Jon Marco Church | Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne (original) (raw)

Books by Jon Marco Church

Routledge, 2020

This book provides a comprehensive understanding of environmental regionalism at the internationa... more This book provides a comprehensive understanding of environmental regionalism at the international level, analyzing the concept and identifying recurring patterns from six in-depth case studies.

While ecoregions or environmental regions are defined on ecological boundaries rather than administrative criteria, ecoregionalism is the idea that regional dynamics should cluster around ecoregions, while ecoregionalization is the tendency of regional dynamics to cluster around ecoregions. Focusing on the international level, this book presents six cases of ecoregional processes from around the world and the regional environmental agreements: two are terrestrial, the Alps and the Andes; two are marine, the Mediterranean Sea and the Baltic Sea; two are related to freshwater ecosystems: the Amu Darya in Central Asia and the Great Lakes in North America. The book analyzes both ecoregional processes focused on the environment, as well as intersectoral ecoregional processes. The case studies are analyzed based on the ecoregional governance framework, developed by the author for this book. Despite the diversity of context, the similarity of the governance system of the six cases is striking. Several recurring patterns have been identified, which may also extend to the subnational level. They are not design principles, but may be taken into consideration for the design or redesign of current and future regional environmental agreements and processes.

This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental politics, natural resource management, spatial planning and international relations.

Les travaux récents sur la politique environnementale et de la théorie des relations in-ternation... more Les travaux récents sur la politique environnementale et de la théorie des relations in-ternationales se sont intéressés à tout sauf à la question de l’état. Notre étude de cas de la Convention alpine du point de vue de l’organisation internationale remet l’état au centre du débat. D’abord, nous proposons un cadrage théorique autour des écorégions et de l’écorégionalisme en tant qu’idéologie contestée. Puis, nous comparons la convention comme un accord régional sur l’environnement avec la Communauté andine comme un processus d’intégration régional, ce qui nous amène à la considérer une organisation internationale comme les autres. Nous continuons notre étude en livrant une reconstruction historique parti-culièrement détaillée de la genèse et de l’évolution de la convention entre 1952 et aujourd’hui. Nous élucidons ainsi le rapport ambigu avec l’intégration européenne et la perte d’élan des dernières années. Nous passons enfin à l’étude de l’écorégionalisation comme dynamique normative à travers les études de cas du Groupe de travail « Patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO » et du Protocole « aménagement du territoire et développement durable ». Ce dernier suggère le rôle important de l’état dans le processus conventionnel. Par les biais des tableaux d’organisation, nous analysons donc les organes de la convention pour illustrer la place des états dans la structure institutionnelle. Nous représentons symboliquement cette re-lation par une pyramide à l’envers. Les défis écologiques ne connaissent pas de frontières. Le retour de l’état est fondamental dans la transition vers la durabilité.

1. Carte générale du périmètre de la Convention alpine (source : SOIA, 2008) 2. Carte générale d... more 1. Carte générale du périmètre de la Convention alpine (source : SOIA, 2008)
2. Carte générale des bassins hydrographiques (source : SOIA, 2008)
3. Changement annuel relatif de la surface boisée (source : SOIA, 2007)
4. Index d’hémérobie (anthropisation) (source : EURAC, 2005)
5. Changement démographique, 1990-2001 (source : SOIA, 2007)
6. Index de vieillissement (source : SOIA, 2007)
7. PIB pro capita (source : SOIA, 2007)
8. Intensité touristique (source : SOIA, 2007)
9. Réseau routier (source : SOIA, 2007)
10. Groupes linguistiques (source : EURAC, 2004)
11. Métropoles alpines (source : SOIA, 2007)
12. Unités administratives (source : EURAC, 2004)
13. Grandes espaces protégés (source : ALPARC, 2010)
14. Zones prioritaires de conservation (source : WWF, 2004)
15. Patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO (2010)

The Carpathian Convention is an international agreement signed in 2003 by seven countries – the C... more The Carpathian Convention is an international agreement signed in 2003 by seven countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine – to ensure the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathian mountain region. Since then, the Carpathian Convention progressed remarkably, as decisions were taken, working groups created, reports and terms of reference adopted, memoranda of understanding signed. This volume collects the main documents produced in the framework of the Carpathian Convention including the Protocol on Biodiversity. This collection is aimed not only at decision-makers, civil servants or scientific experts, but also at common citizens interested in this innovative cooperation process right at the heart of Europe.

