CEDTI Colloquium 2024

Sharing of knowledge and practices for resilient sustainable insular territories

Principal theme : Water in all its insular states

Abstract Submission Closed

26 - 28 November 2024

Institut Français de Maurice, Rose Hill, Mauritius

Concept Note

As part of our new pluri-disciplinary research initiative focusing on the spatial transformation of territories and urban regions in the Indian Ocean, we are organising an annual colloquium that focuses on the futures of small island developing states (SIDS) in the face of climate change. The first colloquium will take place on 26 to 28 of November 2024 in Mauritius. The disastrous impact of water-related disasters due to climate change on small island states' infrastructures is widely known and yet the adoption of critical action at both macro and micro levels for resilient development is slow-paced. SIDS have specific natural environments and frail ecosystems. Natural disasters only increase their vulnerabilities. In insular contexts marked by limited access to resources for advanced urbanization and territorial development, grassroot innovative practices to adapt to climate disasters slowly emerge in SIDS. This first edition of the colloquium aims to explore resilient practices being adopted by SIDS facing environmental and climatic challenges, question current policy strategies and planning practices and imagine alternative spatial transformations. In addition to developing new partnerships, the exchange in knowledge will result in the publication of colloquium proceedings that highlight innovative approaches and emerging initiatives embracing transformative research approach for SIDS.

This call is open to researchers, professionals, doctoral students, academics and representatives in the field of urban planning, geography, architecture and environmental engineering. The deadline for receiving applications is the 9th of August 2024. Registration for this event is free and participation can be in-person and virtual.

Colloquium topics

The colloquium will be composed of presentations, roundtable discussions, workshops and technical site visits which will be spread over the three days. The prevailing topics during the colloquium emanate from the five research poles at CEDTI and are as follows:

Topic 1: Digital Transformations for coastlines at risk

The rise in sea levels and its repercussions on coastal life. This phenomenon, closely linked to global warming, poses an increasing threat to coastal communities around the world. The elevation of sea levels, primarily due to the melting of polar ice and the thermal expansion of the oceans, endangers fragile ecosystems and the safety of millions of inhabitants. This topic can be explored from three main angles: Simulation of Climatic and Marine Phenomena Understanding the complex dynamics of sea level rise is essential for anticipating and mitigating its impacts. Increasingly sophisticated simulation models allow for the prediction of upcoming changes and the development of effective adaptation strategies. Effects on Coastal Inhabitants Coastal communities are on the front lines of sea level rise. They face daily challenges such as coastal erosion, saline intrusion, and flooding. In response, they implement various measures to preserve their way of life, sometimes showing remarkable ingenuity. Awareness and Policies through Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence plays a key role in raising awareness and mobilizing action on climate issues. It can be used to create striking visualizations of the future effects of sea level rise, thereby influencing political decisions and enhancing public awareness. Through these three themes, the aim is to provide a deep understanding of the challenges posed by sea level rise and potential solutions to address them.

Topic 2: Geography of Transitions

In recent decades, the world has been going through major upheavals, first and foremost the acceleration of globalization and climate change disrupting the major economic, social and environmental balances. The Indian Ocean region, in particular, is all the more affected by these transformations as the major global flows that are concentrated there (maritime trade, industrial subcontracting, tourism, etc.) are now being called into question by the rise in sea levels, the effects of which are increasingly tangible. Largely made up of small island states with very contrasting levels of development and environmental contexts, this region is facing a growing vulnerability that forces us to rethink our models in the light of the transition, in all its facets (economic, social, ecological, etc.). This session Geography of Transitions aims to bring together and create a dialogue between social science works relating to different types of transitions, by thinking about transitions through a territorialized approach. In a context of climate change, rising sea levels and worsening socio-economic vulnerabilities, it will be interesting to reflect on the evolution of island lifestyles, which includes both ways of housing and travel, but also all individual or collective practices related to food, consumption patterns, etc. etc. These different forms of transition, which reposition ecology and the environment at the heart of the territorial fabric, are reflected in the emergence of new links between people and their territory, which will have to be analysed within the framework of sensitive geographical approaches, for example. This session will also be an opportunity to reflect on the modalities of public action: how to think about transitions "from above" and are they only really taken into account in the design of new models of territorial governance? How can we reconcile the challenges of economic development in these small territories of the Indian Ocean with very contrasting living standards with the challenges of mitigation and adaptation to environmental changes?

