The focus of the ANR proposal is to launch a network joining European and non-European teams working on local development in the highlands, in order to submit a proposal to RISE (Research and Innovation Staff Exchange) Marie Curie Program/H2020 early 2017. The objectives of the RISE proposal will be (i) share and debate the diverse initiatives and innovations of local development in the highlands, (ii) develop specific capacity building focused on different types of stakeholders and local people, (iii) participate in policymaking through relevant suggestions, monitoring and assessment of actions and (iv) strengthen a recognized European competence on the local development in the highlands. The partnership for the ANR proposal, and consequently for the RISE proposal, is based four countries of European Union (Austria, France, Portugal and United Kingdom), two other European countries (Norway and Switzerland) and non-European countries in Mediterranean (Morocco and Lebanon), the Americas (Argentina, Canada, Equator, Peru, the United States) and Eastern Asia (China and Vietnam). Research question is adaptation process and resilience of high mountain societies to global change, especially initiatives and innovations focused on local development. Several initiatives of local development in the highlands were implemented in the countries of the European Union, although the concepts have sometimes been built in other areas, as for example natural parks, reserves of biodiversity, reserves of biosphere, “regional” parks, winter and summer slow tourism, many small agribusiness factories for cheeses, liquors, fruits, etc. Diverse reasons justified these implementations in the European Union, especially the specific policies made at national and European level, which strongly incentivized and supported these initiatives, in order to reduce the disadvantages of these regions, mainly due to their weak access and their long distance to decisions centers. Indeed, focused on the sustainable development, the specific national and European policies significantly impacted local development in European highlands, compared with non-European highlands where economic issues and national interest usually lead their development, especially in developing countries. Moreover, the supportive context for local development initiatives lead to new initiatives and also innovations focused on the improvement of these initiatives and the building of new initiatives, including in policymaking. In other words, based on the European Union experience, the implementation of local development could lead to new steps of local development. It is a research hypothesis to be verified in European Union and tested in the other zones. A priori, for the method of the RISE proposal, we suggest using the concept of co-viability, which includes both viability and its regulation, to analyze resilience factors at different scales, representations and local knowledge, access to resources and policymaking in global change context. This point has to be debate with the partner in the next months. In terms of activity to be developed in 2016 in order to build the RISE proposal, firstly there are five visits to each of the European partners in order to better share the common objectives of the RISE proposal, select the local development initiatives for the compare analysis and draft a concept note of the RISE proposal. Secondly, a workshop joining the leaders of European partners with 3-4 leaders of non-European teams will allow to better define the contents of the proposal and to draft a first version.

The cross-disciplinary MONOIL Project ambition is to participate to the description of human vulnerability facing environmental changes due to oil activities in Ecuador. Usually, oil pollution is considered when environmental crises occur following transport or operating accidents, thereby giving rise to what is commonly called "oil spills". In the case of Ecuador, the issue of chronic contamination occurred decades ago with the arrival of private oil companies in the Amazon basin, even if its mediatisation began with the Texaco court trial in the early 90s. Since then, it takes part of the daily life of local communities. The main objective of the MONOIL Project is to improve the understanding, the monitoring, the reduction and the control of oil contaminations and their impacts on society and environment in terms of damage but also vulnerabilities, to enable the co-construction of strategies that reduce vulnerability and adaptation, ecologically sustainable, economically viable, appropriate sociologically and politically relevant. Facing the issue and the stakes within the sustainable development context, another challenge will consist in participating to the development of new governance tools on both environment and energy for supporting a better remediation and preventing capacity of the industrial actors and the public action institutions working on this issue. The specific objectives of the MONOIL Project consist to assess: 1) the environmental impacts in two study areas of the Amazon basin and along the Pacific coast, around the Esmeraldas refinery, 2) the social and economic impacts of oil exploration at a larger scale, regarding the regional development of the study areas, 3) the vulnerabilities and tendencies of riparian people to face the potential contamination of natural resources at different scales (national, regional, local and at the home scale), and 4) to develop technical and organizational solutions to face the risks. The scientific holistic position and the cross-disciplinary approach we adopted (the project combines researchers in sociology, geography, epidemiology, hydrology, geochemistry, toxicology, biology and Ecuadorian operational actors) will allow achieving the scientific objectives of the project and ensuring the transfer to local actors, as decision support tools. Through the transfer of operating knowledge and scientific tools to academic, industrial, political partners and the civil society, MONOIL will be part of the implementation of a policy that better integrates energy issues and society challenges as an environmental, health and sustainable development as a whole.