Summary: Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians - Protocol on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological and Landscape Diversity – Status of Ratification – First Conference of the Parties – Second Conference of the Parties - Rules of Procedure for the COP – Working Groups – Other Groups and Initiatives - Memoranda of Understanding.

The Carpathian Convention is an international agreement signed in 2003 by seven countries – the C... more The Carpathian Convention is an international agreement signed in 2003 by seven countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine – to ensure the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathian mountain region. Since then, the Carpathian Convention progressed remarkably, as decisions were taken, working groups created, reports and terms of reference adopted. This volume collects the main documents produced in the framework of the Carpathian Convention until March 2008. This collection is aimed not only at decision-makers, civil servants or scientific experts, but also at common citizens interested in this innovative cooperation process right at the heart of Europe.

Summary: Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians – Status of Ratification – The First Conference of the Parties – Rules of Procedure for the COP – The Working Groups – Other Groups and Initiatives.

Papers by Jon Marco Church

Clean Water and Sanitation, 2021

Water plans are policy instruments with varying degrees of legal bindingness to guide future use,... more Water plans are policy instruments with varying degrees of legal bindingness to guide future use, development, and protection of water resources (Werdiningtyas et al. 2020). They can also be considered boundary objects that are co-produced by relevant authorities, experts, and water users and other stakeholders (Graversgaard et al. 2017).
Water planning is the process by which the use, development, and protection of water resources over time is anticipated to prevent conflict over water use, as well as water scarcity and depletion (Loucks et al. 2017). It may or may not lead to a water plan.

Journal of telemedicine and telecare, 2003

We examined the process of social support for breast cancer survivors in rural Newfoundland and L... more We examined the process of social support for breast cancer survivors in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. The subjects were 11 participants in a social support programme that made use of audioconferencing. The core social psychological process by which women received social support consisted of four distinct but overlapping stages: getting connected to the network; finding a voice; connecting with others; and becoming empowered. The findings suggested that support groups facilitated via audioconferencing can transcend geographical distance and permit women living in rural areas to share experiences with each other and to learn from and teach each other. The use of telephone and audioconferencing technologies should be encouraged for the provision of information and support to people in rural settings, where such services may be especially beneficial.

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Penser les milieux vivants en commun, 2021

Réfléchir aux milieux vivants participe d’une façon ou d’une autre, active ou passive, à l’aventu... more Réfléchir aux milieux vivants participe d’une façon ou d’une autre, active ou passive, à l’aventure philosophique. Cela a beaucoup à voir avec la place de l’humain dans les réflexions sur l’environnement. Cela me fait penser à un cours d’histoire moderne d’Ugo Baldini, que j’avais suivi à l’université de Padoue, en Italie. Ce cours tentait d’expliquer comment l’Occident en est arrivé là, comment l’Occident a atteint une position dominante sur le reste de la planète. Et ceci à travers la lecture d’historiens mais aussi de géographes du calibre de Fernand Braudel, Immanuel Wallerstein, Éric Jones, David Landes et Jared Diamond.

