University of Caen Normandie (Unicaen)

With its expertise in human geography, physical geography and geomatics, the scientific program of the IDEES Caen team aims to contribute to knowledge on nature-society interactions through a modelling and integrative approach lying at the geographical interfaces between land, sea and atmosphere. The IDEES Caen laboratory focuses on two specific investigative areas, with a variety of issues that are directly or indirectly linked to the multi-scalar consequences of climatic and socio-economically driven global changes: littoral (the sea and coastal catchment areas) and continental environments. The members of the LETG laboratory, geographers, geomorphologists, hydrologists are at the origin of these original projects. In this way, they have consolidated their experience in terms of project editing with a pedagogical purpose, transdisciplinary approach and long-term application of these devices for the public communities The experiments carried out using digital innovations feed a reflective and critical approach of concepts and methods while remaining attentive to public action, hence the organization of the scientific program into three research themes: coastal cliff erosion, submersion in relation with sea level rise, and surface runoff vs landuse management. As part of the IDEES research deals with hazards and risks in the coastal and mountainous environment (storm flooding and concomitance with continental floods), and their appropriation by elected officials a research to determine and quantify the risk and to share this knowledge with the elected representatives of the territory through a vector of communication that is virtual and augmented reality.

Persons involved

Cantat Olivier
Cantat Olivier is associate professor at Caen Normandie University in Geography department. He is a geographer climatologist. He holds a PhD in geography (University of Paris 4-Sorbonne) and a postdoctoral degree (HDR, University of Paris 7-Diderot). He is notably president of the "Climate Change and Territories" commission of the French National Center of Geography (CNFG), expert for the Normandy IPCC and in charge of the "Geography, Planning, Environment and Development" Master's degree. His current research focuses on climate change and its contemporary and future impacts at the regional and local scales in Normandy and on weather types in metropolitan France.

Delahaye Daniel
Daniel Delahaye is full professor in geomorphology at the Laboratory of Physical Geography and Environment, at the University of Caen Normandy. He is a specialist in spatial analysis and the study of the consequences of landscape evolution on the dynamics of soil erosion and sediment transfers. He has coordinated various projects (INTERREG BAR, ANR SYMBAD, PSDR CLIMASTER...) and participated in several national or international projects: (European FP6 project RAMSOIL, CASDAR project RESP'HAIES...). He is vice-president of the Normandy agency for biodiversity and sustainable development.

Lissak Candide
Lissak Candide is associate Professor at Caen Normandie University in Geography department (IDEES Caen laboratory). Her work is crossroad of Geomorphology, Quantitative Geography and Environment with a particular interest in risk assessment and hazard analysis. Through the combination of data and tools (remote sensing, GIS, statistics, field monitoring, interviews,) and platforms (airborne and ground-based) her aim is to understand physical processes (landslide, debris flows...) and the role of anthropogenic impact (land-use planning) that can expose societies at risk in order to assist stakeholders in making decisions. She is also a member of the council of the “Groupe Français de Géomorphologie” and a member of the committee of the french geomorphology journal to promote this discipline (https://journals.openedition.org/geomorphologie/).

Medjkane Mohand
Medjkane Mohand is a Research Engineer at the University of Caen Normandy in the Geography Department (CNRS Laboratory 6266 IDEES). His research interests focus on the modeling of complex spatialized systems, particularly through the design of spatial analysis procedures using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This approach, centered on the methods of quantitative geography, allows him to investigate numerous thematic fields in order to show how the structures and dynamics of spatialized phenomena (both environmental and social) allow us to understand the states and processes observed within contemporary societies and the territories they manage. Thus, his work crosses various fields such as the question of low environmental impact mobility, the modeling of socio-technical risks, or the question of coastal risk management in the context of climate change.

Costa Stéphane
Stéphane COSTA is full professor in geomorphology and coastal risk assessment. He was involved, as coordinator or collaborator in several national or international projects devoted to the study of geomorphological hazards and risks in coastal area. He is also president of the Scientific Council (1) of the interregional coastal observatory (Normandy and Hauts de France), and (2) of the axis A of the National Strategy for management of the French coastline (for French Ministry on Environment). These recent scientific activities related to the improvement of the understanding of climate disruption and these morphological impacts, and actions for risk reduction and adaptation to climate change. To this end, he was the leader of a project on the use of virtual reality as a tool for the appropriation of scientific knowledge and the memory of the risk of flooding by the sea for political decision-makers in Normandy.

Maquaire Olivier
Maquaire Olivier is full professor in geomorphology, geotechnics and risk assessment at the Laboratory of Physical Geography and Environment, at the University of Caen Normandy. His research interests include natural coastal hydro-geomorphological hazards and risks. He was involved, as coordinator or collaborator, in several national or international projects devoted to the study of natural hydro-geomorphological hazards and risks (coastal, continental and mountain areas). He has been scientist in charge of several WPs in EU research projects (NEWTECH, ALARM) and has coordinated one European project (RTN Marie Curie MOUNTAIN-RISKS) and 7 national research projects (i.e. ANR SISCA, ANR RICOCHET) in the last 10 years. Since May 2016, he has been an associate member of the Regional Environmental Authority Mission of Normandy (CGEDD, Ministry of Ecology). He is vice-president in charge of sustainable development at the University of Caen-Normandy since December 2020.

Reulier Romain
Romain Reulier is associate Professor at Caen Normandie University in Geography department (IDEES Caen laboratory). He is a specialist in spatial analysis and the study of the consequences of landscape evolution on the dynamics of soil erosion and hydro-sedimentary transfers. His methodological approaches are based on the tools of spatial analysis (multi-agent systems, geographic information system) and geomorphology (connectivity, measurement of hydro-sedimentary flows).

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