programme. Participatory social experiments were developed together with actors in
the later phases, usually at the local level, using some of the tools (models, decision
support systems) developed by the programme.
5.1.1 Seine System Design
The analysis of the Seine River system evolved from a consideration of the river
hydrosystem (physical, chemical and ecological, including the connected
waterbodies delimited by the basin boundaries) to a hydro-socio-ecosystem. It
includes the river network, from headwater to the coast – the land–ocean
continuum – the drainage basin, all human activities, institutions, regulations and
the circulation of material, goods and products on the whole basin. Researchers were
forced to recognize that this system is wide open to regional and global (transcontinental) effects (e.g. economics, regulations, consumer habits, production methods,
import and export of products). For many products that characterize river quality and
river fluxes, their circulation within the Seine basin is between one and two orders of
magnitude higher than their export via the Seine River.
5.1.2 Research Methods and the Position of Scientists
The programme now includes three modes of research (question-oriented, fundamental and action research), with their various modes of valorization and exchange
between three different communities (academics, river and basin stakeholders, local
river users and managers) (Fig. 9). The PIREN-Seine has therefore developed a
complex set of relationships with these communities on different levels: local with
the general public, river associations and water commissions, basin-wide with
institutions and global with peer scientists. Several types of products (scientific
publications, reports to stakeholders, models and software, databases, leaflets and
brochures, conferences, participatory meetings, etc.) are now generated by the
programme, each adapted to a different audience. The current position of scientists
with regard to the three communities is schematically presented in Fig. 9.
5.1.3 Programme Governance
From its inception, the project has been more on a bottom-up basis – conceived and
elaborated by scientists with their counterparts at the institutions in question – than
on a top-down basis, agreement between a dozen research institutions and as many
stakeholders; therefore, its current governance is the result of 30 years of collaboration between a group of individual scientists and their individual counterparts among
stakeholders: The research agenda is mostly generated by scientists, then discussed
at the basic level and, finally, proposed and adopted by the funding partners. The
current links between scientific financial partners, local actors and the scientific
408
C. Carré et al.
the later phases, usually at the local level, using some of the tools (models, decision
support systems) developed by the programme.
5.1.1 Seine System Design
The analysis of the Seine River system evolved from a consideration of the river
hydrosystem (physical, chemical and ecological, including the connected
waterbodies delimited by the basin boundaries) to a hydro-socio-ecosystem. It
includes the river network, from headwater to the coast – the land–ocean
continuum – the drainage basin, all human activities, institutions, regulations and
the circulation of material, goods and products on the whole basin. Researchers were
forced to recognize that this system is wide open to regional and global (transcontinental) effects (e.g. economics, regulations, consumer habits, production methods,
import and export of products). For many products that characterize river quality and
river fluxes, their circulation within the Seine basin is between one and two orders of
magnitude higher than their export via the Seine River.
5.1.2 Research Methods and the Position of Scientists
The programme now includes three modes of research (question-oriented, fundamental and action research), with their various modes of valorization and exchange
between three different communities (academics, river and basin stakeholders, local
river users and managers) (Fig. 9). The PIREN-Seine has therefore developed a
complex set of relationships with these communities on different levels: local with
the general public, river associations and water commissions, basin-wide with
institutions and global with peer scientists. Several types of products (scientific
publications, reports to stakeholders, models and software, databases, leaflets and
brochures, conferences, participatory meetings, etc.) are now generated by the
programme, each adapted to a different audience. The current position of scientists
with regard to the three communities is schematically presented in Fig. 9.
5.1.3 Programme Governance
From its inception, the project has been more on a bottom-up basis – conceived and
elaborated by scientists with their counterparts at the institutions in question – than
on a top-down basis, agreement between a dozen research institutions and as many
stakeholders; therefore, its current governance is the result of 30 years of collaboration between a group of individual scientists and their individual counterparts among
stakeholders: The research agenda is mostly generated by scientists, then discussed
at the basic level and, finally, proposed and adopted by the funding partners. The
current links between scientific financial partners, local actors and the scientific
408
C. Carré et al.