Lea Sebastien | Université Toulouse II Jean Jaurès (original) (raw)

Papers by Lea Sebastien

Encyclopedia of Water, 2019

Ecological Economics from the Ground Up, 2013

The harbour city of Antwerp (Belgium) has a long history of expanding industrialisation with impa... more The harbour city of Antwerp (Belgium) has a long history of expanding industrialisation with impacts on the environment and inhabitants' health. Life expectancy in Antwerp is two years shorter than the average in Flanders, a highly industrialised region in itself 3. In the suburb of Hoboken, where UPMR 4 runs the world's largest precious metals recycling unit, the link between pollution and health is intriguing. Although the plant has implemented substantial ecological modernisation since the 1970s, the legacy of 122 years of historic pollution is still present: lead, arsenic and cadmium levels in the soil increase with proximity to the factory, as does the level of lead in the blood of toddlers and infants. Cancers are significantly more frequent in Hoboken than in Flanders or Antwerp, particularly lung cancers, the type most likely to result from the plant's activities. Since the early 1920s local actors have been actively asking for cleaner air, decontamination and compensation. In 2004, the company paid 77 million € for a clean-up of the area in closest proximity to its plants in Hoboken and Olen. UPMR drastically reduced emissions and is now recognised as one of the most sustainable companies in Belgium. However, claims of UPMR management to have recognised the company's 'historic responsibility' have so far translated mostly into cleaning up surface contamination in the area. This paper sets the clean-up operation of the company within a framework of ecological debt, calculating the amount that UPMR owes to the environment and nearby residents, with a focus on health damages and loss of capabilities, the major collateral damages inflicted by UMPR's direct and recognised environmental impacts. The best available studies on damage to health and crops in Hoboken are combined with existing and relevant calculations on the cost of illness, the value of human life and the economic value of gardening for results that provide insights on how to apply the ecological debt concept to a single industrial plant, and inform recommendations for actions to be taken by the chemical industry and the government of Belgium. The concept of post-normal science also helps to explain why the difficult exercise of calculating the ecological debt for a single industrial plant, despite its drawbacks on accuracy, is relevant and urgently needed. The final results should not be interpreted as exact figures, but as indicative of the scale of indirect damages to the real economy, through the study of direct damages to the environment and to inhabitants.

People and Nature, 2021

Decades of theory and scholarship on the concept of human well‐being have informed a proliferatio... more Decades of theory and scholarship on the concept of human well‐being have informed a proliferation of approaches to assess well‐being and support public policy aimed at sustainability and improving quality of life. Human well‐being is multidimensional, and well‐being emerges when the dimensions and interrelationships interact as a system. In this paper, we illuminate two crucial components of well‐being that are often excluded from policy because of their relative difficulty to measure and manage: equity and interrelationships between humans and the environment. We use a mixed‐methods approach to review and summarize progress to date in developing well‐being constructs (including frameworks and methods) that address these two components. Well‐being frameworks that do not consider the environment, or interrelationships between people and their environment, are not truly measuring well‐being in all its dimensions. Use of equity lenses to assess well‐being frameworks aligns with increa...

