2nd TTI.5 Prize for Environmental Controversy - May 28, 2024

For the second consecutive year, The Transition Institute 1.5 awarded the TTI.5 Prize for Environmental Controversy. This distinction was presented at the 2nd Workshop TTI.5 which was held on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, at the Paris campus of Mines Paris – PSL. The entire event was conducted in French.

« We are very pleased to have won this award, which rewards a project that has lasted several months, and we would like to acknowledge the equally serious work of all the other groups. We had a lot of fun preparing the oral presentation of our project as well as watching our classmates, and this award will remain as a very good experience. »

Matthieu MAZIÈRE, Aude GOUNELLE, Adrien MIGNOT, and Madeleine AKRICH (©F. TOULET)

3 environmental controversy projects were presented to the public

• « Vivre avec le loup ? Une cohabitation est-elle possible ? », by Marie-Louise COMMUNAL, Aude GOUNELLE and Adrien MIGNOT.
  [English translation: “Living with Wolves? Is Coexistence Possible?”]
  « We wanted to explore a topic that addressed an environmental controversy from a different angle than what we might be accustomed to, with an emphasis on ecosystems and their balances. Like everyone else, we were probably a bit fascinated by the wolf and the mystery surrounding it. We hoped to successfully popularize, in our own way, a societal issue that may not have been very visible to everyone. »
  
  
• « Autoroute A69 : Quand la cause environnementale nationale s’invite au développement local », by Alexa BRUNEAUX, Pauline DELARUE, Matthieu ROYER DE VERICOURT and Gabrielle VERNET.
  [English translation: “A69 Motorway: When National Environmental Concerns Impact Local Development”]
  « The A69 motorway was a topic at the heart of current affairs, often mentioned in the media, and it illustrated well how a development project could be torn between its belonging to a national strategy and its local repercussions. We hoped to learn more about current ecological issues in a playful way and to exchange with interested individuals. »
  
  
• « La Réutilisation des Eaux Usées Traitées : Quelle place donner à la REUT dans un contexte de stress hydrique croissant ? », by Elise LEI, Raphaël GARDIES and Quentin SCHMUTZ.
  [English translation: “The Reuse of Treated Wastewater: What Role Should be Given to Reuse in the Context of Increasing Water Stress?”]
  « We were studying the Reuse of Treated Wastewater as part of the Controversies course in the final year of the Mines engineering cycle because we wanted to explore the issues surrounding water reuse, which had been emerging in recent years. We were more or less aware of water management issues and wanted to deepen our knowledge through this concrete, promising case study that was at the center of multi-scale and multi-stakeholder debate. »

The photos were taken by Frédérique TOULET.

The Controversy Projects at Mines Paris – PSL

This prize rewards the best controversy work on an environmental theme among the projects carried out by students of the Civil Engineering Cycle at Mines Paris – PSL in the framework of the course Description de controverses supervised by Madeleine AKRICH, a sociologist and research director at the Centre de sociologie de l’innovation (CSI Mines Paris – PSL).

Third-year students of the Civil Engineering Cycle at Mines Paris – PSL take the course ‘Description of Controversies’ as part of their curriculum. The objective of this course is to raise awareness among engineering students about the evolution of their professional and civic context. It introduces them to the uncertain world of scientific and technical research by describing a specific object: the sociotechnical controversy.

The study of controversy involves a case study approach. A group of students follows a controversy in real-time to understand its complexity and uniqueness. The supervision is provided by a team of sociologists specialized in the analysis of sciences and technologies, who assist the students in developing an empirical, pragmatic, and argumentative perspective.

first edition of the TTI.5 Prize for Environmental Controversy

Last year, on May 31, 2024, during its 1st TTI.5 Forum dedicated to the security challenges of climate change, the Environmental Controversy Prize was awarded to Maud ROUX-SALEMBIEN for her presentation « Betteraves, oiseaux et néonicotinoïdes » [English translation: “Beets, Birds, and Neonicotinoids”] (read her controversy project [FR]).