From Public Involvement to Citizen-based Initiatives: How Can Inhabitants Get Organized to Face Floods?: De l'intégration du public à l'expertise citoyenne : un nouveau rôle à jouer pour les individus aux échelles locales ?

Résumé En

Individuals have an increasingly significant role to play within flood prevention and management, as financial, material and human resources allocated to local authorities are on the decline, while stakes are still increasing. Institutions responsible for enforcing regulatory injunctions are unable to keep track of requested documents (status and compliance), to evaluate their effectiveness (induced behaviors), their reception and/or their understanding by all inhabitants living in flooded areas. Consequently over the last few years a certain number of citizen-based initiatives have emerged in response to such deficiencies. Each of these initiatives share a common goal: to reposition individuals at the heart of their own safety and to adapt regulations to local circumstances, or even to go beyond the focal point of a technocratic vision in favor of a more integrated and shared vision of risk. The form and content constituting these approaches is very diverse (comics, models, plays, videos, etc.) but even if it is clear that these initiatives complement the existing measures in place, they still fail to take into consideration institutional actors. Furthermore, political resonance and the involvement of many external actors weigh heavily in this area, resulting in citizen-led initiatives being a rare occurrence. Having highlighted the extent to which individuals are overlooked as a social and political reality, this chapter will seek to demonstrate the effectiveness of several citizen-based initiatives, the way they respond to specific needs and offer refined courses of action that work towards ensuring sustainability.