Contract No 217207info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

The aim of the BRAINPOoL project is to experiment with the enhancement of the development and the... more The aim of the BRAINPOoL project is to experiment with the enhancement of the development and the effective use of indicators that can balance the use of GDP so as to support the sustainable development policy process in the EU. In this report, we attempt to better characterize the demand for Beyond-GDP indicators, the institutional determinants of the uptake of new indicators, as well as the perceptions and actions of actors in that regard.The objective of this report is threefold: 1) identifying the differentiations of demand for Beyond-GDP indicators across different target groups of users from various institutional and societal levels; 2) characterizing the specificities of the demand for Beyond-GDP indicators when compared to mainstream policy indicators; 3) categorizing the different factors explaining the demand for Beyond-GDP indicators. Two complementary research tasks provided the backbone to the empirical exploration of these research questions in WP2. Task 2.1 consisted of characterising the institutional contexts of Beyond-GDP indicators in specific EU-member countries, as well as at the level of selected international/European organizations. The aim was to configure and compare with some precision the policy agendas that have built up around the development and promotion of Beyond-GDP indicators across different EU-member countries. Task 2.2 aimed to investigate the perceptions of the existence, strengths and weaknesses of the Beyond-GDP agenda. This was developed by engaging directly with a series of policy actors. First, via a series of face-to-face interviews conducted with selected policy actors which are directly and explicitly linked to the Beyond GDP agenda. Second, through the organization of a set of “Road shows” (i.e. in-house workshops) with a small group policy actors in a selection of EU-member countries. The aim with these workshops was to reach policy actors who are currently not confronted with or directly concerned by the Beyond-GDP policy agenda and to explore their perceptions of the agenda itself. The results of our analyses are organized along, first, an analysis of the institutional settings, second, an analysis of the actors’ perceptions on the demand for ‘beyond GDP’. The understanding of the institutional contexts in each entity we observed, were compared to reveal any structuring trends, discern the main initiatives and actors, and provide background knowledge of drivers and barriers for the indicators’ uptake.The objectives of analysing the perception of actors of the demand are twofold: 1) to better characterize the types of demands for indicators; 2) to identify the factors enhancing or hindering the uptake of B-GDP indicators. Our analyses show three major barriers to the uptake of new indicators : 1)the diversity of practices and conceptions about Beyond-GDP indicators; 2) the difficult combination of scales in the settlement of new indicators; and 3) a democratic issue of participation. To be cited as : Thiry, G., T. Bauler, L.Sebastien, S. Paris and V. Lacroix, Characterizing demand for &#39;Beyond GDP&#39;. Final version of BRAINPOoL deliverable 2.1, A collaborative project funded by the European Commission under the FP7 programme (Contract no. 283024). ULB, Brussels, 15 April 2013.

0Contract no. 283024info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Natures Sciences Sociétés, 2016

Le produit intérieur brut (PIB), qui est l'un des indicateurs phares de la comptabilité nationale... more Le produit intérieur brut (PIB), qui est l'un des indicateurs phares de la comptabilité nationale, fait régulièrement l'objet de débats quant à la relation existant entre la croissance économique et le progrès social. Par construction, en effet, le PIB ne reflète pas nombre de transformations du monde, qu'il s'agisse d'environnement, de santé des populations ou de l'état des savoirs. Les réflexions sur son éventuelle amélioration ou la nécessité de se référer à d'autres indicateurs sociaux ou environnementaux se sont multipliées depuis une quinzaine d'années. Dans le cadre d'un projet européen, les auteurs ont interrogé des acteurs institutionnels, des politiques, des administratifs, des économistes, des statisticiens de différents pays de l'OCDE qui sont, de près ou de loin, concernés par cette réflexion. Leur but est de comprendre si, oui ou non, l'idée d'un « audelà du PIB » constitue pour ces acteurs un levier effectif de transformation vers une société post-croissance. La Rédaction Résumé-L'objectif d'un « au-delà du PIB » mobilise aujourd'hui de nombreux acteurs. Si les réflexions pionnières se sont d'abord cantonnées aux milieux écologistes, à la société civile organisée et aux politiques locales, elles ont récemment intégré les sphères institutionnelles nationales et internationales. Mais de quoi l'intérêt des acteurs institutionnels pour cette question est-il le signe ? Un « au-delà du PIB » serait-il un objectif rhétorique par défaut, en l'absence de stratégie crédible de sortie de crise, ou le signe d'un véritable changement paradigmatique ? L'article entend élucider ces questions par l'analyse des discours d'acteurs institutionnels sur un « au-delà du PIB ». Les débats institutionnels, bien qu'intégrant de nouveaux enjeux comme la soutenabilité et le bien-être, restent dominés par des intérêts et contraintes de court terme, dont la croissance du PIB demeure un élément central. Derrière l'illusion démocratique, les ambiguïtés conceptuelles liées à un « au-delà du PIB » tendent à asseoir un rapport de force existant. Abstract-"Beyond GDP": Lessons from the discourses of institutional actors. New indicators "beyond GDP" have increasingly sparked interest among various actors, whose status, objectives and visions are very different. While the pioneer reflections on economic growth and GDP were first limited to environmentalist and activist movements, civil society and local policies, they have progressively entered national and international institutional spheres. The diversity of theoretical approaches and normative positions regarding the opportunity and motives of going "beyond GDP" makes it hard to clearly identify the stances of the actors and the power balances ruling the debates. We therefore ask: what does the current interest of institutional actors in "beyond GDP" issues mean? Are they a new rhetoric liable to elude a confrontation with the structural problems resulting from the crisis? Are they an opportunity window for relaunching societal debates that are hardly raised elsewhere? Or are they a real driver toward a paradigmatic change? We try to answer that question by analyzing the discourses of institutional actors (politicians, administration, technicians) involved or not in "beyond GDP" initiatives. We show that, at the institutional level, beyond GDP debates, while raising new societal issues, do not contribute to erode the central role of economic growth. Pragmatism dominates the debates, in that dominant interests are focused on short-term constraints and objectives where GDP growth remains pivotal. The involvement of actors in "Beyond GDP" debates reveals more a need to adapt public management and policies to new constraints rather than a critical reflection on the productivist model on which our economies have been built for more than sixty years.