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2020

Cities are major drivers of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions--the sources of anthr... more Cities are major drivers of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions--the sources of anthropocentric climate change, whilst also concentrating people, buildings, and infrastructures and therefore potential risk and impacts of the latter. As a consequence, planning for climate change in urban areas does not only provide the opportunity but should necessitate considering interactions between mitigation and adaptation actions. However, existing research found that only a minority of urban areas consider both mitigation and adaptation in their climate action plans, i.e. 147 Climate Change Action Plans (CCAPs) were identified among a representative sample of 885 European cities. We investigate these 147 CCAPs to understand the degree of integration of adaptation and mitigation and draw implications for the maximization of synergies and co-benefits of such a combined approach. Using the developed scoring framework to evaluate the level of integration of CCAPs, the research finds that most of the plans reveal a ‘moderate’ level of integration. Moderate integration characterizes a plan that identifies sources of emissions and vulnerabilities to climate change, as well as some qualitative consideration of the synergies, but one that lacks a systematic consideration of potential integration opportunities. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that one of the main gaps of the evaluation and implementation of more integrated climate change actions in cities is the insufficient quantitative evaluation of the costs and funding schemes for adaptation and mitigation action implementation.

Sustainability Research in the Upper Rhine Region, 2019

This contribution presented first the importance of societal actors within the French LT(S)ER net... more This contribution presented first the importance of societal actors within the French LT(S)ER net-work and their role in transdisciplinary research processes that promote public participation in environmental governance, as well as citizen science. It then discussed the level of participation of civil society in the case of the Argonne LTSER project. It showed that the project is currently being designed to ensure a high or medium level of participation in each phase. It is expected that this will contribute to solve both scientific and societal problems, will improve science-policy relations and will foster cooperation among disciplines in both the natural sciences and the social sciences, among the academic institutions, particularly within the new region, as well as other societal actors. The Argonne LTSER platform is expected to transform this area into a living lab of sustainability. It would provide the opportunity for long-term transdisciplinary research processes to tackle the problems of rural areas and social-ecological systems such as the Argonne and contribute to their transformation towards sustainability. The research infrastructure of the French network of LTSER sites will also facilitate collaboration and allow developing joint actions and socio-ecological experimentations together with other LTSER platforms in France, for instance with regard to data infrastructure, the development of shared protocols to study for example problems of public health in forest areas such as the diffusion of the Lyme disease, as well as the participation in international collaborations in the framework of the global and European LTER network. This contribution also aimed at informing the participants in this International Sustainability Conference about the Argonne LTSER platform and at identifying scholars, particularly those from the Upper Rhine Cluster for Sustainability Research, who are potentially interested in this initiative. The French LT(S)ER network and the Argonne LTSER platform are ideally positioned as an observatory of the Anthropocene.

Ecology and Society, 2019

Many social-ecological system(SES)-based approaches have been proposed to address environmental p... more Many social-ecological system(SES)-based approaches have been proposed to address environmental problems. Most social-ecological frameworks developed to date, however, lack clear operational linkages between humans and nature to efficiently guide SESs toward resilience. A conceptual framework designed to be operational is therefore necessary, as well as a network of research platforms with which to apply it. We defined explicit coupling processes that can be used as leverages to pilot an SES toward sustainability. We proposed to formalize an SES as a dynamic entity composed of two coupling interfaces, i.e., adaptive management and ecosystem services, both set within a landscape context to provide an actionable framework. These interfaces describe the way various actors, including scholars, benefit from and manage complex and changing interactions between the biophysical and social templates. Understanding the key processes underlying the interaction dynamics, especially those leveraging adaptive management processes, would help identify adaptive pathways for practices and collective actions, provide a crucial knowledge base for policy makers, and foster operationality as a requisite of an SES research agenda. Using several examples, we explained why long-term social-ecological research platforms provide an ideal operational network of research infrastructures to conduct place-based action-orientated research targeting the sustainability of SESs.

