Sylvie Houte

Extending biodiversity conservation to citizens

The biodiversity crisis calls for a rethinking of conservation strategies, considering in particular the citizens of a territory as the new actors of the socio-ecosystem. My work focuses on the processes of citizen involvement and engagement in environmental action. I implement participatory devices that seek to initiate awareness of the power to act and the development of a local action network that promotes the emancipation of participants and cooperation with public actors. It is action research that involves the 23 primary schools of the Zone Atelier Plaine et Val de Sèvre, beekeepers, inhabitants and elected officials. The approach chosen is based on the concept of social learning and on the reconnection of participants to nature close by, because experiences of nature, especially those lived during childhood, influence our actions, our life choices and our decisions. My research questions the factors of citizen involvement in the conservation of biodiversity and in particular the determinants of the relationships we build with nature and which influence our representations, and which will therefore in turn influence our life choices, our involvement or not in favour of biodiversity.

Research Engineer HC CNRS – AGRIPOP Team
sylvie.houte(at)cebc.cnrs.fr
tel + 33 (0)5 49 09 78 38

ResearchGate

Citizen Science Programs

1. Des Nichoirs dans la Plaine, 3000 nesting boxes installed since 2007

2. Mon Village Espace de Biodiversité since 2012

3. BeeHope programme ERANET- Biodiversa on the conservation of the black bee, since 2015

Ongoing Research Programs

Nouveaux Commanditaires-Sciences managed by l’Atelier des Jours à Venir, a teaching and research cooperative, depuis 2013 (Fondation de France)

INTERPOL : Conservation of wild bees (Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine), M2 in 2021

Programme Aliment’Action from ZA :
1. Nature et Perceptions (Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine), M2 in 2019
2. Forum des Transitions, (Université La Rochelle) : ateliers de recherche-action, réalisation d’un film

Partners

• Nicolas BECU UMR LIENSs – Université La Rochelle
• Pascal MONESTIEZ BioSP, INRA, Avignon, CEBC UMR 7372
• Xavier BONNET CEBC UMR 7372
• Anne-Caroline PREVOT DR CNRS au Centre d’Ecologie et des Sciences de la Conservation (CESCO) du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle
• Jocelyne BRANDEAU Présidente Ligue de l’Enseignement 79
• Réseau scientifique Abeilles et Sociétés
• Equipe pédagogique du pôle Science et Nature du Département des Deux-Sèvres, Zoodyssée