Objectives and questioning

The ZAL's objectives for the 2020-2024 project are a continuation of the previous project but with a focus on multidisciplinary research at the interface of emerging thematic research groups from the previous project.

Objective 1: Improve and expand collaborative research opportunities within the ZAL

• Develop a long-term socio-ecological collective research programme around 3 thematic groups.
• Strengthen links with academic networks (OSU, MSH, MIDI, Ipat, etc.) with a view to effectively and co-ordinately integrating into the European ESFRI/eLTER infrastructure.

Objective 2: To develop understanding at multiple geographical and temporal scales within the Loire basin by restructuring and organising our workshop sites more functionally.

• To structure research in line with the organising framework defined at the French Long-Term Ecological Research Network (RZA) level of a gradient of human impact on environments and of the river gradient.
• To set up structured site networks through three platforms ("Grands Cours d'"Water, Basin Heads, and Urban Environmentsacross the entire Loire watershed and continue the development of the network ofObservation of the Biodiversity of the Loire and its TributariesOn the basis of the above.

To this end, the network's members will focus on developing thoughts and work on the following questions:

• How global changes (climate change, urbanisation Do increasing (e.g. intensive agriculture, pollution, invasive alien species) impact the socio-ecosystems of the Loire basin?

• How do human societies interact with the functioning of ecosystems? What are the interactions between human activities (uses, pollution, etc.), biological characteristics, and different types of transfers within Loire River socio-ecosystems? What are the past trajectories of Loire River socio-ecosystems, and what are the possible trajectories depending on the evolution of the societal and biophysical framework?