The “Understanding & Acting” conferences
The “Understanding & Acting” conferences shed light on societal issues in order to act on our world. They are addressed to all, citizens and researchers, and aim to highlight, in an accessible language, cutting-edge scientific knowledge and ethical issues in order to participate in decision-making and to act together on a shared world.
Format: 30 to 60 minutes of presentation followed by a discussion with the audience. The presentations are available on our Youtube channel.
Location: Inria Grenoble – Rhône-Alpes – Grand Amphi; TAG C1 bus line
Subscriptions: 
Upcoming Conferences
- Is the emergence of radical alternative ecosystems possible on a territorial scale?
September 25, 2025 – And now that not only the living world is collapsing, but also the rest of society, what are we to do? Where are our real margins for manoeuvre and means of action to re-open life lines? - Collapse of the living world – What’s next? by Denis Couvet
September 25, 2025 – And now that not only the living world is collapsing, but also the rest of society, what are we to do? Where are our real margins for manoeuvre and means of action to re-open life lines? - Making history: reading and understanding our times
(Français) CONFERENCE REPORTEE. De notre essoufflement démocratique, à la guerre en Ukraine l’histoire apparaît de plus en plus comme un sixième sens nécessaire…
Past Conferences
- Agnès van Zanten – Meritocracy and inequality in education, the role of schools, status and processes
June 19, 2025 – Agnès van Zanten – Synthesis of the issues surrounding the education system in relation to the manufacture of inequalities and our powerlessness in the face of today’s major challenges… - Problems posed by the solutionist vision
09 janvier 2025 – Sophie Dubuisson-Quellier – Les solutions proposées reposent sur des hypothèses d’ordre “social” qui ne sont pas cohérentes avec les connaissances en sciences sociales…. - Antibiotic resistance: systemic analysis of the issues to break the deadlock
22 octobre 2024 – Charlotte Brives – Analyse systémique croisant les aspects santé, écologiques, juridiques, économiques, financiers… - Post-growth economics. Ecological planning versus the aporia of green capitalism
Cédric Durand Thursday 21 March 2024 Summary: The lack of plausibility of green growth, the… - Technocritiques: from machine quarrels to technoscientific controversies
François Jarrige Thursday 16 March 2024 Summary: Taking a diversion into history, this talk looks… - Revolution and transition. Thinking ecology through work
Paul Guillibert Thursday 7 March 2024 SummaryThe dominant discourse on ecology emphasizes the role of… - Neutrality in science: from myth to disclaimer?
08 octobre 2024 – Marlène Jouan – Ne faudrait-il pas envisager que l’exigence de neutralité serve une fin politique, à savoir le déni de la responsabilité des sciences dans l’organisation de la cité ou de la vie en commun ? - Climate impact on health: what lies ahead and what can be done?
Valérie D’Acremont Thursday 25 january 2024 Summary: It’s the year 2040, and a patient goes… - Is democracy a myth?
Sophie Wahnich Date / Schedule : Wednesday 25th mai 2023 – 11h30-13h30 Location: Inria Grenoble… - Inflation, growth, decoupling: what are the political and technical issues ?
Florence Jany-Catrice Tuesday 2 May 2023 Abstract: How can we characterize the new inflationary regime… - Science patterns: can science be neutral?
Gabrielle Bouleau Date / time : tuesday 17january 2023 – 11h30-13h30 Location : Inria Grenoble… - Impact of digital tools on health
Servane Mouton Date / time: Thursday 15 December 2022 – 11.30am-1.30pm Place: Inria Grenoble –… - What accounting system(s) should be used to organize responsibilities for preserving the biosphere?
Clément Feger Date and time: May 3, 2022 – 11h30-13h30 Place: Inria Grenoble – Rhône-Alpes… - « It’s politics, stupid! » On some of the political mechanisms that led to climate and environmental chaos (1970-2030)
Christophe Bouillaud Date / Time: 7 April 2022 – 11.30am-1.30pm Place: Inria Grenoble – Rhône-Alpes… - The responsibility of research in telling our social history: the example of social security
Bernard Friot Date / Time : 30 November 2021 – 11.30am – 1.30pm Place :… - Technologies and health: What trade-offs between ethics, environment and climate? Reflective analysis and field experience
Valérie D’Acremont Date / Time : 27 September 2021 – 11.30am – 1.30pm Place :… - New powers in the age of artificial intelligence: Who will rule the world in the 21st century?