Topic 3: Submersible Architecture / Insubmersible Architecture

How can we rethink, broaden and enrich the relationship between living space and protective structures against rising water levels and submersion? In countries with a long culture of flooding or marine submersion risk, management plans and the solutions that follow them tend to separate the two: the inhabited structure – the building – from the protective structure. In the case of a dike, for example, the measures taken consist of building the houses next to the dike, sheltered from the dike, or far behind it. Sometimes, for the most daring, to build on the protective infrastructure. In these sessions, the participants will try to create an inventory and discuss other, closer, less categorical relationships between the habitat and the measures and constructed arrangements that aim to protect it. Can you live in a dike? Can we occupy its right-of-way? What does a building that stands in the way look like? Conversely, a dam that makes architecture? Or an architecture that allows itself to be flooded? A first session will bring together contributions on case studies and feedback; the second session will be dedicated to exploratory approaches and sensory experiences brought by living, inhabiting the risk of flooding and the proximity of water.

Topic 4: Skills to anticipate the future of water in island territories

Sea levels are rising - Ocean temperatures are rising and marine heat waves are increasing - The concentration of CO2 in the oceans is increasing, and with it, their acidification - The planet's coastlines are eroding and changing at high speed - Marine biodiversity is eroding. (...) As a planning professional, as a resident, as a researcher, there are many observations that we receive that we don't really know what to do with! In the oceans – these powerful carbon sinks capable of storing 30% of the CO2 emitted by humans – complex physical and biological phenomena are occurring, the scientific understanding of which is still incomplete, but whose consequences are increasingly visible and sensitive for coastal inhabitants and marine living beings. How can we act in the face of these observations? Unless we have a magic telescope showing the future, how can we mobilize these observations, this knowledge, to guide our reflections, our decisions and our actions? If we share the idea that in order to adapt (and better: know how to bounce back) to these changes, we must know them, understand their dynamics and the likely evolutions in order to be able to consider actions in our specific contexts, then we are faced with a question of skills . In the report published in 2017, UNESCO presents eight core competencies for sustainability . Among them, the Competence in terms of anticipation , as well as the use of different prospective approaches, could constitute resource frameworks to build and equip reflections and actions on the future of water in island territories. During this session, we will explore the contours and components of this anticipation competence, as well as prospective approaches applied to water futures in island territories. On the strength of this first overview, we will be able to sketch out the first elements of answers to the following questions: what resources (knowledge, know-how, interpersonal skills) are to be mobilized to build a vision of the future of water in island territories? How can these resources be effectively integrated/combined to take action? What group(s) of situations are addressed?

Topic 5: Water and architectural structures for food production

Faced with the climate crisis, human food is facing several major challenges: not only to ensure the quality of production despite degraded soils and weather hazards, but also to organize it according to short circuits that do not aggravate its impact on the environment. These essential adaptations are certainly even more crucial in small island developing states, insofar as soils are particularly precious and circumscribed, climatic upheavals are more pronounced, and food imports are too often substantial. However, through their rich history of "test gardens" or optimized agricultural industry, the fertility of their land or their capacity for rapid transformation, these states are real laboratories capable of experimentation as well as reforms, resilience and greater autonomy. Land and land development, agricultural infrastructure and their equipment, resource management and cyclical water use have a major role to play in this change. With this in mind, the session will be devoted to the use of water in food production systems, from the scale of the territory to that of equipment and architecture: freshwater management in island environments; strategies for cyclical water use; irrigation and drainage in agroecology and smart agriculture; hydroponics and aquaponics and their variations and alternatives; and finally, water in greenhouse growing systems.

Colloquium timeline

Issuing of the call for long abstracts (500 words) – 3 June 2024
Closing date for abstract submissions – 15 September 2024

Confirmation and examination of all abstracts received – 25 September 2024
Information on the acceptance of submissions - 30 September 2024
Closing date for presentation articles – 5 December 2024

Colloquium – 26 to 28 November 2024

Closing date for articles to publish - 15 January 2025
Publication of conference proceedings & roadmap of agreed initiatives – 7 February 2025

Abstract Submission

Each proposal for presentation should be submitted by sending an A4 PDF to the email submissions@cedti.net

Name(s), affiliation(s) and contact details of the presenter
Colloquium theme chosen
A presentation title
An abstract of 500 words
A maximum of five keywords to reflecting the proposed presentation at the end of the abstract

The deadline date for abstract submission is the 15th of September 2024. For any queries, please contact us on info@cedti.net .

Student Research Poster Submission

Each presentation proposal must be submitted by sending a PDF document to the submissions@cedti.net email address. The poster must follow the guidelines below.

1. The poster must have an A1 size (594 x 841 mm)
2. The presenter's name, affiliation, and contact information must be listed in the top right corner of the poster.
3. The theme of the chosen conference must be written under the details of the affiliation.
4. A presentation title must be placed at the top of the poster.
5. The poster should be 300 to 800 words long.
6. The poster should have a clear and consistent layout.

The deadline for submitting posters is October 30, 2024. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@cedti.net .