Société d'Anthropologie des Connaissances

David Pontille : deux ouvrages publiés en 2025

Rigas Arvanitis — 2025-10-27T14:09:08Z

Notre collègue et membre du comité de rédaction dès ses premières réunions publie deux ouvrages cette année

Fragilities : Essays on the Politics, Ethics and Aesthetics of Maintenance and Repair (Ouvrage en Open access)
(en coordination avec J.Denis, F. Dominguez-Rubio, MIT Press, 2025).

fragilities

Open access : [https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edited-volume/5957/FragilitiesEssays-on-the-Politics-Ethics-and]

The Care of Things : Ethics and Politics of Maintenance
(avec J. Denis, Polity Press, 2025).

Un ouvrage collectif sur la circulation des connaissances scientifiques

Rigas Arvanitis — 2025-10-26T14:31:00Z

Keim, W., & Rodriguez Medina, L. (Eds.). (2023). Routledge Handbook of Academic Knowledge Circulation.

Editorial Team : Rigas Arvanitis, Chandni Basu, Natacha Bacolla, Stéphane Dufoix, Stefan Fornos Klein, Wiebke Keim, Mauricio Nieto Olarte, Leandro Rodriguez Medina, Clara Ruvituso, Gernot Saalmann, Tobias Schlechtriemen and Hebe Vessuri

ISBN : 9781032269511 (hardback) | 9781032269528 (paperback) | 9781003290650 (ebook)

Lire l'introduction et la table des matières.
L'ouvrage réunit 42 articles et 82 auteurs venant de nombreux pays différents. L'intro a été rédigée collectivement, comme l'ouvrage, un vrai projet international et diversifié.

Dominique Vinck publie une BD sur les controverses autour du glyphosate

Rigas Arvanitis — 2025-10-25T10:26:36Z

Notre ancien directeur de la publication et rédacteur en chef, Dominique Vinck, publie une très belle et intéressante Bande dessinée. Il s'agit d'une étude de la controverse soulevée par le glyphosate (et le "Roundup"), enquête que mènent des étudiants d'une école d'agronomie et de leur enseignante Mitra. Arguments, contre-arguments, mais aussi luttes politiques, soupçons et dévoilement des obscures tactiques des lobbies. L'ouvrage suite la méthode qu'enseigne Dominique sur les controverses scientifiques.

Voir le site de la bande dessinée. On espère voir les prochaines enquêtes.

Nous en parlerons dans la revue !

Le soin des choses. Politiques de la maintenance, par Jérôme Denis et David Pontille

rédac chef — 2022-10-11T13:26:30Z

Nos collègues, Jérôme Denis et David Pontille (ce dernier est aussi un membre fondateur de la Revue, membre du bureau de la SAC et du comité éditorial de la RAC) ont publié un bel ouvrage sur Le soin des choses. Politiques de la maintenance

Une présentation publique aura lieu le 13 octobre à partir de 19h, à la librairie l'Atelier, 2 bis rue du Jourdain 75020 Paris.

Un ouvrage qui sera une référence dans les "maintenance studies".

Les métiers de l'ombre de la Fête des Vignerons - Dominique Vinck (2019)

rédac chef — 2020-05-08T16:12:53Z

Les métiers de l'ombre de la Fête des Vignerons

Vinck, Dominique

Ce livre se penche sur le travail invisible, sur la face cachée de l'événement spectaculaire qu'est la Fête des Vignerons, qui ne se produit qu'une fois par génération.
Alors que l'attention du public, des médias et du monde de la recherche porte principalement sur la partie visible du spectacle, sa charge symbolique et la part de créativité artistique qu'il exhibe, il s'agit ici de s'intéresser aux travailleuses et aux travailleurs de l'ombre – professionnel·le·s et bénévoles – et aux défis auxquels ils et elles se confrontent pour que le spectacle soit pure fête, art et tradition. Leur travail est considérable, suppose compétence et engagement de leur part, mais aussi créativité et innovation. Il se réduit rarement à de la pure et simple exécution ; au contraire, il demande des compétences, de la débrouille, et même parfois du génie, tout en gardant bien l'esprit de la fête et sa singularité pour façonner l'infrastructure qui convient.
L'ouvrage enquête sur les arcanes du spectacle en portant l'attention au travail d'organisation et de façonnage des infrastructures.

