PTL4 – Georesources, Risks, and Society

• Olivier BARRETEAU (Co-coordinator, INRAE)
• Bénédicte CENKI (Co-coordinator, UM)
• Benoit ILDEFONSE (GM, UM)
• Patrick LACHASSAGNE (HSM, UM)
• Jean-Stéphane BAILLY (LISAH, UM)
• Frédéric FEDER (Recycling and Risks, CIRAD)
• Stéphane GHIOTTI (rep) (Art-DEV, UM)
• Katrin ERDLENBRUCH (rep) (CEE-M, INRAE)
• Alex MILCU (Ecotron, CNRS)
• Renaud HOSTACHE (rep) (Espace-Dev, IRD)
• Julie MENDRET (rep) (IEM, UM)
• Eleonore LOISEAU (rep) (ITAP, INRAE)
• Ronan LE VELLY (DU), Laure HOSSARD (rep) (Innovation, SUPAGRO)
• Jérôme HARMAND (rep) (LBE, INRAE)
• Céline CASENAVE (MISTEA, INRAE)
• Julien MARY (rep) (MSH-Sud, CNRS)
• William’s DARE and Chloé NICOLA-ARTERO (reps) (SENS, CIRAD)
• Flavie CERNESSON (rep) (TETIS, remote sensing)
• Marcel KUPER (G-EAU, CIRAD)

Main:

• ECOTRON
• MEANING
• GECO
• OREME
• TETIS
• ChimEco
• HSM
• LISAH
• GM
• LBE
• G-WATER
• IATE
• INNOVATION
• ITAP
• Recycling & Risk
• VASSAL

Secondary:

• CEE-M
• MISTEA
• MSH SOUTH

Call for ideas for the collaborative development of the PTL4 Structural Projects (
)

The PTL4 scientific community shares the goal of placing georesources (water, soil, minerals) back at the heart of our societies in transition, understanding and anticipating hazards in the context of the impacts of global change, and planning for their sustainable management in the face of environmental risks. The goal is therefore to explore the links between natural resources, geological and climatic hazards, and societal adaptation to ensure more resilient land management. To achieve this, we must analyze resource cycles and their uses (formation, renewal, circulation), understand and track the determinants of exposure to hazards, and ultimately integrate this knowledge to design appropriate governance pathways. The goal is to propose solutions for the sustainable management of natural resources, reduce vulnerabilities to risks, and fully integrate the humanities and social sciences into environmental management.

One of PTL4’s flagship initiatives is to support 3 to 4 interdisciplinary flagship projects (lasting 3 to 4 years, with the possibility of a thesis; approximately €250,000 each, for a total of €750,000) that must align with the above objective. These projects will be developed collaboratively by the PTL4 units (as well as, potentially, other units within the AEB Cluster and I-Site) and supported by the PTL4 Steering Committee, according to the following process:

Overview of the First Call for Proposals for PTL4 – Long 4 Thematic Projects: Georesources, Risks, and Societies

Submission deadline: April 7, 2025, at 5:00 p.m .

Long-term thematic projects (2025–2029) are the University of Marseille’s new tools for funding and organizing scientific research, following in the footsteps of the Labex initiatives.
PTL 4 addresses the theme of georesources (i.e., water, soil, and all mineral and energy resources except fossil fuels) and their uses, which are essential to the sustainability of socio-ecosystems.
, changing lifestyles, and population growth are increasing societies’ sensitivity to the availability of these resources in the right place, at the right time, and in the right quantity and quality. It is essential to better understand the complex processes that determine the evolution of these resources, their availability and uses, as well as the risks faced by the societies that depend on them, and the institutional and technical mechanisms of their governance that promote adaptation and resilience. Global changes thus require us to revise our understanding of the processes driving territorial evolution—including their social, geological, pedological, and hydrological components—in order to propose robust and relevant adaptation pathways. The PTL Georesources, Risks, and Societies aims to generate knowledge by combining three areas—georesources, risks, and societies—to understand the determinants of territorial dynamics related to the availability of georesources and their exposure to risks, and to develop robust adaptation pathways.