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2016

This review comes from a themed issue on Sustainability governance and transformation

0Contract No 217207info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Ecological Economics, 2019

Cet article publié par ELSEVIER provient du Dépôt institutionnel de l'Université Libre de Bruxell... more Cet article publié par ELSEVIER provient du Dépôt institutionnel de l'Université Libre de Bruxelles, DIfusion http://difusion.ulb.ac.be. Il n'est accessible qu'aux membres de la communauté universitaire de l'ULB sur le réseau sécurisé de l'ULB. Tout utilisateur autorisé peut lire, télécharger ou reproduire cet article à des fins d'usage privé ou à des fins non commerciales d'enseignement ou de recherche scientifique. Il ne peut être atteint à l'intégrité de l'article, et les noms des auteurs et de l'éditeur doivent être conservés. Tout téléchargement systématique des articles publiés par ELSEVIER mis à disposition dans DI-fusion est interdit. This article published by ELSEVIER comes from the Institutional repository of Université Libre de Bruxelles, DI-fusion http://difusion.ulb.ac.be. It is accessible only to the members of the university community of ULB on the ULB secure network. Any authorized user may read, download or reproduce this article for private usage, or for non commercial research or educational purposes. The integrity of the article and identification of the author and copyright owner must be preserved. Systematic downloading of articles published by ELSEVIER that are available in DI-fusion is not permitted.

Cahiers d'Outre-Mer, 2016

MethodsX, 2019

This paper presents the Actor in 4 dimensions (A4D) model as a complementary tool to the Social-e... more This paper presents the Actor in 4 dimensions (A4D) model as a complementary tool to the Social-ecological systems framework (SESF) in order to better integrate individual and groups' representations into local environmental governance analysis. As the A4D is based on actors' representations of their social-ecological system (SES) and of its governance, it mainly informs the Actors subsystem of the SESF, even if it can also give useful insights for other framework's subsystems. We define the SESF actor's sub-tiers and the corresponding A4D indicators and highlight the complementarity between both approaches in order to operationalize the SESF. This parallel is exemplified by the case of Maio island (a small-scale fishing community in Cape Verde). Our comparison also highlights other assets of the A4D methodology for the advancement of environmental governance's study. The A4D allows actors' participation and discussion on the SES and analyses common and divergent discourses and values between actors. The A4D points to power relations by integrating strong, weak and absent actors in its analysis. By highlighting subjective and reflexive elements, the A4D complements the SESF in their common attempt to analyze SES.