Journal of Alpine Research, 2018

The Ardennes are a mountain forest area in the heart of Europe. It is fundamental for this mounta... more The Ardennes are a mountain forest area in the heart of Europe. It is fundamental for this mountain area to be able to anticipate climate change and its expected impacts. In this article, we are particularly interested in the Ardennes governance system. We first use transformational sustainability research methods through a methodological framework that combines different methods. In this context, we proceed with a diagnostic analysis of the sustainability of the Ardennes governance system. This analysis was developed from a version of the general framework for the analysis of the sustainability of socio-ecological systems developed by Ostrom. It was adapted to a large system and applied as part of a participatory research process. This identified three main vulnerabilities: the absence of an observatory of the socio-ecological system as a whole, the lack of a structured intersectoral dialogue, and the limited capacity to act of local authorities and civil society. We therefore suggest conducting prospective and retrospective analyses to identify adaptation paths of the governance system in relation to climate change. This should make it possible to design and experiment interventions to transform the governance of this large socio-ecological system towards greater sustainability.

Revue de géographie alpine, 2018

Les Ardennes sont un massif forestier au cœur de l’Europe. Il est fondamental pour ce massif de p... more Les Ardennes sont un massif forestier au cœur de l’Europe. Il est fondamental pour ce massif de pouvoir anticiper le changement climatique et ses impacts prévus. Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons particulièrement au système de gouvernance des Ardennes. Nous mobilisons d’abord les méthodes de recherche transformationnelle en matière de durabilité par le biais d’un cadre méthodologique qui intègre différentes méthodes. Dans ce contexte, nous procédons avec une analyse diagnostique de la durabilité du système de gouvernance ardennais. Cette analyse a été développé à partir d’une version du cadre général pour l’analyse de la durabilité des systèmes socio-écologiques développé par Ostrom. Elle a été adaptée à un système de grandes dimensions et appliqué dans le cadre d’un processus de recherche participative. Cela a permis d’identifier trois vulnérabilités principales : l’absence d’un observatoire du système socio-écologique dans son ensemble, l’absence d’un dialogue intersectoriel structuré et la capacité d’agir limitée des collectivités territoriales et de la société civile. Nous suggérons donc de mettre en place des analyses prospectives et rétrospectives afin d’identifier des trajectoires d’adaptation du système de gouvernance par rapport au changement climatique. Cela devrait permettre de concevoir et expérimenter des interventions pour transformer la gouvernance de ce système socio-écologique de grandes dimensions vers une plus grande durabilité.

Cities, 2018

Climate Action Planning is one of the top priorities of cities in order to reduce greenhouse gas ... more Climate Action Planning is one of the top priorities of cities in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening climate-resilience, as pointed out by the New Urban Agenda and the Paris Agreement. This study aims at assessing the development of climate change mitigation and adaptation planning in Italian cities. To this end, we analysed the availability of Local Climate Plans (LCPs) in 76 cities, which are included in the Eurostat Urban Audit (UA-2015) database. In a further step, we analysed the content of the urban climate change mitigation and adaptation plans available in a smaller sample of 32 Italian cities of 2007 Eurostat Urban Audit database (UA-3), looking at the single actions undertaken for addressing mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Results show the almost total absence of comprehensive and stand-alone urban climate change adaptation plans in Italy (except for two cities, Ancona and Bologna), whereas we found that in 61 out of 76 cities municipal civil protection plans are the instruments that deal with local emergencies associated to extreme weather events. On the other hand, 56 out of 76 urban climate change mitigation plans (i.e. Sustainable Energy Action Plans) are being developed in the framework of the Covenant of Mayors, which is a transnational network of local governments created by the European Union (EU) in 2012. The results obtained on the mitigation side point out that, in absence of a national law that imposes Italian cities to develop LCPs, transnational networks are an effective boost to voluntary commitment to reach EU climate and energy objectives.

