Léa Sébastien

Winner of the Project Transilience | 2020/2021 Ecological transition and social justice call for project

Léa Sébastien is a teacher in the geography department of the University of Toulouse II, and a researcher at the CNRS GEODE Laboratory since 2010. Her research concerns four main themes: participatory research, planning conflicts, attachment to place and indicators of durability. She is the author of numerous scientific publications on these themes, including two books. One concerns movements of resistance to development projects entitled: “Résister aux grands projets inutiles et imposés”, Editions Textuel, 2018. The other, relating to the potential for sustainable management in private forests, entitled: “Forêt cherche propriétaire pour relation durable”, Editions ECOFOR, 2002.

The Project

Ecological and inclusive transition initiatives are numerous and supported in all regions by a variety of players. They are, however, relatively isolated, in the minority and lacking in resources. Territorial anchoring associated with local networking appears necessary for them to come to structure the territories and strengthen their resilience. The primary stake of the Transilience project is the establishment of a participatory research system aimed at bringing together academics, associations, public authorities, businesses and citizens, through the development of collaborative tools making it possible to share and operationalize knowledge on transition and territorial resilience. It thus explores the following issue: to what extent can participatory research catalyze transition initiatives and strengthen the resilience of territories through the proposal of collaborative tools - multi-actor and multidisciplinary?

Selected Publications

  • Sebastien, L. (2020) The power of place in understanding place attachments and meanings. Geoforum, n°108, p.204-216p.
  • Sebastien L., Pelenc J., Milanesi, J. (2019) Resistance as an enlightening process: a new framework for analysis of the socio-political impacts of place-based environmental struggles. Local environment vol 24(5), p.487-504.
  • Sébastien L., Milanesi J., Pelenc J. (2019) Résister aux projets d’aménagement, politiser les territoires; Le concept de résistance éclairée appliqué à trois conflits d’aménagement (France, Belgique). Vertigo, dossier justice environnementale, vol 19, n°1
  • Dancette, R., Sebastien, L., (2019). The Actor in 4 dimensions: A relevant methodology to analyze local environmental governance and inform Ostrom’s social-ecological systems framework. MethodsX, 6, p.1798-1811.
  • Pelenc J., Wallenborn G., Milanesi J., Sébastien L., Vastenaekels J., Lajarthe F., Ballet J., Cervera-Marzal M., Carimentraund A., Merveille N., Frere B. (2019) Alternative and Resistance Movements: The Two Faces of Sustainability Transformations? Ecological Economics, vol 159, p. 373-378*
  • Sébastien, L., Lehtonen, M. & Bauler, T. (2017). Introduction. Les indicateurs participatifs tiennent-ils leurs promesses ?. Participations, 18,(2), 9-38.
  • Sébastien L. (2017) From NIMBY to enlightened resistance: a framework proposal to decrypt land-use disputes based on a landfill opposition case in France. Local Environment, vol. 22, issue 4, p.461-477.
  • Sébastien L. (2016) L’attachement au lieu, vecteur de mobilisation collective ? Étude de cinq territoires ruraux. Norois, n°238-239, 2016/1-2, p. 23-41.
  • Thiry G., Sébastien L., Bauler T. (2016) Ce que révèlent les discours des acteurs institutionnels sur un « au-delà du PIB ». In Nature, Sciences, Sociétés, Vol. 24, p. 3-14.
  • Lehtonen M., Sébastien L., Bauler T. (2016) The multiple roles of sustainability indicators in informational governance: between intended use and unanticipated influence. In Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability n°18, pp.1-9.
  • Sébastien L. (2014) Le territoire, un système socio-patrimonial décrypté par le modèle de l’Acteur en 4 Dimensions. Nouvelles perspectives en sciences sociales : revue internationale de systémique complexe et d'études relationnelles, Volume 10, numéro 1, 2014, p. 283-329.
  • Sébastien L. Bauler T. Lehtonen M. (2014) Can Indicators Bridge the Gap between Science and Policy? An Exploration into the (Non) use and (Non) Influence of Indicators in EU and UK Policymaking. Nature and Culture, volume 9, n°3. p. 316-343.
Research topics
gestion des espaces
resilience
territory

Transilience

Participatory research to catalyze transition initiatives and strengthen territorial resilience
Published at 17 December 2021