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River restoration paradigm takes a major place in French current management of water and aquatic environments. The paradigm signifiance becames more complex for the late 1970s and its first scientific and operational occurrences. Interest for restoration has not declined but its objectives are still discussed. Especially, meanings of restoration, rehabilitation and renaturation concepts also changed without clear established definitions and practices. Focused on French Water Agencies (FWA) Loire-Bretagne, Rhin-Meuse and Rhône-Méditerranée-Corse, this research is a retrospective study of intervention policies in the field of river restoration. Main objective of the research is to highlight geographical and historical differences in definitions and practices of river restoration in French public policies. The research is based on qualitative analysis of Intervention Programs on these basins (1964-2018). In addition to this analysis we performed a quantitative content analysis of financial aids granted by the FWA to achieve river restorations (1997-2011). The results underline a tension between hydraulic and ecological conceptions of restoration. This tension is still real despite the diversification and hybidization of practices. The present analysis of AE policy interventions can contribute to the current debate about a possible rise of river restorations in public action.

Keywords: restauration, réhabilitation, renaturation, entretien, cours d'eau, hydraulique, écologique, Agences de l'eau, politiques publiques, France, restoration, rehabilitation, renaturation, stream, hydraulic, ecological, Water Agencies, public policies, France

Since the 1990s, new forms of gardens appeared in French cities. Indicating a revival in landscape art, henceforth, they set themselves up as model of arrangement. The appearance of parks and public gardens, registered in these innovative projets of territory, offer a face revisited. Here and there, spontaneous vegetation displays unruly airs instead of spaces previously properly maintained. On behalf of ecological engineering that soak at the moment the management of natural artefact in the city, a revision of the practices gardeners is imperative. In Brittany, at the dawn of the XXIth century, the story of the water and the regional will to reconquer its quality was at the origin of the impulse given to the local authorities to reorientate their practices. This involves the revision of the interpretative filters of nature in the city. The gardeners of local authorities, whose job is to maintain the green urban areas deliver their perception of current developments. Their life stories illustrate the difficulty to give up a decorative appearance on the name of the new ecological values.

This article analyses the gap between scientific discourses on climate change which aims at generating momentum for ambitious adaptation and the reality of their consideration in the management of large infrastructure networks. Based on a detailed case study of a section of the railway system in Southern France exposed to multiple climate hazards, it first describes where and how the question of climate change is raised, from long-term mega-projects to daily exploitation issues. This work highlights a true uptake of ongoing changes through a form of adaptation which is incremental more than transformative. The second section of the article questions this approach considering both the properties of a changing climate (uncertainties and variability) and the current context of the railway sector, facing major other challenges (ex.: liberalization, renewal). The article shows how adaptation as we can observe it today, is the outcome of the interactions between scientific discourse and the complex reality of organizations.

Keywords: changement climatique, adaptation incrémentale, résilience, infrastructure, ferroviaire, SNCF, connaissance scientifique, climate change, incremental adaptation, resilience, infrastructure, railway, utilities, scientific knowledge

In the face of growing concerns linked to climate issue in both the scientific and the political arenas, this contribution addresses the meaning and scope of environmental change for different actors involved in pastoral and wine production sectors in the Aquitaine region of France. It states that the representations of environmental change are closely linked to the specificities of agricultural sectors, the kind of professional activities (such as farming, technics, administration, among others), and the levels of intervention (from the European to the local scale). The paper compares the discourses of different actors in both production sectors. It builds on both computer-assisted and manual analysis of discourses collected during focus-groups. Drawing on a strong thematic research and a didactic presentation of the methodology, a critical epistemological statement allows addressing the apparently normal scientific demonstration process. The latter appears to be a current and conventional process in research activities, implying posterior rearrangements that are not always made visible. Results show at last how important the regulatory dimension of environmental change can be for all actors. Climatic aspects remain a marginal concern, especially in the pastoral sector. Additionally, the study critically engages with the main drivers through which public action is implemented in agriculture. Indeed, the paper stresses how relevant the organization of the productive sectors is (be it a local and place-based organization – pastoral sector ; or a more institutional and vertical one – wine production sector) in framing representations and strategies linked with environmental change.

Keywords: changement environnemental, territoire, climat, réglementaire, pastoralisme, viticulture, analyse assistée par ordinateur, environmental change, territory, climate, regulation, pastoralism, wine production, computer-assisted analysis

The coastline, as well as being the interface between land and sea, is also where interactions occur and conflicts may arise between local and global dynamics. In cases such as these, how can an area-based general interest be constructed that combines both local and superregional interests? We conducted a comparative analysis of eight case studies addressing either the creation of protected areas at the interface between local dynamics and national and international requirements, or projects justified by the fight against climate change that have nevertheless met with local opposition (e.g. offshore wind farms or inland waterways for multimodal transport). The analysis reveals recurrences, with five mechanisms used to construct an area-based public interest and the project's acceptance: the generally tacit prioritising of stakeholders, issues and/or scales ; creating and making use of projects' adjustment variables ; transactions between stakeholders ; spatial exit, with certain activities transferred out of the area ; and the construction of new organised proximities. These mechanisms – which are complementary rather than alternative – make up the “HAPTE” grid (Hiérarchisation, Ajustement, Proximités, Transaction, Exit or Prioritisation, Adjustment, Proximities, Transaction, Exit). However, some of the mechanisms are skewed, making the agreement fragile. This results in three archetype processes with three possible outcomes: a dynamic area-based compromise, a skewed and fragile compromise or stonewalling and avoidance strategies. Based on our analysis, we propose a grid to evaluate the mechanisms mobilised to construct an agreement, enabling the quality of its underlying area-based general interest to be assessed.