Актуальные проблемы современного общества и пути их решения в условиях перехода к цифровой экономике: материалы XIV Международной научной конференции, 2018

This paper proposes a methodology for the integration of the Sustainable Goals and the National D... more This paper proposes a methodology for the integration of the Sustainable Goals and the National Development Strategy into the National Water Strategy of Tajikistan. It builds on a Rapid Integrated Assessment that was produced by UNDP and contains step-by-step guidelines on how to produce analyses of specific issues. This methodology was developed for the National Water Strategy of Tajikistan, but it can be easily adapted and used in other countries and issue areas, provided collaboration is established with UNDP. This paper represents an example of so-called transformational sustainability research and adopts a transdisciplinary research methodology involving both experts and decision-makers. An example of the implementation of this methodology is the paper on "The legal basis and institutional structure of water management" by the same author.

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2018

The Paris Agreement aims to limit global mean temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees ... more The Paris Agreement aims to limit global mean temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This target has wide-ranging implications for Europe and its cities, which are the source of substantial proportions of greenhouse gas emissions. This paper reports the state of planning for climate change by collecting and analysing local climate mitigation and adaptation plans across 885 urban areas of the EU-28. A typology and analysis framework was developed that classifies local climate plans in terms of their spatial (alignment with local, national and international policy) and sectoral integration (alignment into existing local policy documents). We document local climate plans that we call type A1: non-compulsory by national law and not developed as part of international climate networks; A2: compulsory by national law and not developed as part of international networks; A3: plans developed as part of international networks. This most comprehensive analysis to date reveals that there is large diversity in the availability of local climate plans with most being available in Central and Northern European cities. Approximately 66% of EU cities have an A1, A2, or A3 mitigation plan, 26% an adaptation plan, 17% joint adaptation and mitigation plans, and about 30% lack any form of local climate plan (i.e. what we classify as A1, A2, A3 plans). Mitigation plans are more numerous than adaptation plans, but mitigation does not always precede adaptation. Our analysis reveals that city size, national legislation, and international networks can influence the development of local climate plans. We found that size does matter as about 70% of the cities above 1 million inhabitants have a comprehensive and stand-alone mitigation and/or an adaptation plan (A1 or A2). Countries with national climate legislation (A2), such as Denmark, France, Slovakia and the United Kingdom, are found to have nearly twice as many urban mitigation plans, and five times more likely to produce urban adaptation plans, than countries without such legislation. A1 and A2 mitigation plans are particularly numerous in Denmark, Poland, Germany, and Finland; while A1 and A2 adaptation plans are prevalent in Denmark, Finland, UK and France. The integration of adaptation and mitigation is country-specific and can mainly be observed in countries where local climate plans are compulsory, especially in France and the UK. Finally, local climate plans of international climate networks (A3) are mostly found in the many countries where autonomous, i.e. A1 plans are less common. The findings reported here are of international importance as they will inform and support decision-making and thinking of stakeholders with similar experiences or developments at all levels and sectors in other regions around the world.

Water Resources in Central Asia: International Context, 2017

Freshwater is among the major resources of Tajikistan. With the majority of the surface water ori... more Freshwater is among the major resources of Tajikistan. With the majority of the surface water originating from its territory, the country represents a water tower for the Amu Darya and consequently for the Aral Sea. Per inhabitant, Tajikistan uses much less of the water resources used in other riparian countries and has a significant hydropower potential. To fully develop it, Tajikistan follows a sophisticated strategy that includes the construction of the Rogun dam and that is articulated on several levels: from the citizen level to the national level with a national water sector reform and to the international level with many bilateral, regional, and global initiatives. Tajikistan has become one of the leading countries on water cooperation at the global level and places the United Nations at the center of global water governance. The soft power of Tajikistan on the water agenda can be broken down in several attributes: the international context with a fragmented global water governance; the leadership provided at the highest levels of the state and the stability of power structures; the expertise and capacity built in the country; the support of many countries, international organizations, and international financial institutions; as well as the traditional hospitality of the Tajik people. This all contributes to the so-called Dushanbe Spirit. With its water initiatives and by hosting conferences in Dushanbe, Tajikistan provides a public good to the international community. The latest initiative to date led to the declaration by the UN General Assembly of the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development” (2018–2028).

Routledge, 2020

This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental politics, natural resource management, spatial planning and international relations.

