Session O.
Examination of the Contributions of Action Research in the Territorial Sciences and in Architecture.
Taking Lessons from Territories in Relation to Ways of Living
Co-chairs: Thierry JOFFROY & Romain LAJARGE (AE&CC / ENSA Grenoble)
The project-based disciplines (architecture, [urban] planning, landscape, development) all have a territorial dimension. They use action research as a method for investigating, learning and taking action. Within these fields, what contributions does action research make to the question of how to live in and with territories? What can we learn from territories? The researchers involved in these fields investigate the ways in which people enjoy an improved/different quality of life in their territories; and do so in collaboration with the inhabitants and individuals concerned. How do they go about observing, describing and analysing their subjects? How do they utilise the knowledge of local people in order to draw lessons from these territories?
The current crisis in housing (shortage of housing, poor housing, poorly-insulated buildings, new urban-rural tensions, “deartificialisation” and “renaturing”, real estate speculation and cost overruns, etc.) is part of a process of territorial transition. This requires new ways of doing things (rehabilitation, reconstruction, reuse, etc.) and hence new knowledge and learning processes based on an understanding of the territory as a set of interrelated realities.
The premise behind this session devoted to the topic of ways living –as approached by these professional disciplines, in their capacity as both (scientific) researchers and (societal) actors– is that it is essential that we be aware of what territories can teach us if we are to be able to understand and intervene appropriately in this regard.
The exchange of concepts, models and solutions between researchers and individuals on the ground will be explored. Learning by getting involved and researchers learning from local people (or vice versa) raises many issues (appropriation, objectification, critical reflexivity, reverse engineering, etc.) and the session intends to discuss their implications and effects.
Selected Bibliographical References
Barbier R., 1996, La recherche-action, Paris, Economica.
Cailly L., Lajarge R., Ruas A., Saez G. (eds.), 2019, Demande(s) territoriale(s), Paris, Karthala, “Collection du CIST”.
Joffroy T., 2016, “Prendre en compte les cultures constructives locales pour une meilleure efficacité des projets d’habitat”, Chronique ONU, vol. LIII, no. 3.
Lahire B., 1998, “Logiques pratiques. Le ‘faire’ et le ‘dire sur le faire’”, Recherche et formation, thematic issue “Les savoirs de la pratique : un enjeu pour la recherche et la formation” (A.-M. Chartier and F. Jacquet-Francillon, eds.), no. 27, p. 15-28.
Latour B., 2017, Où atterrir ? Comment s’orienter en politique, Paris, La Découverte.
Lavoie L., Marquis D., Laurin P., 1996, La recherche-action. Théorie et pratique. Manuel d’autoformation, Québec, Presses de l’Université du Québec.
Lewin K., 1946, “Action Research and Minority Problems”, Journal of Social Issues, 2(4), p. 34-36.
Resweber J.-P., 1995, La recherche-action, Paris, PUF, “Que-sais-je ?” series.
Rullanti G., 2006, La recherche-action au service de l’auto-développement, Paris, L’Harmattan.
Schön D.A., 1983, The Reflective Practitioner. How Professionals Think in Action, New York, Basic Books.
Loading... 