Accessible aux Editions Antipodes

Très beau livre, agréable à lire

. Existe aussi une version PDF

La transformation des systèmes de recherche dans les pays du Sud (2019)

rédac chef — 2020-05-08T16:05:52Z

Publication d'un ouvrage issu du colloque sur les La transformation des systèmes de recherche dans les pays du Sud (qui a eu lieu en 2016)

Arvanitis, Rigas et David O'Brien, Eds. (2019). The Transformation of Research in the South : policies and outcomes. Paris : Archives Contemporaines & IRD.

You can buy printed version at the publishers webpage
or download individual chapters.

Profound transformations are affecting the research systems around the world. We witness the emergence of new or restructured organizations to steer public research or promote innovation, new programmatic directions within these organizations, increased funding dedicated to research in academic settings, and new domestic and international partnerships and collaborations. A multiplicity of organizations and funding sources have appeared, creating a complex web where resources circulate along with knowledge in ways that are reshaping research systems in the South.

This book gathers a large sample of these changes presented during a symposium organized by IDRC, IRD, IFRIS, and OECD, seeking to better understand their institutional, political and economic drivers. These cases document the building of scientific capacity and the broader use of results from scientific research and presents lessons for public policy. A large variety of case studies of specific research organizations and comparative analysis of the wider research system are presented in Asia, Africa, and Latin America

Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.) (2019), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes, Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, 166p., doi :

[Préface->https://eac.ac/articles/2106" class="spip_out" rel="external">10.17184/eac.9782813003034

Jean Lebel and Jean-Paul Moatti

Foreword
Jean Lebel and Jean-Paul Moatti

The Transformation of Research in the South : An introduction
David O'Brien and Rigas Arvanitis

Research policy in Arab countries : international cooperation, competitive calls, and career incentives
Rigas Arvanitis and Sari Hanafi

Science-granting councils in Sub-Saharan Africa : A typology of diverse science funding configurations
Johann Mouton

Production, circulation, and use of social research in Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru
María Balarin, Ignacio González, Fernando Masi, Belén Servín, Natalia Peres, and Miguel Vera

Evolution of science policy in South Africa
Michael Kahn

Instruments shaping policy design : Sectoral Funds and Argentina Innovadora 2020
Ana Pereyra and Solange Martinez Demarco

Developing and implementing a research and innovation policy framework in Vietnam
Nguyen Thi Thu Oanh and Michael Braun

Strengthening innovation and development-research capacity in African universities : The case of AfricaLics
Ann Kingiri, Rebecca Hanlin, Margrethe Holm Andersen, and Aschalew Tigabu

How people's movements have influenced research priorities in India : Illustrative case studies
Padma Prakash, Padma Deosthali, and Sangeeta Rege

How young scholars in four ASEAN countries forged successful research careers
Catherine Beaudry and Carl St-Pierre

Institutional restructuring in South Africa : Centralizing research management to influence policy and practice
Harsha Dayal

Strengthening the interactive capabilities of public research institutes in South Africa
Glenda Kruss

Enhancing innovation for inclusive development of national research councils in Southeast Asia : Process and outcomes
Segundo Joaquin Eclar Romero, Jr.

Looking for Transformative Innovation in the South : The Case of the Chilean Mining Sector
Gonzalo Rivas, Jaime Alvarez, and Dan Poniachik

Mechanisms to enhance dialogue among communities involved in STI policy : The Latin American experience
José Miguel Natera and Gabriela Dutrénit

How research groups cope with gaps in science, technology, and innovation policy in Colombia : The case of a nanotechnology research group
Astrid Jaime, Constanza Pérez Martelo, Bernardo Herrera, Gonzalo Ordóñez and Dominique Vinck

Governing science–industry relations in the South : From networks of power to developmental coalitions
Keston K. Perry

Managing research for impact
Zenda Ofir

Under-reporting research relevant to local needs in the South : Database biases in rice research
Ismael Ràfols, Tommaso Ciarli, and Diego Chavarro

