Pascal Buléon is a geographer. Extremely involved in regional development, within the framework of an INTERREG IIIB North-West Europe project (EMDI), he has created a Lower Normandy atlas, and a Cross-Channel atlas, focusing on the world’s busiest waterway. His priority: to provide local players with information and food for thought.

The Channel area: the key to Normandy’s future

The Channel area: the key to Normandy’s future
The Channel area is home to highly-coveted waters. The length of the English Channel is crossed by a 300 tonne trawler on average once every 3 minutes, and its breadth by a lorry once every 8 seconds. “I took part in a European Interreg programme focusing on this maritime area which borders the Normandy coastline. There are great stakes involved: environmental, coastal, energy…”. Within the same context, Pascal Buléon also contributed to the publication of a work dealing with the issue, in order to offer improved understanding among local players of the stakes the English Channel truly represents.

He is a very industrious man. It has to be said, Pascal Buléon studies on a vast range of terrains. From Lower Normandy to the Caribbean, via transregional or trans-European issues such as “Information technology dissemination in given territories”.
He is a CNRS research director in the ESO unit (Espaces géographiques et sociétés - Geographical areas and societies - CNRS Laboratory, University of Rennes II, University of Caen).

Pascal Buléon has published academic articles, as he has books for the general public. However, for many years, he was better known for his television or radio appearances, as much as a political expert as for his prose. “I accept invitations from France 3, France Bleu and Ouest France, particularly after the elections,” he explains. “Territory is a key to understanding voting trends. For example, it provides an explanation for the political evolution in France’s Great West: the move from a right-wing majority to the Left in Brittany, the end of the right-wing hegemony in Lower Normandy.” The essence of his work consists in illustrating the relationships that exist between territories and the people who live in them. “Traditional geography, as practiced only a few years ago, paid negligible attention to social factors. But attitudes have progressively changed.” Avant-gardist, Pascal Buléon has always favoured multidisciplinarity. “I essentially studied geography, but I have completed my instruction with a touch of philosophy and economics.”

“Putting information back where it belongs”

Over and above the plethora of ideas which enthuse him, Pascal Buléon also takes a great interest in the repercussions his analysis may generate. “I want to give the research analysis back to the inhabitants from the territories to which they could be useful.” In order to do so, he contributes to many initiatives such as preparing the SRADT (Regional Planning and Development Scheme), or accepting invitations from journalists to explain the repercussions the new A28 motorway may have. He has also published an atlas of Lower Normandy, edited by Autrement, with support from the Regional Council. He analyses different situations, be they economic, ecological, social…. and offers a few prospects for the future. “They are genuine indicators to help elected representatives and regional players to anticipate situations 30 years from now.”
He draws up the portrait of a region with immense potential, but which owes its currently mediocre situation to its lack of audacity. “This situation is linked to an extremely rich historical heritage which has generated no particular need for innovation; however, times are rapidly changing. There is increasing awareness of the development potential for international relations.”

Pascal Buléon believes in the development of communication networks, in the reinforcement of the Caen-Rouen-Le Havre metropolis, in bringing the two regions (Upper and Lower Normandy) closer and in exploiting the proximity of the English Channel. So many assets which could transform Lower Normandy into a genuine gateway to Europe.

Site : The EMDI (Espace Manche Development Initiative) Project

Pascal Buléon
CNRS Research Director
Tel: 02 31 56 73 95
Website: CNRS

Ensicaen
Tel: 02 31 45 27 50

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