Chair in "Living within planetary limits »

Rethinking territorial, urban and architectural approaches


Should we consider the role of biodiversity in the city or leave space for it to invent itself? What economic system, value chain, business models should be considered in a mode of scarcity? How to imagine the future of our territories and the interaction between urban and rural areas in a world with limited resources? And how will our lifestyles evolve?

These are some of the questions raised by the Urban Planning Agency of the Nantes region, the National School of Architecture in Nantes, the company SCE-KERAN, and the Institute of Advanced Studies in Nantes, who have decided to join forces to create the chair "Inhabiting in the Prism of Planetary Limits; Rethinking Territorial, Urban, and Architectural Approaches."

If the notion of "inhabiting" refers to the relationship that humans have with the (surrounding) places in which they live, the concept of "habitability" refers to the conditions that allow them to inhabit a (surrounding) place, both at the scale of private space (habitat, housing) and at the scale of the city, landscape, and territory.
This concept of habitability develops in connection with the reaching of certain planetary limits and increasingly challenges the actors in urban and architectural production: how to ensure habitability in a world undergoing ecological and social transition? How to shape inhabiting in the prism of planetary limits?

By bringing together an institute of advanced studies, a higher education institution, an urban planning agency, and a company in engineering and consulting for development, the chair aims to highlight and articulate a transdisciplinary and prospective scientific thought to question and explore the forms and modes of inhabiting in the prism of planetary limits: carbon neutrality, adaptation to climate change, restoration of living organisms, etc.

These different partners come together to stimulate collaborative research dynamics focused on the production of knowledge and the formulation of transformative hypotheses capable of giving rise to new reflections, practices, and ways of doing things.

The partnership research chair takes place over a three-year schedule from 2024 to 2027, with three successive residencies for a researcher during a period of 9 months each (2024-2025; 2025-2026; 2026-2027).

Three annual calls for applications will select three research proposals successively, enriching the reflections and methodological approaches of the partners engaged in the Nantes region while supporting research excellence in a framework conducive to providing territorial and international visibility.

Hosted at the Institute of Advanced Studies, the candidate from a discipline in the humanities and social sciences, physical sciences, environmental sciences, life sciences, or engineering will continue their research work in interaction with partners to disseminate and inspire practitioners in urban and territorial planning beyond the academic environment.

The first call for applications for a residency from October 2024 to June 2025 has been launched. Applications will be accepted until March 10, 2024:

You’ll find the call for applications and details of how to apply here :
https://www.demarches-simplifiees.fr/commencer/appel-a-candidature-chaire-habiter

For more information on the scientific project of the Institute for Advanced Studies:
https://www.iea-nantes.fr/en/the-institute/mission/

To find out more about residency requirements:
https://www.iea-nantes.fr/en/apply/residency/