Infodoc : Sciences, Techniques et Culture

1 . Enquêter dans le monde français de l'eau et des milieux aquatiques: Le choix d'une approche sociale - La filière eau - Les spécialistes des milieux aquatiques. 2 . Cadre théorique d'analyse des institutions de gestion des rivières: Un cadre sociologique pour aborder les modes de gestion des rivières - Un cadre sociologique pour aborder les indicateurs et leur légitimité - Méthode d'investigation. 3 . Institutionnalisation de la gestion écologique des rivières en France: La création du monde de l'hydrobiologie - Le monde de la pêche cède le pas à l'écologie - L'hydrosystème Rhône et la loi sur l'eau de 1992 - Le bioréacteur Seine et la directive ERU de 1991 - La trajectoire sociale "type" des indicateurs biologiques. 4 . Les agences de l'eau et l'évaluation écologique des rivières:[...]

1 . Enquêter dans le monde français de l'eau et des milieux aquatiques: Le choix d'une approche sociale - La filière eau - Les spécialistes des milieux aquatiques. 2 . Cadre théorique d'analyse des institutions de gestion des rivières: Un cadre sociologique pour aborder les modes de gestion des rivières - Un cadre sociologique pour aborder les indicateurs et leur légitimité - Méthode d'investigation. 3 . Institutionnalisation de la gestion écologique des rivières en France: La création du monde de l'hydrobiologie - Le monde de la pêche cède le pas à l'écologie - L'hydrosystème Rhône et la loi sur l'eau de 1992 - Le bioréacteur Seine et la directive ERU de 1991 - La trajectoire sociale "type" des indicateurs biologiques. 4 . Les agences de l'eau et l'évaluation écologique des rivières: Le monde de l'AESN selon J.B. Narcy - Trois référentiels de gestion de l'eau dans les deux agences (AESN et RMC) - Cartographie et historique des référentiels au sein de
l'agence Seine-Normandie - Utilisation des référentiels au sein de l'agence Rhône-Méditerranée-Corse - L'évolution du référentiel "équipement" dans les deux agences - Arbitrage entre référentiels. 5 . L'épreuve politique de la directive cadre européenne sur l'eau: Statut juridique et contenu de la directive cadre - Analyse politique de la DCE - La deuxième épreuve de la directive cadre - Qui évaluera la mise en oeuvre de la directive cadre?.
European directive 2000/60/CE establishes a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. It states objectives of good ecological status for water bodies. Cost-effective measures of protection and restoration should be planned and enforced within a tight schedule. In France, State institutions of river management used to design and support actions considered as ecologically positive. But performance of the river policy was never assessed. Ecological assessment and biological indicators were not processed for decision making. Biological indicators can be seen as freak sets. Indicators are basically tools used by engineers and managers to make trade-offs. Whereas biology deals with life and death, that are incommensurable. According to the literature, engineers and naturalists have little in common. Engineers are considered as modern figures of conquerors, looking for efficacy, regardless of politics. Fishermen or biologists on the contrary are seen as inquiring observers, willing to alert people of ecological threat. The first benefit from important financial means, the latter have much less economic power. However, biologists and engineers sometimes happened to work on the same issues. Several abnormal beings which did not fit in management models were identified by biologists and then enrolled in normal management procedures. To study how biologists hand over to managers, I consider institutions as social constructions which can change. Using Anthony Giddens' theory of structuration (1987), I focus on structures of signification, legitimation and domination that are embedded in both organisations and indicators. I follow the historical path of outsiders (Becker 1985) who rallied people's interest in new ecological problems by networking (Latour 1989). I enlighten which conditions help them to change institutions. I make the link between models and legitimacy of public policy (Foucault 1978-79). I relate the intertwining trajectories of river models and laws dealing with rivers. Such an epic reveals common strategies and contexts of people engaged in creating and promoting biological indicators. Four steps of indicators construction can be stated: wording, numbers setting, variables setting and modelling (Desrosières 2003). Then I focus on French water agencies to understand why they do not rely on biological assessment for their decisions. I propose to analyse their ways of thinking and ways of doing in three sets which correspond to three different advocacy coalitions (Sabatier et Jenkins-Smith 1993) dealing with water management. I explain that actors in agencies can be seen as playing a strategic game with non-stabilised projects. The way they reorganise projects to fulfill constraints and seize opportunities is quite similar to the way biologists organise biological information to speak for rivers. Such practises are fruitful for adaptation and social learning. Then looking at the European level, I present the political context which gave birth to the water framework directive. It explains what is going to change in terms of evaluation. Not only criteria of assessment are changing but the whole scene of justification is getting more and more uncertain. My conclusion is that advocacy evaluations are needed to deconstruct and discuss indicators that will be used for managing rivers.