PROJETS

Jusqu'il y a peu, la cartographie de l'occupation du sol à partir d'images satellitaires, à des échelles locales était entravée par la faible résolution des images satellitaires. Depuis 1999, de nouvelles données de télédétection (de 4 à 0,63 m de résolution spatiale) représentent avec plus de détails la surface de la terre. Cependant, l'extraction de l'information par des techniques de classification assistée par ordinateur s'avère beaucoup plus complexe de par l'augmentation de la variabilité interne dans les unités d'occupation du sol et par la faiblesse de la résolution spectrale. L'augmentation de la variabilité diminue la séparabilité statistique des classes d'occupation du sol dans l'espace spectral. Les techniques de classification multispectrale par pixel sont alors insuffisantes pour une extraction des catégories complexes et spectralement hétérogènes de l'occupation du sol, comme les zones urbanisées. L'objectif de la recherche consiste en l'amélioration de l'interprétation de l'occupation du sol de différents types de paysages belges tant urbains que ruraux, à partir d'images satellitaires à très haute résolution spatiale. C’est pourquoi la technique de classification par région sera utilisée et évaluée ; elle devrait permettre de se rapprocher significativement de la qualité d'une interprétation visuelle.

L'objectif est triple : cartographier l'occupation du sol, en suivre l'évolution et en modéliser l'évolution future en milieu urbain. La première partie consiste à contribuer à l'amélioration des techniques numériques de traitement d'images satellitaires pour la cartographie de l'occupation du sol dans le but de se rapprocher de l'interprétation visuelle. La seconde partie analysera l'évolution des changements d'occupation du sol pour Bruxelles et sa périphérie à l'aide des données MURBANDY. Enfin, la modélisation de la croissance urbaine sera étudiée à l'aide d'un modèle basé sur les automates cellulaires. Le modèle sera calibré sur l'évolution passée et l'évolution future sera simulée selon les différents choix d'aménagement du territoire devant lesquels Bruxelles et ses environs se retrouveront confrontés (différents scénarios).

The aim of this PhD is to contribute to S-LCA methodological developments with the support of a case study on products from alternative food networks (AFNs) . First, a state of the art of S-LCA studies has been conducted. From this state of the art, a number of conclusions on S-LCA practice and developments are drawn as well as methodological proposals. These methodological proposals argue for 1) the use of a participatory approach with the consultation of stakeholders of product chains to select assessment criteria and to identify impact pathways; 2) the use of a holistic approach in which also economic and governance aspects of product chains are taken into account to assess social and socioeconomic impacts, and in which links between stakeholders and impact categories are considered; and 3) the use of an approach that allows the explanation of company’s practices rather than their solely assessment, as mostly done in S-LCA currently.

In the framework of the FP7 project “Forest management strategies to enhance the mitigation potential of European forests” (FORMIT), the PhD study will mainly focus on the evaluation of the contribution of forest products to carbon storage and climate mitigation. A cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment of the European forest sector will be performed to evaluate the environmental impact of mitigation scenarios for the sector. This will be done for different forest types, different European regions, different management scenarios and different product types including cascade use of wood, the account of temporary carbon storage, end use and final disposal of wood products.

Etude des impacts sociaux, économiques, culturels des grands événements sur la ville et le milieu touristique.

Histoire de la formation des territoires touristiques et construction de la représentation des paysages nationaux

In the dichotomy between migrants and refugees/asylum-seekers, the former are typically cast as economically motivated, and set apart from refugees, fleeing war and persecution. Yet environmental changes are increasingly part of migration journeys, and count amongst the factors that call into question the distinction made between migrants and refugees. At the same time, in the international negotiations on climate change, migration is increasingly mooted as a possible adaptation strategy to the impacts of climate change. But only few studies exist as to how migration could actually work for adaptation, and none of them addresses migration in Belgium. This is the goal of this project, delineated into two parts. First, MIGRADAPT will look at the role of the environment as a driver for recent migration to Belgium. While it is unlikely that one could single out environmental changes as a key driver of migration to Belgium, except in exceptional cases, the project will rather attempt to provide an assessment on how migrants perceive the environment to have influenced their migration journey as well as how they perceive current environmental disruption in their countries of origin. Indeed, many countries of origin or of transit of migrants to Belgium are affected by significant environmental disruptions. How are such disruptions perceived by the migrants? Through its innovative theoretical and empirical approach MIGRADAPT will provide scientific evidence on the role of environmental drivers in migration decisions and on how perceived and observed environmental changes exacerbate pre-existing migration flows to Belgium through its impacts on the other most commonly addressed drivers of migration, such political and economic factors. Moreover, the project will show how environmental disruptions not only affect the first stage of human mobility from their countries of origin, but also how environmental stressors intervene throughout migrants ‘fragmented journeys’, including their potential to alter migratory routes and destinations entirely. Second, MIGRADAPT seeks to understand how migrants can support the adaptation and resilience of their communities of origin. How and under which conditions can migration support the adaptation and resilience of communities affected by environmental changes? MIGRADAPT will provide evidence on how and under which conditions migration to Belgium can support the adaptation and resilience of origin communities and also on how the perception that migrants have on environmental shocks in their origin communities can impact the amount, form, and use of the socio-economic remittances that they send. Through its transnational and multi-sited methodology that captures both the drivers and impacts of migration, MIGRADAPT will address the multifactor aspect of the dynamics of environmental migration and its implications for both migrants and those remaining in communities of origin. The evidence from the project, both in Belgium and in three different countries of origin of the selected migrants, will be translated into policy recommendations that should allow policy makers to tailor and mainstream the environmental component of migration into migration policies, including bilateral migration agreements. The project will also seek to inform Belgian climate and development policies, so that they can better incorporate migration into the strategies. Overall, the project will seek the maximise the potential of migration for adaptation to environmental changes, building on its appraisal of the migration-environment nexus in Belgium.