Revue d'écologie - La Terre et la Vie

International audienc

The new digital divide: the confluence of broadband penetration, sustainable development, technology adoption and community participation

"There have been significant efforts during the last years to define indicators to estimate the digital divide among nations, regions and social groups. The first attempts considered are mainly parameters of technical nature related with access to computers and Internet connectivity. Though these technical parameters gave an initial indication of the magnitude of the digital divide, they did not provide a complete picture of its dimension and context. In this paper, we propose that grass roots participation and integrating socioeconomic development with human values and taking advantage of the advent of emerging mobile wireless and efficient broadband technologies play a significant role in redefining the nature of the digital divide. The understanding of the new paradigm of broadband penetration, sustainable development, technology adoption and community participation is fundamental to develop national plans and agendas for digital inclusion, particularly in rural and underserved populations contexts.

Désir vert : négocier avec la bonne conscience environnementale

Depuis les prémices de son histoire, la photographie environnementale a été instrumentalisée à des fins politiciennes aux États-Unis. Cet « usage loyal » fait partie de l’ADN de cette photographie qui allie l’esthétique paysagère et naturaliste à une conscience environnementale. Comment gérer l’effet de mots-clefs comme « environnement » ou « nature », qui suscitent l’éco-blanchiment du contenu d’expositions ou de publications ? Cet article entend explorer un verdissement plus subtil, celui opéré par la bonne conscience du public.Since the beginning of its history, Environmental photography has been exploited for the sake of politics purpose in the United States. This “fair use” is part of the DNA of this photography, a genre that mixes landscape and nature aesthetics with environmental awareness. How can one deal with the aura of the words “environment” “nature”, which “green” the content of any publication or exhibition? This paper intends to explore a subtler greening made of the genuine intention of the spectator

Nouvelles de l’outre-terre : récits depuis les profondeurs du monde

Avec l’engouement artistique et philosophique pour l’Anthropocène, que cette ère de l’humanité devenue agent géologique et atmosphérique soit in fine officialisée par les instances mondiales de la stratigraphie n’y changera rien, la métamorphose de notre rapport au monde physique est irrémédiablement amorcée. Et cette transformation passe d’abord par le point de vue, revendiqué sous la forme du « point de vie » par l’équipe éditoriale de Terra Forma (composée de la metteure en scène, historie..

Crise de l'énergie, ressources naturelles et production alimentaire

The only solution to the joint effects of population growth and of the competition between non-agricultural uses of land and farming is an increasing intensification of production in order to satisfy mankind's increasing food needs. The eco-energy analysis of industrial farming shows that increased productivity so far has been achieved by injecting an ever greater quantity of energy from fissile fuel into agroecosystems. Consequently the energy productivity of crops (kcal of foodstuffs produced per kcal of energy used in its production) is decreasing. Moreover, world supplies of phosphate fertilizers are limited and fossilized hydrocarbon is becoming rarer. The constant increase in the cost of energy and of mineral fertilizers used in farming make it unlikely that the present food production structures will be maintained in the future or that food can be produced for a world population of ten billions

L’art écologique aux prises avec ses stéréotypes

De récentes publications anglo-saxonnes témoignent de l’intérêt nourri des universitaires et des critiques pour le rôle que l’art pourrait jouer dans la cause environnementale. Ces ouvrages suivent des méthodes et des schémas qui traduisent la difficulté inhérente à ces pratiques artistiques à composer un mouvement synthétique, à faire école et à imposer une image enfin cohérente de l’art écologique. Les appellations restent en effet constamment discutées depuis la première exposition vraimen..

Les aires protégées : un instrument essentiel pour la recherche en écologie fondamentale et appliquée à la conservation

Protected areas, though they provide a more or less stringent preservation to ecosystems and their biodiversity according to their conservation status, have proven, since several decades, to afford outstanding opportunities regarding biological research. They have provided invaluable information on the basic structure of communities, on the extent and importance of their biodiversity as well as on the functioning of ecosystems and on the mechanisms of fundamental ecological processes. They stand currently as an invaluable tool for the ecological monitoring, especially regarding the follow up of ecosystem health as well as for the global biodiversity assessment and for the improvement of the knowledge of the population status of threatened species. As a conclusion, the relevance of protected areas for ecological research both fundamental and applied is presently unquestioned. Therefore, one has to meet the urgent need to increase the support to the research into these areas, especially in conservation ecology. Another major requirement is to insure a better implementation of the transfer from the results of these researches to the conservation practices in order to improve the efficiency of the management plans of protected areas particularly in what addresses their biodiversity conservation.Protected areas, though they provide a more or less stringent preservation to ecosystems and their biodiversity according to their conservation status, have proven, since several decades, to afford outstanding opportunities regarding biological research. They have provided invaluable information on the basic structure of communities, on the extent and importance of their biodiversity as well as on the functioning of ecosystems and on the mechanisms of fundamental ecological processes. They stand currently as an invaluable tool for the ecological monitoring, especially regarding the follow up of ecosystem health as well as for the global biodiversity assessment and for the improvement of the knowledge of the population status of threatened species. As a conclusion, the relevance of protected areas for ecological research both fundamental and applied is presently unquestioned. Therefore, one has to meet the urgent need to increase the support to the research into these areas, especially in conservation ecology. Another major requirement is to insure a better implementation of the transfer from the results of these researches to the conservation practices in order to improve the efficiency of the management plans of protected areas particularly in what addresses their biodiversity conservatio