Call for applications

The DIDEM project and Monaco Explorations are pleased to announce a regional thematic school dealing with coral reef heritage vulnerability that will be held in Seychelles in June 2024 to provide doctoral and post-doctoral scientists, coral reef managers, NGO experts the opportunity to share experiences, knowledge and methods and to be a part of an engaging learning environment.

Location of the school: Seychelles, Mahé Island, Unisey/Anse Royale

Dates: June 10 to 14, 2024

Number of participants: 30

Language: English

Theme: vulnerability of reef heritage

Public: Doctoral and post-doctoral scientists with a multidisciplinary approach given priority, coral reef managers, NGO experts of the Western Indian Ocean region motivated by an experience that goes beyond disciplinary boundaries.

Coral reef @ IRD-Pascale Chabanet

How to apply?

Any applicant will send a CV and a cover letter to alice.marque@ird.fr explaining why he wants to apply.

He is also asked to answer the three following questions:

• For you, what is reef heritage?
• What are the threats affecting it in the medium and short term?
• What are the solutions to solve these problems?

The deadline for submission of applications is March 20th 2024.

Candidates will be notified of the outcome of their application by April 20th 2024. The selection process takes particular account of the numerical balance between the various disciplines and between genders, a guarantee of success for the objective pursued. Speakers representing a panel of experts from different disciplines will enable in-depth exchanges between senior and junior researchers thanks to the different life and research experiences that will be shared. 

The DIDEM project will cover travel and accommodation costs.

Description

The main aim is to compare the different knowledge, representations and ways from different disciplines about a) assessing the resilience of reef ecosystem; b) considering coral reef as a natural heritage, c) building a coral social-ecological system. Following an integrated approach, bridging the final goal is to put coral reef heritage as a cross cutting body of analysis and management.    

This thematic school will explore the concepts of resilience, vulnerability, heritage and social-ecological system from the perspective of sustainability science. It includes a section of presentations offered by various experts in the fields of anthropology, biology, ecology, fisheries, geography, governance, socio-economics in order to present the state of the art and lay common theoretical and methodological foundations, introduce fieldwork and initiate debate.

A critical component is offering a hands-on experience, carried out on the ground field in small interdisciplinary groups, where participants from different backgrounds and skills are encouraged to apply methodologies from different disciplines to promote exchanges (ethnographic surveys, fisheries system approach, monitoring of coral reef habitats and populations, social representation analysis, …).