Keywords: aires protégées, parcs éoliens, environnement, intérêt général, littoral, proximités, territoire, coastal areas, environment, general interest, protected areas, proximities, territory, wind farms

States members of the international community can exercise universal jurisdiction over serious crimes under international law. However, we can imagine that a State cannot exercise universal jurisdiction if it violates immunities enjoyed by senior State officials. It seems to us that the principle of immunity of senior State officials cannot prevent a national court to prosecute the suspect who committed serious crimes under international law. Jus cogens crimes cannot be considered as acts jure imperii. To this end, jus cogens crimes such as crimes against humanity and war crimes, cannot be considered as the functions of a head of State or a head of government. It seems that a conflict between the superior peremptory norms and the ordinary rules of immunity would result in the prevailing of the former over the latter. In cases of jus cogens crimes, States are not bound by the ordinary rules of immunity of senior State officials. In this context, the immunity of senior State officials in office cannot prevent the Forum State to exercise universal jurisdiction in order to protect the general interests of the international community as a whole.

When two persons enter into a transaction contract, they forgo the right to obtain a judicial determination of their legal situation. The agreement extinguishes their initial claims. The obligations set forth in the convention are the only ones still owing. It is therefore natural to ask if this contractual determination of pre-existing rights amounts to novation. To answer this question, a careful analysis of the contract is required. This allows us to distinguish easily an out of court settlement from a discontinuance or a confession of judgment. It explains why, in the case of transaction contracts, obligations without cause are simply an example of invalid consent, whether because of fear or error. Furthermore, the fact that transaction is res judicata between the contracting parties does not assist us. Moreover, it is possible to ask for the judicial resolution of a transaction that has not been complied with; the question of novation does not arise here. When it is remembered that many contracts are modified without novation, the theory of automatic novation must be abandoned. This can be of interest in the search for the prescription period that governs this contract. This pragmatic solution can help us to construe an out fo court settlement or to study some caracteristics of joint and several obligations.

While they have long been considered as initiatives emanating from civil society or peasant movements, urban agriculture and food sovereignty are now integrated in policy design and instruments. On the one hand, alternative food movements actively seek to reach broader decision-making spheres. On the other hand, public authorities and private actors increasingly refer to such notions to guide or justify their action. The article questions the impacts of these trends from two main perspectives : their effect on the power relations between actors ; and their transformative potential, that is their capacity to alter a sectorial frame of reference driven by market and multi-functionality logics. The demonstration relies on a case study located in Geneva, Switzerland, concerned with the development of the regional brand Genève Region - Terre Avenir (GRTA). This case is interesting for three reasons : the close (and explicit) link to urban agriculture and food sovereignty, the collaborative forms of governance that have been developed in a country where the agro-food sector has long been considered as strongly corporatist, and the criteria of guarantee (quality, proximity, traceability and fairness) that distinguish GRTA from comparable brands. These singularities are explored through a cognitive approach, which considers change as the result of a confrontation between communities of actors whose belief systems diverge. Throughout the case study, compromises and imbalances between communities are highlighted. In the end, the difficulties to upset the dominant frame of reference are underlined.

Keywords: référentiels d'action, politique agricole, souveraineté alimentaire, agriculture urbaine, marque régionale, Genève, Suisse, frames of action, agricultural policy, food sovereignty, urban agriculture, regional brand, Geneva, Switzerland

The red muds and dusts released by the production of specialty alumina from Altéo-Gardanne (southeast France) has been the subject of numerous mobilizations since 2014. They follow the positive and conditional advice given by the young Calanques National Park to continue discharging bauxite into its marine core area. This paper proposes an analysis of these mobilizations, based on a sociological survey (2015-19) conducted among their main stakeholders : the collective for the Calanques protection, fishermen, ecological collective, or Altéo-Gardanne and Mange-Garri landfill residents' organizations. The analysis of their discourses makes possible to identify several problem definitions or "framing", which reflect different experiences of environmental and health damage, and divergent world views (including about technology). Furthermore, these discourses borrow from registers related to Environmental Justice, without explicitly referring to it. The parallel with the US founding mobilizations of this wide movement contributes to question the dynamics of the anti-discharges of bauxite front, the diversity of its participants and resources, as well as the main elements that curtail or, rather, foster the convergence of the "land" cause and the "sea" cause.

Keywords: boue rouge, poussière rouge, bauxite, alumine, rejet industriel, pollution, justice environnementale, inégalité environnementale, impact environnemental, impact sanitaire, mobilisations sociales, mouvement antitoxique, cadrage du problème, Altéo-Gardanne (France), Parc national des Calanques, dépôt de Mange-Garri (France), red sludge, red dust, bauxite, alumina, industrial discharge, pollution, Environmental Justice, environmental inequality, environmental impact, health impact, social mobilizations, antitoxic movement, problem framing, Altéo-Gardanne (France), Calanques National Park, Mange-Garri landfill (France)