Assessing impacts of agricultural research for development in countries of the South
L. Temple, D. Barret, M-H Dabat, A. Devaux-Sparatakis, G. Faure, E. Hainzelin, S. Mathé, A. Toillier, and B. Triomphe

Mapping international knowledge flows : Three dimensions for a framework to evaluate transnational cooperation in research
Leonardo Costa Ribeiro, Leandro Alves Silva, Márcia Siqueira Rapini, Gustavo Britto, and Eduardo da Motta e Albuquerque

Dynamics of South–South cooperation in health biotechnology
Halla Thorsteinsdóttir and Sachin Chaturvedi

Research Cooperation on the Sustainability of the Marginal Seas of South and East Asia
Lourdes J. Cruz, Mohd. Nordin Hasan, Toshio Yamagata, Annadel Cabanban, Marie Antonette Menez, and Fadzilah Binti Abdul Majid

New trends in knowledge generation lift research cooperation in Africa
Margaret Wanjiku

When the South comes to the North : Brazil's and Argentina's international collaboration in agricultural and environmental research in France
Bernard Hubert, Roberto Cittadini and Claudio Carvalho

— - References to the articles ---

Lebel, Jean ; Moatti, Jean-Paul (2019). « Préface », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. i-iii, doi : 10.17184/eac.2106

Jean Lebel and Jean-Paul Moatti (2019). « Foreword », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. v-vi, doi : 10.17184/eac.2107

O'Brien, David ; Arvanitis, Rigas (2019). « The Transformation of Research in the South : An introduction », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 1-6, doi : 10.17184/eac.2092

Arvanitis, Rigas ; Hanafi, Sari (2019). « Research policy in Arab countries. International cooperation, competitive calls, and career incentives », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 7-12, doi : 10.17184/eac.2093

Mouton, Johann (2019). « Science-granting councils in Sub-Saharan Africa. A typology of diverse science funding configurations », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 13-24, doi : 10.17184/eac.2094

Balarin, María ; González, Ignacio ; Masi, Fernando ; Servín, Belén ; Peres, Natalia ; Vera, Miguel (2019). « Production, circulation, and use of social research in Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 25-28, doi : 10.17184/eac.2095

Kahn, Michael (2019). « Evolution of science policy in South Africa », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 29-32, doi : 10.17184/eac.2096

Pereyra, Ana ; Martinez Demarco, Solange (2019). « Instruments shaping policy design. Sectoral Funds and Argentina Innovadora 2020 », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 33-36, doi : 10.17184/eac.2097

Thi Thu Oanh, Nguyen ; Braun, Michael (2019). « Developing and implementing a research and innovation policy framework in Vietnam », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 37-42, doi : 10.17184/eac.2098

Kingiri, Ann ; Hanlin, Rebecca ; Holm Andersen, Margrethe ; Tigabu, Aschalew (2019). « Strengthening innovation and development-research capacity in African universities. The case of AfricaLics », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 43-48, doi : 10.17184/eac.2069

Prakash, Padma ; Deosthali, Padma ; Rege, Sangeeta (2019). « How people's movements have influenced research priorities in India. Illustrative case studies », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 49-54, doi : 10.17184/eac.2070

Beaudry, Catherine ; Saint-Pierre, Carl (2019). « How young scholars in four ASEAN countries forged successful research careers », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 55-60, doi : 10.17184/eac.2071

Dayal, Harsha (2019). « Institutional restructuring in South Africa. Centralizing research management to influence policy and practice », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 61-64, doi : 10.17184/eac.2072

Kruss, Glenda (2019). « Strengthening the interactive capabilities of public research institutes in South Africa », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 65-70, doi : 10.17184/eac.2073

Eclar Romero, Segundo Joaquin (2019). « Enhancing innovation for inclusive development of national research councils in Southeast Asia. Process and outcomes », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 71-76, doi : 10.17184/eac.2074

Rivas, Gonzalo ; Alvarez, Jaime ; Poniachik, Dan (2019). « Looking for Transformative Innovation in the South. The Case of the Chilean Mining Sector », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 77-82, doi : 10.17184/eac.2075