Asma Mhalla Date / time : Thursday, October 23, 2020 – 11:30 a.m. – 1:30… - Action thinking and practice
Cécile Renouard Date / time: Thursday, October 8, 2020 – 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.… - Finance: firefighters of collapse?
Denis Dupré Date / time: Thursday, January 23, 2020 – 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.… - Finance: the pyromaniac of collapses?
Denis Dupré Date: Thursday 05 December 2019 – 11.30am-1.30pm Location : Inria Grenoble – Rhône-Alpes… - The role of imaginary worlds in socio-political shiftsSophie Wahnich Date: Thursday 24 September 2019 – 11.30am-1.30pm Location : Inria Grenoble – Rhône-Alpes…
- “Environmental” challenges and barriers to action
Summary: This conference provides an overview – by no means exhaustive – of the barriers… - When white men wanted to conserve the planet. A history of geopower, 1865-1914
Christophe Bonneuil Date: Thursday 13 June 2019 – 11.30am-1.30pm Location : Inria Grenoble – Rhône-Alpes… - Is the risk of a blackout real?
Grégoire Chambaz Date: Thursday 16 May 2019 – 11.30am-1.30pm Location: Inria Grenoble – Rhône-Alpes –… - Raw materials / energy and energy transition
Olivier Vidal Date: Thursday 11 April – 11.30am-1.30pm Location: Inria Grenoble – Rhône-Alpes – Grand… - Digital: threat or hope for the environment?
Francoise Berthoud Date / time : 15 November 2018 – 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m. Place… - Rethinking nuclear choices: Safety and democracy
Benoit Pelopidas Date / time : 9 October 2018 – 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m. Place… - Plant seeds and varieties: what new challenges for global governance?
Frédéric Thomas Date / time : 12 June 2018 – 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m. Place… - Problems posed by the solutionist vision
18 april 2018 – Alexandre Monnin and Diego Landivar – With the Anthropocene, the prospects of collapse are multiplying. Beyond the diagnosis, there is the question of what action is appropriate in such a context. What should we do in the face of such a prospect?… - Can finance save the climate?
Alain Grandjean Date / time : 26 March 2018 – 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m. Place… - Can the movement of the “commons” reactivate democracy?
Christian Laval Date / horaires : Jeudi 30 Novembre 2017 – 11h30-13h30 Lieu : Inria… - The contemporary democratic question: how to get out of the impasse?
Loïc Blondiaux Thursday 16 October 2017 Résumé : Après s’être imposée au cours des deux… - Which alternative to the “crisis of representation”?
Jean-Paul Jouary Thursday 8 June 2017 Résumé : Ce que nous appelons communément aujourd’hui démocratie… - Why and how to recognize money as a common good?
Jean-Michel Servet Date / horaires : Jeudi 4 Mai 2017 – 11h30-13h30 Lieu : Inria… - Environment, economy, collpase: squaring the circle?
Pierre-Yves Longaretti Date / horaires : Jeudi 9 Mars 2017 – 11h30-13h30 Lieu : Inria… - Understanding the collapse of societies. What future for ours?
Emmanuel Prados Date / horaires : Jeudi 9 Février 2017 – 11h30-13h30 Lieu : Inria… - Reinventing agriculture and food for the 21st century
Gilles Billen Tuesday 28 June 2016 Summary: Financial crisis, debt crisis, economic crisis, monetary crisis,… - The permanent crisis
Marc Chesney Friday 8 April 2016 Summary: This conference focuses on the issue of crisis.… - Acting fast and better: What needs to be changed?
Denis Dupré Thursday 11 February 2016 Summary: Whether it’s climate change or the issue of… - Feeding 9 billion people healthily: possible or impossible?
Denis Dupré Thursday, 14 January 2016 Abstract: This second conference focuses on the issue of… - Limiting climate change… Why don’t we get there?
Denis Dupré Thursday 17 December 2015 Summary: This first conference focuses on the issue of…
