IPORA - Transdisciplinary international research network

Overall motivation

Research on human societies must take into account the different knowledge systems through which people understand and shape their world. In contexts shaped by colonial history and globalization, societies have developed diverse cultural references and ways of producing knowledge. Understanding these perspectives is essential for analysing social realities and supporting meaningful change.

Rather than viewing these knowledge systems as incompatible, they can be seen as different points of view that interact, complement and sometimes challenge one another. Researchers therefore need to consider both the perspectives of the communities they work with and the analytical frameworks they use themselves. This dialogue between perspectives helps to better understand how people act, make decisions and define their priorities.

Such an approach is particularly important when addressing complex challenges such as environment, health or security. These issues involve multiple stakeholders with different forms of knowledge and experience. Recognising this diversity is key to producing research that can inform public policies and contribute to improving the living conditions of communities.

Integrated activities

This axis includes two types of research:

1. Research on epistemic practices
focusing on the following topics: Epistemology of interdisciplinarity and African governance of public policy: normative trends, agentivity and decoloniality. In both cases, the aim is to clarify research practices (in this case, practices oriented towards interdisciplinarity) as well as to manifest the epistemes at work in public action.

2. Research on specific subjects:
the Entanglement of environmental normativities (with fieldwork in Morocco and Senegal) and the Categorization of climate migrants. These two research projects are concerned with the normativities inherent in the territorialization of environmental policies and the production of a categorization of climate migrants, activities that are both political (in the sense of policy and politics) and epistemic.

Academic validation

This axis has benefited from the recruitment of three doctoral fellows, financed by a doctoral contract from the University of Bordeaux (on climate migrants), an ANR-CNRS doctoral contract (on environmental normativities) and a UB-IPORA doctoral contract (on interdisciplinarity), as well as two IPORA grants in the form of initiation projects (on environmental normativities and interdisciplinarity). It will give rise to a collective work to be published by Palgrave (contract signed). Several articles are currently being written. It has also led to the launch of a number of cooperative ventures, notably with Cheikh Anta Diop University and the CNRS’s ESS international research laboratory (which, in addition to Senegal, has opened the door to Burkina Faso and Mali), the University of Vienna (Geography Department) and the University of Bari (on climate migrants).

Associated projects

African governance of public policies: normative trends, agency, and decoloniality

This research analyzes the normative dynamics of African governance through a multi-level approach—combining global, regional, and local perspectives—and will culminate in a book titled African Continental Governance: Normative Trends and Agency Challenges, to be published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2025

More info

Climate migrants and public policies

This project examines how scientific research on climate-related migration is translated, debated, and reformulated in the development of **public policies—particularly in Europe—by analyzing how the concept of “climate migrants” is defined and how climate change actually influences migration decisions.

More info

Epistemic issues and practices of interdisciplinarity in policy-oriented research in Africa

Interdisciplinarity is a practical necessity of research in cases of complex aggregation. This is particularly true when adopting a public policy perspective. One of the defining characteristics of public policies is that they often combine different dimensions of the natural…

More info

The normative embedding of environmental evidence: controversies surrounding climate change in Africa

Explore the intricate dynamics of climate change controversies in Africa, examining how environmental evidence intertwines with societal norms and leads to divergent interpretations and actions.

More info