Natera, José Miguel ; Dutrénit, Gabriela (2019). « Mechanisms to enhance dialogue among communities involved in STI policy. The Latin American experience », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 83-86, doi : 10.17184/eac.2076

Jaime, Astrid ; Pérez Martelo, Constanza ; Herrera, Bernardo ; Ordóñez, Gonzalo ; Vinck, Dominique (2019). « How research groups cope with gaps in science, technology, and innovation policy in Colombia. The case of a nanotechnology research group », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 87-92, doi : 10.17184/eac.2077

K. Perry, Keston (2019). « Governing science–industry relations in the South. From networks of power to developmental coalitions », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 93-96, doi : 10.17184/eac.2078

Ofir, Zenda (2019). « Managing research for impact », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 97-104, doi : 10.17184/eac.2079

Ràfols, Ismael ; Ciarli, Tommaso ; Chavarro, Diego (2019). « Under-reporting research relevant to local needs in the South. Database biases in rice research », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 105-110, doi : 10.17184/eac.2080

Temple, Ludovic ; Barret, Danièle ; Dabat, Marie-Hélène ; Devaux-Spatarakis, Agathe ; Faure, Guy ; Hainzelin, Etienne ; Mathé, Syndhia ; Toillier, Aurélie ; Triomphe, Bernard (2019). « Assessing impacts of agricultural research for development in countries of the South », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 111-114, doi : 10.17184/eac.2081

Costa Ribeiro, Leonardo ; Alves Silva, Leandro ; Siqueira Rapini, Márcia ; Britto, Gustavo ; da Motta e Albuquerque, Eduardo (2019). « Mapping international knowledge flows. Three dimensions for a framework to evaluate transnational cooperation in research », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 115-120, doi : 10.17184/eac.2082

Thorsteinsdóttir, Halla ; Chaturvedi, Sachin (2019). « Dynamics of South–South cooperation in health biotechnology », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 121-126, doi : 10.17184/eac.2083

J. Cruz, Lourdes ; Nordin Hasan, Mohamed ; Yamagata, Toshio ; Cabanban, Annadel ; Menez, Marie Antoinette ; Abdul Majid, Fadzilah Binti (2019). « Research Cooperation on the Sustainability of the Marginal Seas of South and East Asia », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 127-132, doi : 10.17184/eac.2084

Wanjiku, Margaret (2019). « New trends in knowledge generation lift research cooperation in Africa », in Arvanitis, Rigas ; O'Brien, David (dir.), The Transformation of Research in the South. Policies and outcomes., Editions des archives contemporaines, France, ISBN : 9782813003034, pp. 133-138, doi : 10.17184/eac.2085

Lire le numéro anniversaire des 10 ans de la RAC

rédac chef — 2018-01-30T17:00:55Z

- Publications / Ouvrages

Publication : Homo Detritus par Baptiste Monsaingeon

rédac chef — 2017-05-15T10:13:03Z

Baptiste Monsaingeon, post-doctorant à l'IFRIS, livre ici une très bel ouvrage sur l'invention des déchets et sur les différentes « solutions » inventées ici et là pour arriver à bout de ce toujours croissant problème des déchets. Ce travail historique permet de comprendre les source du "poubellocène, et l'auteur montre avant tout que les déchets sont le produit d'une conception particulière de la modernisation que nos sociétés ont mis en place progressivement à partir du XIXème siècle. L'ouvrage montre le rôle central des connaissances dans cette prise en compte des "déchets" et dans la définition de leur danger, puis de leur usage et de leur recyclage.

Monsaingeon, Baptiste Homo Detritus. Critique de la société du déchet. Paris : Le Seuil (Coll. Anthropocène).

Passage à la Radio dans "La Tête au Carré" sur France Inter ( à partir de 15'50 de l'émission).

Publication : Les sciences en bibliothèque ( Michel Netzer, dir.)

rédac chef — 2017-05-14T08:11:31Z

Après avoir décrit la genèse et le développement de la vulgarisation scientifique, le livre dirigé par Michel Netzer « Les sciences en bibliothèque » propose un panorama de l'édition de vulgarisation dans le domaine scientifique, technique et médical et met en lumière les politiques d'acquisition, d'organisation et de mise à disposition de ces collections dans divers types de bibliothèques. Il s'achève sur les conditions de la médiation scientifique.

