Thesis Abstract by Lucy Fauré
I. Introduction
My thesis was part of a project financed by the Foundation of France. This organization supports actors who undertake public actions. In 2016, this foundation launched the PEDALO project which have brought together geographers and psychologists from the University of Nantes. The objective was to study how the inhabitants of the French coastline visualize a particular coastal risk (in connection with the notion of social representations), and saw which protection strategies they think are the most effective to deal with it. The particularity of the project was to focus on the defense of protected natural areas (PNAs) against the risk of marine flooding. The PNAs are areas rich in terms of fauna and flora whose management is partly regulated by the state.
II. Literature review
Marine flooding is characterized by a gigantic rise in sea level that engulfs the coasts of a territory. PNAs are very exposed to this. Their immersion can lead to the loss of part of France’s natural resources. We asked ourselves if the inhabitants were aware of this disaster scenario, which is why we wanted to know how they visualized the coastal risks and if they felt vulnerable. Since we are talking about ecological issues, we also analyzed how people on the coast think that people should manage natural resources. Researchers have also shown that we tend not to react in the same way to risk depending on whether it affects a place to which we are attached or not. Indeed, it is possible to appreciate a place to the point of being deeply affected if it is destroyed or if one has to move away from it. We therefore wished to know how attaching yourself to a PNA could affect the way you judge the risks facing it.
III. Problematic and hypotheses
To summarize, we asked ourselves if the residents were aware of the danger of staying close to the coast. In addition, we looked at whether these individuals were concerned about the fate of the PNAs if they were to be submerged. We also hypothesized that attachment to a PNA could have an effect on all of our variables. Finally, we identified which strategies our participants thought would be most effective in preventing the risk of flooding in our field of study.
IV. Methodology
To get answers, we focused on five PNAs in France with the aim of collecting data. As a first step, we conducted interviews with the staff of the five targeted PNAs and also with elected politicians involved in the legal settlement of PNAs. Thereafter, we analyzed the content of some of these interviews. In a second step, we admitted a questionnaire to voluntary residents in the municipalities surrounding the five sites.
V. Results
In general, it appears that local residents are aware of the ecological wealth that the PNAs in their municipalities contain. All the participants interviewed seem emotionally committed to safeguarding coastal PNAs. Moreover, they all seem to be aware that water levels are constantly rising. However, we have observed an overall tendency to underestimate the risk of marine flooding. Managers and politicians don’t know the actual level of water rise. Local residents do not feel vulnerable to rising sea levels. Yet, everyone is aware of the considerable damage that a flood could have on the town. Last important element, the idea of setting up barricades (dykes for exemples) to protect PNAs from the waves is the one that most appeals to residents. Well, dykes are fragile and expensive to maintain. So, it is not the most effective solution in the long term. Nevertheless, it is also the solution that is prefer by most managers and politicians when they talk about keeping PNAs out of the water.
VI. Conclusion
To conclude, our study highlighted that, despite the fact that coastal populations claim to want to get involved in philanthropic struggles of an environmental nature and that it lends PNAs an awareness dimension on these issues, there remains a general lack of knowledge of coastal risks that doesn’t facilitate exchanges in this field.
VII. Words I have learned :
to undertake : entreprendre
the coastline : le littoral
a marine flooding : une inondation marine
with the aim of doing something : dans le but de faire quelque chose
a dyke : une digue
appeal to somebody : attirer, plaire