Instrumental and Political Asymmetries in Coastal Risks Perception Between the French State, Local Actors and the European Union

Presentation of a new project (2014-2016) funded by the French Ministry of Ecology, involving F. Chateauraynaud, J. Debaz, A. Saint-Martin, M. Jouvenet, R. Le Roux.

Background
• Recent concerns have stressed a probable increase of the frequency of extreme events and new risks linked to climate change.
• Between generic models and emerging big data strategies, best predictive configurations are not firmly established.
• Political tension with legal framework under progress. Tensions occur between the State and local actors concerning the responsibility of risk prediction and preparedness, as illustrated by the case of storm Xynthia (Feb. 2010, 59 casualties, mainly in France): while the State has not properly applied its own directives, it is suing local mayors for not respecting them; in turn, following the trend of participative science, local towns are recruiting technicians to have their own measures. Local territories also show growing demand of satellite observation solutions offered by the European Union.

Hypotheses and questions
How cognitive facilities and political margins of maneuver influence each other: whether, to what extent and in what cases an instrumental asymmetry occurs between the State and local actors (i.e., the State using rather generic prediction instruments, vs. local actors using rather territory-specific information). If so, are such asymmetries a condition or an effect of political tensions?
Do scientists play a neutral role in the way they produce and disseminate data, models and scenarios?

Terrains and approach
Comparative approach with case studies: geographical comparisons (France-USA-Japan); risk comparisons (oil spills, algal blooms); scientific and socio-technical configurations (instrumental strategies and division of labor).