The Carpathian Convention is an international agreement signed in 2003 by seven countries – the C... more The Carpathian Convention is an international agreement signed in 2003 by seven countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine – to ensure the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathian mountain region. Since then, the Carpathian Convention progressed remarkably, as decisions were taken, working groups created, reports and terms of reference adopted. This volume collects the main documents produced in the framework of the Carpathian Convention until March 2008. This collection is aimed not only at decision-makers, civil servants or scientific experts, but also at common citizens interested in this innovative cooperation process right at the heart of Europe.

Clean Water and Sanitation, 2021

Journal of telemedicine and telecare, 2003

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Penser les milieux vivants en commun, 2021

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2020

Sustainability Research in the Upper Rhine Region, 2019

Ecology and Society, 2019

Journal of Alpine Research, 2018

Revue de géographie alpine, 2018

Cities, 2018

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2018

Water Resources in Central Asia: International Context, 2017

This chapter consists of a literature review of who said what about norms at the international le... more This chapter consists of a literature review of who said what about norms at the international level. It explores what it means to look at sustainable planning as an emerging norm. Given the limited capacity of negotiated agreements to impose sustainable planning as an international norm, the author concludes that it is in the emergence of sustainability as a condition for international agreements where the greatest impact is to be expected.

Since the early 1990s, much ado has been around about creating new institutions for the governanc... more Since the early 1990s, much ado has been around about creating new institutions for the governance of sustainability. Environmental degradation was perceived as a new problem and, as such, many experts and decision-makers called for new solutions not only in the form of new policies, but also of new institutions, which should better fit sustainability challenges at different spatial and temporal scales. Not only environmental degradation is far from being a new problem, but there also is nothing new, as far as political theory is concerned, about institutions such as multilateral conventions, regional environmental agreements, intergovernmental panels of experts, multi-stakeholder fora, inter-ministerial committees, technical agencies, users associations, community assemblies, etc. International treaties, ecosystem management, expert commissions, independent bodies, public debates, and so on, existed in fact long before, often since the 19th century, and they can all be assimilated with, I argue, the spectrum of traditional forms of government, particularly the different flavors of direct and representative democracy, with all their advantages and limitations. New technologies and developments only magnify or at times distort otherwise well-known dynamics. Specific examples will be provided from across time and places and a large body of literature will be mobilized in support of the main argument. The whole arsenal of political theory can therefore be harnessed to analyze current phenomena.

Depuis le début des années 1990, on entend beaucoup parler de la création de nouvelles institutio... more Depuis le début des années 1990, on entend beaucoup parler de la création de nouvelles institutions de gouvernance de la durabilité. La dégradation de l’environnement étant perçue comme un nouveau problème, de nombreux experts et décideurs ont appelé à de nouvelles solutions, non seulement sous la forme de nouvelles politiques, mais aussi de nouvelles institutions mieux ajustées aux défis de la durabilité à différentes échelles spatiales et temporelles. Pourtant, en réalité, non seulement la dégradation de l’environnement est loin d’être un problème nouveau, mais il n’y a rien de nouveau non plus en termes de théorie politique dans les institutions comme les conventions multilatérales, les accords environnementaux régionaux, les groupes intergouvernementaux d’experts, les forums avec les différents porteurs d’intérêts, les comités interministériels, les organismes techniques, les associations d’utilisateurs et les assemblées communautaires. Les traités internationaux, la gestion des écosystèmes, les commissions d’experts, les organismes indépendants, les débats publics, et ainsi de suite, existent en effet depuis longtemps, certains depuis le XIXème siècle et, de l’avis de l’auteur, ils peuvent tous être assimilés aux formes traditionnelles de gouvernement, en particulier les différentes déclinaisons de la démocratie directe et représentative, avec tous leurs avantages et leurs limites. Les nouvelles technologies et évolutions ne font que magnifier, et parfois déformer, des dynamiques par ailleurs bien connues.