Abstract ID: 3.12319 | Accepted as Talk | Talk | TBA | TBA

Research practices, funding agencies and international scientific organisations suggest that research aimed at tackling environmental challenges is more effective when it is “co-produced” by academics and non-academic players, using transdisciplinary approaches (Norström et al., 2020). Transdisciplinarity thus appears to be a more appropriate response to complex ecological transition challenges than more traditional scientific approaches. However, it remains difficult to implement transdisciplinary collaborations because of the differences in objectives, professional practices and timeframes existing between researchers and local stakeholders. This paper examines the role of participant observation (Peneff, 2009) and scientific mediation as tools to facilitate the emergence and development of such collaborations. Our pape is based on a fieldwork undertaken in 2018, which led to two transdisciplinary collaborations around the transition of the forest-wood sector in the French Alps. These collaborations were conducted with the French government agency in charge of managing public forests, the Office National des Forêts (ONF). They involved 38 agents of various statuses working in different medium and high mountain areas in Savoie and Haute-Savoie, and resulted in the production of three scientific publications. Thanks to the contributions of participant observation and scientific mediation, the ONF, which initially found it difficult to see the value of collaborating with researchers in humanities and social sciences, is now calling on the authors of this paper to benefit from their expertise, outside the formal framework of transdisciplinary research. Based on this case study, we will analyse how participant observation fosters contact with players by providing a better understanding of their professional logic, thus facilitating the establishment of transdisciplinary collaborations. As well as providing useful data, this type of immersion contributes to the researcher’s integration into the professional environments studied and enables him to adjust his approaches to the needs identified in the field. Secondly, we will show how scientific mediation and science outreach help to legitimise the setting up of collaborations, strengthen the co-construction of knowledge, enhance the involvement of institutionals partners and increase the impact of scientific results produced.