The ENS de Lyon, through its Institute for Sustainable Worlds and the CERGIC economics laboratory, emphasizes the need to break down knowledge silos to tackle contemporary challenges. A joint interview with Valentine Boutherin, Deputy Director of the Institute, and Mathieu Couttenier, Director of CERGIC, highlights this approach.
Valentine Boutherin explains that the complexity of current crises, playing out at all scales, makes interdisciplinarity essential. The goal is also to work with local stakeholders so that research addresses regional concerns. The Institute for Sustainable Worlds will soon launch a call for projects to support interdisciplinary research anchored at the regional level.
Mathieu Couttenier adds that contemporary crises transcend disciplinary boundaries, as illustrated by a drought affecting climate, economy, and conflicts. Economics helps understand these chains of events and actors' trade-offs, thus enabling a better grasp of crises and identification of action levers.
The SHIELD chair exemplifies the renewal of scientific methods through satellite data. Mathieu Couttenier notes that satellite observation, complementing field surveys and in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), offers new possibilities for measuring the consequences of climate change and identifying informal or illegal economic activities.
This approach also transforms learning. Valentine Boutherin states that at ENS de Lyon, research-based training aims to understand how knowledge is produced and mobilized. First-year students participate in study days on local socio-technical controversies, such as PFAS or mountain adaptation to climate change, to analyze stakeholder dynamics and the role of science.
Mathieu Couttenier emphasizes that training through research means learning to question one's certainties, confronting hypotheses with data, and evaluating the consequences of collective choices, empowering students to form their own judgment.
The ENS de Lyon, as an institution, is also engaged in this process. Valentine Boutherin mentions workshops to raise staff awareness of socio-environmental issues and adapt their practices, aiming to reduce the institution's environmental footprint and make it more resilient to future disruptions.
Mathieu Couttenier concludes that fostering dialogue between science and society illuminates decisions, reveals tensions, and opens avenues for reflection, empowering stakeholders to understand and question ongoing transformations.
