The Systemic Timeline Multistep methodology: a framework for analyzing interdependencies between knowledge and action in socio-hydrological observatories

This communication intends to promote an ex-post methodology to systematically document coupled trajectories between environmental sciences and planning. While specific institutional arrangements facilitate collaborative practices in long-term socio-environmental observatories, the collaboration mechanisms are still poorly documented and some framework developments are needed for capitalization studies. To fill this gap, we propose an approach to trace, illustrate and evaluate interactive activities between researchers and managers. We proposed the Systemic Timeline Multistep (STM) methodology on the basis of a typical case-study, the coastal Thau catchment (south of France), where societal challenges emerged from water-related issues.

First we propose a conceptual framework of the collaborative process: the system under study is composed of bundles of research and development projects, which forms a given sociotechnical configuration that fulfill specific functions. The trajectory is marked by the succession of relatively stable periods, globally oriented by transitions. Second, we implement this framework on past environmental projects through a diachronic and dialectic approach: the objective is to characterize regimes (driving mechanisms of interactive arrangements) and identify transitions in the trajectory (triggers and impacts of regime shift). The multi-step methodology is divided in: define spatial and temporal system boundaries, list and contextualize all projects, represent the dynamics of projects and events, and analyze the overall pathway (relate projects’ role to context variables).

The implementation of the methodology on the Thau case study helps rapidly visualize research activities and their interactions with water management and broader governance and societal events through time. Both research and practice communities were bridged in the frame of specific governance instruments dedicated to lagoon water quality, which ‘sanitary crises’ required interventions across public policies and sustained interactions with knowledge production. It points out the role of technical infrastructures (monitoring and modelling of water fluxes) on water quality and related-activities, and it highlights the importance of boundary works for integrated planning (coastal zone, land and water). Finally, the STM methodology supports the characterization of interdependencies between water fluxes characterization, water management and water uses. Exploring the impacts of information system on collaborative mechanisms may provide place-based reflexive insights on governance approaches in long-term research platforms.