Editeur : Electre-Ed. du Cercle de la Librairie
Parution : 31/03/2017
ISBN : 978-2-7654-1525-1
EAN : 9782765415251

Un de nos auteurs, Antoine Blanchard, y a publié un chapitre sur les blogs de science dans la recherche et la médiation scientifique, sujet surlequel beaucoup reste à étudier et écrire dans les pages de la Revue.

Publication : AgroEcological Transitions : changes and breakthroughs in the making

rédac chef — 2017-04-06T21:47:46Z

Publication : AgroEcological Transitions : changes and breakthroughs in the making
Elzen B, Augustyn A-M, Barbier M. and van Mierlo B. éds)

System Innovations, Knowledge Regimes, and Design Practices towards Transitions for Sustainable Agriculture. Inra [online au format PDF].

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.18174/407609

Contents

AGROECOLOGICAL TRANSITIONS : CHANGES AND BREAKTHROUGHS IN THE MAKING

Part A : Learning in niches

Bart Bremmer and Bram Bos, “Creating Niches by applying Reflexive Interactive Design”...19

Julie Ingram and Damian Maye, “Niche knowledge systems-challenging or invigoratingthe AKS ? An analysis of the Permaculturecommunity in England”...35

Claire Lamine, “Multi-actors transition arenas in the fruit breeding system : a pathwaytowards sustainability, or a new veil over lasting power relationships ?”...49

Bálint Balázs, György Pataki and Orsolya Lazányi, “Socio-Economics of CSAs in Hungary”...67

Boldizsár Megyesi, “Agri-food production in a Hungarian micro-region : Factors influencingfarmers' practices”...76

Marcia R. Ostrom, “Understanding Trends in Consumer Food System Participation:Implications for Agri-food Movement Mobilization and Systems Change in theNorthwestern United States”...88

Part B : Niche-regime interactions

George Vlahos,Pavlos Karanikolas and Alex Koutsouris, “Identifying transition patternsat the regional scale. A Greek case study”...105

Shambu Prasad Chebrolu and Debashish Sen, “Exploring Diversity, Networks and KnowledgeRegimes : Transitions and System Building in SRI in India”...116

Paul Swagemakers, Pierluigi Milone and Flaminia Ventura, “Resilient farmers' strategies andpolicy regulations : The questfor modernization on Dutch and Italian dairy farms”...132

Boelie Elzen, Arni Janssen and Bram Bos, “Portfolio of promises : Designing and testing anew tool to stimulate transition towards sustainable agriculture”...143

Jan Buurma, Anne-Charlotte Hoes, Karel de Greef and Volkert Beekman, “Role of NGOs insystem innovation towards animal friendly pork production in the Netherlands”...162

Allison Loconto, Anne Sophie Poisot and Pilar Santacoloma, “Sustainable Practices,Sustainable Markets ? Institutional innovations in agri-food systems”...176

Part C : Regime transformations

Erika Quendler, “Sustainable development in education : are we ready for change ? Systeminnovation and higher education in life sciences”...195

Frank Nevens, Erik Mathijs and Philippe Vandenbroeck,“From systematic to systemic:An experiment in systems analysis for agriculture and food”...213

Pieter J. Beers, Barbara van Mierlo, “Reflexivity, reflection and learning in the context ofsystem innovation : Prying loose entangled concepts”...243

Patrick Steyaert, Marc Barbier, Marianne Cerf, Alix Levain and Allison Loconto, “Role of intermediation in the management of complex socio-technical transitions”...257

Conclusion : A CURIOSITY CABINET OF AGROECOLOGICAL TRANSITION STUDIES...283

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES...297

PREFACE :

