Exploring our relationship with living things in the context of the climate crisis and the erosion of biodiversity.
The Earth is a ‘living planet’ because it possesses properties that allow life to emerge and be sustained, as manifested by the presence of organisms capable of reproducing, growing, developing and, ultimately, dying. Living beings structure the biosphere, which is itself the result of multiple interactions with the elements of the geosphere (lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere).
The development of our societies (anthroposphere) is based on these interactions because they provide us with energy and matter. In turn, our activities have a strong influence on these dynamics and, since the middle of the 19th century, the growth of the human population coupled with the development of our technologies have led to a profound transformation of our natural environment, causing a degradation of biodiversity at an unprecedented rate, leading to the emergence of risk situations for our societies: erosion of fertile soils, forest dieback, degradation of water quality, epidemics and pests that spread more easily, disrupted climate regulation, etc.
In addition to these impacts on living organisms, climate change is amplifying uncertainty about the future of living organisms and ecosystem services, and could become the main factor in the degradation of biodiversity in the 21st century.
The ‘Living Planet’ research axis aims to explore the interdependence between our societies and the rest of the living world, in a context of transition, in order to understand the dynamics at play by recognising their complexity. This area examines the way in which we consider the living world, its governance, legal status and economic and social contributions, as well as its dynamics and future in the face of global change.
With a view to (Re)placing the living world at the heart of decision-making, we rely on prospective to provide new knowledge to support the transition of our societies and territories in the long term. This requires an analysis of the knowledge, methods and expertise involved in these anticipation practices, as well as the definition of indicators for the governance of the transition. In addition, we need to look at the solutions to be proposed in the light of the results of the research, how they are incorporated by decision-makers and how the democratic issues involved in defining a common future are taken into account.
The complex nature of the systems studied also invites us to approach transition using systemic and integrative approaches, such as the Ecosystem-based Approach (EbA), which explicitly recognise the relevance of interdisciplinary approaches combining natural sciences, environmental and earth sciences, engineering sciences and human and social sciences to support planning and development decision-making processes by intrinsically considering the links between human societies, living organisms and environmental factors.
The activities of the Institute’s members also aim to support the inclusion of living organisms in the tools used by companies to manage and steer their activities, and by local and regional authorities to plan for the transition.