L’Espace Politique, 2018

Article en français Résumé Parmi les conflits environnementaux contemporains, ceux associés aux d... more Article en français Résumé Parmi les conflits environnementaux contemporains, ceux associés aux déchets sont les plus virulents car ils suscitent le plus souvent chez les acteurs locaux quatre type de sentiments simultanés : l'injustice, la peur, la méfiance, le dégout. L'annonce de la création d'une installation de gestion des déchets sur un territoire suscite alors de vifs mouvements d'opposition associés au NIMBY par les industriels, les médias et une partie de la communauté scientifique, un phénomène présenté comme un mouvement local privilégiant les libertés individuelles par rapport au bien commun. Toutefois, l'histoire est-elle toujours aussi simple ? Notre cas d'étude est un projet de décharge sur la commune rurale de St-Escobille, en Essonne. A partir de l'analyse de la construction, l'organisation et l'évolution du mouvement d'opposition, nous testons l'hypothèse selon laquelle résister aux déchets peut développer chez les militants un capital politique. Nous soutenons ici que c'est l'imbrication des quatre ressentis et leur inscription dans le temps qui permettent de dépasser le NIMBY pour mener à ce que nous nommons « résistance éclairée ». Nos résultats montrent que la méfiance se meut en capital social; la peur en capital savant; le dégout en capital patrimonial et l'injustice en capital politique. Certaines contestations locales, notamment sur la question des déchets, permettent alors d'enrichir la démocratie en la dotant de valeurs nouvelles et de questionenr la notion d'intérêt général. Mots-clés Déchet, NIMBY, résistance, capital politique, conflit, émotion Resistance to infrastructures and rise of political capital The case of waste management Abstract Among contemporary environmental conflicts, those associated with waste are the most virulent as they arouse four types of simultaneous feelings among local actors: injustice, fear, mistrust, disgust. The announcement of the creation of a waste management facility on a territory then gives rise to strong opposition movements associated with the NIMBY phenomenon by industry, the media and part of the scientific community, presented as favoring individual interests against common good. However, is the story always so simple? Our case study is a landfill project in the village of St-Escobille, Essonne. From the analysis of the construction, the organization and the evolution of the opposition movement, we test the hypothesis that resistance to waste infrastructures can develop among opponents a political capital. We argue that it is the interweaving of the four feelings and their evolution throughout time that allow the movement to go beyond NIMBY towards what we call "enlightened resistance". Our results show that mistrust transforms into social capital; fear into cognitive capital; disgust into affective capital and injustice into political capital. Some local disputes, especially on the issue of waste, make it possible to enrich democracy by endowing it with new values and questioning the notion of general interest.

Norois, 2016

Revue en ligne : http://norois.revues.org www.pur-editions.fr L'attachement au lieu, vecteur de m... more Revue en ligne : http://norois.revues.org www.pur-editions.fr L'attachement au lieu, vecteur de mobilisation collective ? Étude de cinq territoires ruraux Can Place Attachment Be a Vector for Political Engagement? A Study of Five Rural Areas Léa Sébastien Résumé : Cette contribution s'inscrit dans l'approche spatiale de l'attachement au lieu, encore peu développée dans la littérature. Notre objectif est d'identiier différents types d'attachements qui peuvent exister à propos d'un lieu, d'analyser comment cet attachement se manifeste auprès des autres et sur le territoire et d'appréhender dans quelles conditions un attachement au lieu peut poser les bases d'un engagement politique. L'analyse de 142 entretiens menés entre 2005 et 2015 sur cinq terrains d'étude en milieu rural souligne la diversité des formes que l'attachement peut revêtir, diversité en termes d'entités aimées (nature, modernité, tradition) et d'implications sociales comme spatiales. Au niveau social, nous montrons que l'attachement au territoire est davantage vecteur de conlit que de coopération et que s'il est très présent d'un point de vue individuel, il s'inscrit rarement collectivement. Sur le plan spatial si certains acteurs présentent un attachement restreint à quelques entités sans implication envers elles, la majorité des attachés se mobilisent dans la recherche de nouveaux savoirs et dans la protection des entités aimées. Nous souhaitons montrer ici qu'un attachement au lieu peut se traduire politiquement si les acteurs d'un territoire sont actifs 1) dans la transmission de l'attachement à autrui (lien identitaire) ; 2) dans l'accumulation de savoirs et pour la protection des entités aimées et de leur environnement (lien différentiel). Ces deux indicateurs représentent le terreau pour le développement d'une identité spatiale collective et d'un engagement politique en faveur du lieu aimé.