La participation institutionnalisée dans les espaces protegés habités. Quelles contributions à leco-acteurisation des participants et audeveloppement territorial?: regards croisés sur 6 initiatives de développement du Parc naturel régional Scarpe-Escaut (France) et de la Mosaïque daires protégées Sertão Veredas-Peruaçu (Brésil)

Abstract

Managers of Inhabited Protected Areas (IPA) promote participatory development initiatives in order to protect natural and cultural heritages. This research investigates if the institutionalized participation favors the transformation of the participants into eco-actors authors of bottom-up initiatives ("eco-actorisation"), and supports the territorial development. Our qualitative survey focused on a cross-sectional analysis of six cases of local development initiatives from two IPAs. It seeks to highlight some favorable outcomes and to stir some debates. The participation of both local stakeholders and inhabitants in the creation and the management of these IPAs is unanimously encouraged by the international framework, the public policies and the IPAs managers themselves. Implementation reveals very contrasting and imperfect situations. Whether in terms of community and institutional engagement, participatory tools and methods or power dynamics: progress remains to be made. Yet, these initiatives - which would probably not exist without these institutional incentives - attempt to activate and specify natural and / or cultural resources. Eco-actorization is rarely "accomplished" but often partially observed. While six these initiatives do not exactly correspond to the concept of territorial development, they nonetheless contribute to creating a favorable soil for this development process, and a certain "better-being" for stakeholders involved. One of the scenarios to be considered would be to transform the EPH into eco-actors incubators, and their managers into partners of bottom-up initiatives.