, it aims at proposing a harmonized conceptual framework for the consistent assessment of ES at a territorial scale throughout a life cycle perspective. Second, it will develop a methodology to identify the “basket” of ES relevant to estuarine and coastal areas, which are shared by different stakeholders at a territorial scale (e.g. maritime freight and port activities, fishing, recreational-tourism, high value conservation area), by applying the conceptual framework initially developed. Third, it will create a new set of indicators to be applied in quantitative life cycle impact assessment methods (e.g. readily available to LCA practitioners for use within IMPACT World+), in order to quantify the potential loss/gain of aquatic ES (i.e. from coastal and sea use), in compliance with the conceptual framework developed. Finally, this project aims at applying the developed methodologies and set of indicators to characterize the human impacts on ES. The operationalization will be conducted on two case studies, i.e. the Thau lagoon, on the Mediterranean Sea coast, in France; and the St. Lawrence estuary, in Quebec (Canada) with a specific focus on the Lac Saint-Pierre. These two territories have different sets of ES, though the direct provision of resources with the presence of aquaculture, fishing and shellfish farming activities; as well as indirectly, through cultural services, such as those linked with recreation and cultural activities. The project is scheduled for 3 years and it combines the expertise of six different research teams from Québec and France, as an evidence of its multi- and inter-disciplinary character. The researchers and graduate students are involved in various fields of research and development, such as LCA (system analysis, impact assessment methodology development, LCA operationalization), ES quantification and valuation, marine ecology and biology, geography and economics. The project will deliver high qualification staff (4 PhD, 1 Postdoc and 3 MSc students), scientific papers and communications. Lastly, the “Cost to coast” project pays attention to serving and better informing the decision-making process. For that, tools, documentation, and other project deliverables will be made available to territorial stakeholders and to the lay public, in simple wording and, at the same time, to the LCA community (i.e., practitioners and researchers) in order to ease and sustain its use.

This project concerns the determinants of the propensity to adopt and follow the recommendations for prevention and containment in the face of the spread of Covid-19. The fundamental assumption is that this propensity is determined by the personal characteristics of the individual: one the one hand, by his risk and time preferences and his self-control, and on the one hand, by his social preferences (altruism, generosity, trust, cooperativeness). The main objective of the project is to identify the effect of these behavioral dimensions on the observance of containment measures and the adoption of barrier gestures. Their knowledge is a prerequisite for designing more effective non-coercive measures, such as monetary and non-monetary incentives (nudges), to better target communication during and after the crisis, and to increase its impact on behavior. To achieve these objectives, the project will combine several experimental economics' tools that will allow us to precisely measure various behavioral dimensions (risk aversion, impatience, altruism, trust, etc.) based on incentivized tasks. Some of the measures of behavioral dimensions, e.g. risk preferences, will be doubled by declarative and genetic measures. This precaution is intended to obtain converging evidence of the robustness of the main determinants. Finally, we will apply a discrete choice method to highlight the trade-offs that individuals agree to make to accept the restrictive measures and will test a “nudge” to encourage them to do so. Our results will be used to determine the right levers for effective communication with target audiences, with a view, for example, to adopting the observance of barrier gestures. The discrete choice experiment will provide an understanding of the trade-offs to which individuals agree to accept the measures. Finally, the processing variable "nudge" will identify the relevance of this type of measure under extreme conditions. Our work is also of longer-term interest for knowledge, thanks to the genetic block. The objective is to establish a link between the genetic profile and the individuals who transgress the instructions. If there is a pattern of transgression, it will be difficult to devise levers for action for this segment of the population, which would, therefore, represent an uncontrollable risk. Because disobedience is similar to risk-taking, it is likely that some of the SNPs that affect risk tolerance also affect obedience.

SCARCYCLET gathers 21 scientists in economics, geology and engineering of materials, to study the role of mineral resources in the energy transition (ET) and of their recycling This multidisciplinary project shall contribute to the advancement in knowledge on specific dimensions of the dynamic relation between the material-energy and the economic-society elements of the socioecological system, with relevance for the debate on policy design. It spurs new interdisciplinary collaborations, gains momentum of recent innovative frontier work, and improves the training of height young researchers. The project builds on two major synergies. Economists will help the geologists and the engineers to overcome their current difficulty in integrating economic incentives into their models, to improve their ability in replicating historical patterns and running credible scenarios. Engineers and geologists will contribute to the economic analysis of the ET under materials’ scarcity and recycling, by helping economists to meaningfully represent the technology and physical constraints of the recycling activity, of the use of primary and recycled metals, and of the production of primary minerals. We aim at developing original analytical tools for (1) Quantifying material flows and identifying potential bottlenecks under recycling in the ET, and at (2) Designing public policies for recycling metals for the ET. Our activities are structured around four tasks: T1: Improving prospective simulations of materials demand and supply: where we develop modules for the primary supply of metals for the prospective model, and study the potential recovery of metals from fossil-related infrastructure; T2: Understanding the local and geopolitical consequences of metals recycling: where we extend the model to a multiregional scale, and analyze how the emergence of recycling for traded metals can trigger strategic interaction; T3: Defining the socially desirable recycling activity for metals: where we estimate efficient recycling for social objectives on intergenerational equity, for specific cases; T4: Representing equilibrium dynamics and policy interventions under metal recycling: where we model the choices of actors involved in the recycling activity, then analyze the interaction between public policies regarding the energy transition. Recognizing a lack of empirical data, we will collect data from field work on the recycling industry at different stages of the process, for specific equipment and metals. In the light of the topical European policy agenda for critical raw materials and the circular economy, other results are valuable: an improved simulation tool on materials flows and stocks for alternative ET scenarios (available online open access); a clearer understanding of the role of metals’ recycling in trade-related geopolitical frictions; a better coordination between policies such as life-of-product regulation and rules on recycled content. Four partner institutions are involved: CEE-M (environmental economics), IS-Terre (earth studies), IREGE (energy economics), BRGM (mineral resources). Every partner contributes to each task. Interdisciplinary collaborative activities are based on the common methodology of mathematical modelling for dynamic analysis and their empirically-grounded applications. To achieve its goals, the team is organized around some practical collaborations, leading to articles co-authored by scientists of different disciplines. Four research positions will be opened, each jointly supervised by members of two distinct partners. The project opens access to section of datasets on primary metals markets and exploration. Scientific workshops, open to outsiders, are organized every year. Two meetings promote exchange between members and stakeholders’ experts from the industry, NGO’s and administration. Given the policy relevance of the topic, our approach and results will be presented beyond academics.