Les populations rurales d'Amazonie vivent de profondes transformations de leur environnement et leurs modes de vie, leurs cultures et savoirs sont menacés. L’organisation collective des producteurs, le maintien et le développement de systèmes de production fondés sur un usage durable des ressources naturelles sont essentiels pour l'avenir de ces populations et passent par de nouvelles formes de formation académique, qui combinent la valorisation des savoirs empiriques avec la maîtrise de nouvelles technologies. ICOOPEB renforcera la formation de 3150 étudiants, dispensée par 37 enseignants, sur les enjeux du développement territorial durable dans les universités d’Amazonie et améliorera leur maîtrise des nouvelles technologies de l’information. Il s’appuiera sur le développement et l’apprentissage d’outils numériques servant à communiquer sur les besoins des communautés rurales et à construire des solutions adaptées en rapprochant les étudiants des entreprises coopératives. Le projet consistera en 4 séminaires intégrant enseignants, étudiants, professionnels de l’économie sociale et solidaire, producteurs ruraux et communautés amérindiennes ou traditionnelles, dans la réalisation de 6 ressources audiovisuelles sur des expériences innovantes; la réalisation d’une plateforme d’échanges de savoirs et d’une carte participative avec traduction ; des formations sur les thèmes du projet et sur les outils numériques pour des communautés rurales (300 personnes formées) ; la diffusion des résultats et des outils aux autres établissements, aux coopératives et organisations amérindiennes de la région et un site Internet donnant accès aux outils numériques. ICOOPEB impliquera les enseignants et étudiants de 2 établissements équatoriens (UNIANDES et UCE) et de 3 établissements brésiliens (IFPA-Castanhal, UNIFAP et UFRA), 8 partenaires associés, ainsi que des communautés rurales des Provinces de Pastaza et de Napo (Equateur), de l’Etat de l’Amapá et de l'État du Pará (Brésil).

CORRIENTE XXI aims to support the needs of both Peru and Ecuador towards the sustainable management of aquatic (both marine and freshwater) ecosystems and resources, both nationally and in a trans-boundary context. Aquatic ecosystems harbour unique biodiversity and provide key ecosystem services to people. The core idea of CORRIENTE XXI is that investment in all aspects of the HE curriculum, its research-basis, its improved international embedding, its emphasis on new teaching approaches are the primary trigger for eventual preparedness of the policy-communities , in both countries as well as jointly, to (aquatic) environmental challenges related to the 21st century. CORRIENTE XXI addresses pressing environmental issues by providing 1) research-based academic training ; 2) a framework for transboundary HEI cooperation towards science-based solutions to shared challenges, as a policy-support; 3) an uplift and academisation of teaching personnel and improved student in/through/outflow quality.CORRIENTE XXI will result in two new Master programmes in Ecuador and three updated Master programmes in both countries. Activities (workshops, staff trainings, job-shadowing activities, an integrative conference, an innovative job fair, a Summer School) will train Peruvian and Ecuadorian staff with innovative and integrative skills, providing outputs like training modules for fieldwork practices and curriculum development, innovative pedagogical skills, transferrable and dissemination skills, training tool-kits, e-learning platform and a portfolio of competences. CORRIENTE XXI will lift the quality level of the involved master programmes, increase employability and raise awareness on the importance of aquatic sciences and management; translating to more effective guidelines for policy and management both nationally and in transboundary regions and increasing (inter)national scientific collaboration.