Socio-ecosystem approach to the impact of offshore floating wind farms

Grant: French National Research Agency (ANR-10-IEED-0006-25)

Duration: 3 years (2018-2021)

Description: The main objective of the APPEAL project is to build a new approach associating the natural sciences and the human and social sciences, in order to measure the effects of floating wind farms on the functioning of coastal socio-ecosystems and to propose decision support tools.

This three-year project will take place in three stages with : 1) the definition of the initial environmental, ecological and socio-economic status (uses, perceptions and acceptability) of the future floating wind farms implementation sites, 2) modeling the possible evolution of the sites trophic functioning and their role in biodiversity conservation, the economic impacts on fishing fleets, and the interactions with other uses and 3) the development of a socio-economic model aiming to characterize and analyze interactions between all actors and the environment, taking into account the legal framework. Two pilot floating wind farms development sites will be studied as a priority: Groix & Belle-Île (Atlantic) and Leucate (Mediterranean).

The APPEAL project will contribute more widely to identifying and measuring the ecological and socio-economic challenges posed by MRE projects.