The Mediterranean economy is highly dependent on agriculture. However, agricultural sustainability and productivity in this region are under serious threat due to climate change and depletion of water resources. This is worsened by poor management practices, such as the overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, overgrazing, and monoculture farming. ReCROP aims to redesign Mediterranean agrosystems with improved resilience capacity and higher productivity, focusing on the development of sustainable agricultural production systems through the combined use of biotechnological tools and environmentally friendly agronomic practices. This will allow farming systems to face climate change trough the improvement of below and aboveground biodiversity, fertility, and water conservation. RECROP uses the novel approach of plant-microorganism management that relies on the increase of soils functions and health by using bioinocula, amendments, cropping systems, and climate-ready crops, to increase crop yields while providing ecological services, e.g., increasing carbon sequestration, organic matter, nutrient cycling and water conservation. ReCROP covers the Mediterranean Geographical Area (MGA), involving Morroco, Egypt, Tunisia (South MGA), Italy and France (North MGA), and Portugal and Spain (West MGA), and incorporates major crops cultivated in these countries - vineyards, cereals, and aromatic/medicinal plants. ReCROP relies on a multi-actor approach by involving agricultural associations, local farmers and companies in the design of new resilient agrosystems. Agricultural practices will be tested and monitored across different edaphoclimatic conditions from experimental plots in a climatic area with Atlantic influence (N Portugal and NW Spain) to others in drier and hotter regions on the N of Africa. RECROP will use established and new fields to tackle the specific objectives: i) implement and validate widely adaptable agro-ecological farming; ii) devise new bioinoculant formulations to enhance soil biodiversity and functioning, plant health and yields of the target crops; iii) provide a new tool based on omics technologies to help farmers in the decision-making process through the assessment of soil biodiversity profiles for prediction of crop suitability; iv) characterize from a socio-economic point of view the main drivers to encourage farmers to switch towards greener practices and promote their acceptability; v) foster innovative sustainable solutions for ecological farming systems involving the views of local stakeholders and providing guidelines to improve the resilience of Mediterranean target crops. This multilateral cooperation will provide evidence regarding best practices to overcome some of the most serious threats for agricultural Mediterranean systems. ReCROP will address technical and economic issues in an integrated way to serve as a platform of demonstration trials that can reach the farmers and wider audiences to promote the adoption of more sustainable practices. ReCROP will explore a set of indicators suitable for monitoring progress in the best-performing agroecosystems and demonstrating the benefits of sustainable agronomic schemes targeting Mediterranean crops.

The LOBBIES project aims to shed light on the strategic behavior of stakeholders affected by the energy transition, their economic motivations, the way they form coalitions and special interest groups, and the channels through which they influence public policies and international negotiations. Methodologically, it combines advanced theoretical modeling and empirical studies in economics based on a very rich original database including, among others, information from the European Transparency Register matched with information on meetings held by EC members and data from social networks, and it plans original surveys and choice experiments. Web-scraping, textual analysis, network analysis and advanced econometrics will be used to further complement and exploit this rich dataset. The project is also informed by political science and science and technology studies to develop a point of view complementary to traditional economic approaches and lean on in-depth case studies. To understand and analyze this strategic design issue, the project features four main work packages. Those are organized around: 1) The dynamics of competition and lobbying in the energy sector; 2) Lobby group formation and functioning in the energy transition; 3) Informational lobbying and influence strategies; and 4) The impact of lobbying on European policies and international commitments. The broad purpose is to deepen our understanding of the policy process and inform the public debate by providing quantitative evidence, which should also target a wide audience, in order to develop the most appropriate response strategies and design energy transition policies that could better accommodate the political ecosystem. The project brings together three partners (Paris School of Economics, MINES ParisTech, the Centre d'économie de l'environnement de Montpellier and the Jean-Jacques Laffont Foundation - TSE) with international researchers, leaders in the field.