Around the year 2010, the research field of “transition studies” was gaining increasing attention and was developing into a true research community with the advent of the “Sustainability Transitions Research Netw ork” (STRN), the organisation of annual international sustainability transition (IST) conferences, and the launch of a scientific journal, named “Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions”. Concerning the topics addressed within this emerging field, the domain of agriculture was studied by only a small number scholars. This constituted an important omission given the major role this domain plays in global challenges like food provision, depletion of minerals, curbing CO2 emissions, etc. Seeking to fill this gap, researchers from ‘Wageningen University & Research' in the Netherlands (WUR) and the ‘Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique' in France (INRA) took the initiative to organize a first international workshop on the topic of “System Innov ation towards Sustainable Agriculture” (SISA). This first SISA workshop was held in June 2010 in Lelystad, the Netherlands, and its proceedings were published online in 2012. [1]

From the beginning, the idea was to develop a permanent network of transition researchers with interest in the domain of agriculture. To give the network that emerged from the first workshop a more permanent character, a second SISA workshop was held in Paris in 2014. This volume provides a collection of the papers that were presented and discussed at this workshop. The objective of the workshop was to bring research insights and practical experiences together, and to discuss papers in depth to create a basis for effective strategies to stimulate transitions towards sustainable agro-food systems. The papers presented provided an overview of analytical methods, experiences and scientific insights on the main issues at stake in a variety of sustainability initiatives, projects and programmes. More specifically, the workshop sought to contribute to :

Comparing various approaches towards analysing sustainability transitions in agriculture ;
Comparing various approaches towards governance of innovation in agriculture in various European countries, as well as some examples from outside Europe ;
Providing input for rethinking government policies, socio-professional strategies and civic concerns, seeking to contribute to sustainable development in the agro-food systems on the basis of existing research and experiences ;
Identifying main topics for future research. Contributions to the workshop were expected to have either a strong analytical component (to analyse the relevant processes), or a strong constructive component, i.e. seeking to play a role in co-operation with other stakeholders in the development of sustainable alternatives.

The topics addressed should cover several agricultural subsectors (including animal production, arable farming, (glasshouse) horticulture, biomass production for fuels and fibres) and target emerging innovations in agro-food systems, knowledge regimes in transition, or design practices. Two main issues were proposed to the participants :

Analyse the ongoing dynamics in agro-food systems, including system innovations, knowledge regimes and design practices.
Investigate how government agencies and other actors can position themselves and what they can do to stimulate and influence such system innovations, knowledge regimes and design settings, seeking to make agro-food systems more sustainable. The INRA Science in Society unit organized the second SISA workshop in Paris from 22-23 May 2014 that was hosted by AgroParisTech. Financial support was received from INRA, IFRIS and WUR. A scientific and organizational committee was set up under the coordination of Marc Barbier that was composed of Marc Barbier, Marianne Cerf and Claire Lamine from INRA SAD, Boelie Elzen from Wageningen Research and Barbara van Mierlo from Wageningen University. A call for papers was launched through the scientific networks of the c ommittee members, including agricultural research communities and the STRN. Fifty-five paper proposals were submitted of which eighteen were selected for presentation. The format of the meeting was designed to stimulate in-depth discussions of various issues, rather than having many presentations and only brief discussions. Papers were not presented but were assumed to be read beforehand and to stimulate the interaction, two discussants kicked off the discussion of each paper.

All participants played an active role, either as paper authors or discussants or both. Participation in the workshop was by invitation only on the basis of submitted abstracts. The invited participants came from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds such as innovation studies, economics, science & technology studies (including constructive and interactive technology assessment studies), policy studies (including studies of network governance, learning and the impact of regulation), organisation studies (including studies focusing on management of structural change and leadership) and practice based studies. The authors were encouraged to improve their papers on the basis of the discussions at the workshop. After further review (two reviewers per paper), sixteen contributions were considered mature enough to be published in this volume.

We wish to thank all participants for their stimulating contributions, their commitment to improve their papers, and their critical comments and suggestions which enhanced the quality of all the papers through the reviewing process.
See the whole manuscript here

Boelie Elzen, Anna Maria Augustyn, Marc Barbierand Barbara van Mierlo

[1] Marc Barbier and Boelie Elzen (Eds.), 2012. Proceedings of the first international workshop on System Innovations, Knowledge Regimes, and Design Practices towards Sustainable Agriculture. Paris : INRA. Downloadable from : http://www.inra-ifris.org/activites/open-science/system-innovations-knowledge-regimes-and-design-practices-towards-transitions-for-sustainable.html