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Transport and energy infrastructures - roads, motorways, railways, inland waterways and high-voltage lines - have been major technical, economic and political markers of progress. But the upheavals caused by climate change and the erosion of biodiversity, to which they have contributed, are turning this perspective on its head. These major lines make it possible to isolate or connect environments, generate new relationships with space and create new landscapes. They hold the promise of transforming our lifestyles, fostering cooperation between stakeholders and creating a more positive relationship between living beings and human constructions, against the backdrop of the challenge of decarbonisation. By mobilising active and creative research, the Ittecop research programme (land transport infrastructures, territories, ecosystems and landscapes) brings together public and private players to improve their actions and knowledge on these subjects. Aimed at infrastructure managers and developers, experts from government departments and consultancy firms, as well as students and researchers, this book examines how infrastructures help to mobilise territories around environmental issues and explores the possibility of a hybridisation of knowledge and practices between ecological and social sciences. It looks at policy tools and how they can be criticised, the environmental assessment procedures for projects, and the 'avoid-reduce-compensate' doctrine. Finally, research on infrastructures is considered as a contribution to the renewal of the management and design of these major developments.

What are the causes of vegetation and soil degradation? What are the consequences for ecosystems, biodiversity, water resources and the climate? What are the impacts on human societies and the economy? Often wrongly perceived as a distant issue for our European countries, the fight against desertification is struggling to emerge as an environmental priority. Yet desertification is not inevitable. This book shows that desertification is not always linked to climate change, and that it does not only occur in the drylands that are most at risk. It clarifies the concept in its various geographical, biological and socio-economic variations. Based on the most recent scientific studies, the authors explain the methods and expected benefits of combating desertification and land degradation. Aimed at scientists, NGOs, journalists, students and decision-makers, they seek to deconstruct a number of preconceived ideas in order to make a full contribution to national and international debates.