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The traditional Craft as Basis of a Local Dynamics on an Ancient Urban Territory: The Case of Aleppo in SyriaThe object of this article is to analyze the development of the local economy of Aleppo's Old City (based mainly on traditional textile craft) since the Ottoman times until now. Adopting the long historical perspective, it explains the key factors and mechanisms that, over the past five centuries, have been determining the evolution of the textile craft and, thus, the dynamics of the old city area in which this activity is practiced. The final conclusion of the analysis is that, even if the traditional textile craft has been facing important difficulties during the last decades, it still can provide the basis for a territorial dynamics, provided that an appropriate strategy is implemented by public authorities, notably in connection with the development of a tourism industry in Aleppo and in the whole of Syria.

Languedoc beaches in the face of coastal flooding risk: defining management policies whilst taking into consideration users' perceptionsThis paper is based on three surveys concerning the beaches of Palavas les Flots and Mauguio-Carnon in the Hérault department. It compares the perceptions of marine submersion risk and the preferences for risk management methods of several types of beach users and of managers, and industry and association representatives involved in coastal management. Four categories of users were interviewed: full-time and secondary residents, tourists and day trippers; 881 questionnaires were completed. The objective was to identify to what extent these sub-populations comprised distinct groups which would justify specific policies and incentives. The paper begins by outlining the characteristics of the surveys. It then presents a systematic review of the correlations by user categories before comparing users' perceptions with those of managers and association representatives concerned with coastal submersion risk, especially in relation to the expected sea level rise. Finally the paper presents some axes on marine submersion risk management and decision making, taking into account the results.

Improving the territorial governance of environmental public goods by using discursive institutions
The paper claims that the concept of land governance should be enlarged in order to integrate the sustainability conditions of the territorial development process. Thus, the analysis focuses on the conditions that are required for the necessary redefinition of property rights on water considered here as a resource closely related to the soil. This approach is applied in the example of a Territorialized Agro-Environmental Measure (TAEM) implemented in a territory located inside the water basin of Adour and Garonne Rivers in the Midi-Pyrenees Region, France. The paper shows that the communicational process developed among the different partners implied in the TAEM plays a crucial role in the learning process, itself being a central factor for farmers to adopt new rules concerning the management of soil and water. This process is based on deliberation methods, which are qualified as discursive institutions. As such, they help farmers to update their reasons for acting and adopt improved ethical values concerning the use of environmental resources.

Assessing industrial ecology projects on business parks: from synergies to territories
Industrial Ecology (IE) aims at minimizing energy and material flows within industrial processes. Initially, IE was thought of as an analogy between industrial and natural systems. In the latter, energy and material flows are cycled so that the system tends to become self1-sufficient. IE synergies are not limited to inter-company flows; they may be undertaken on larger scales, e.g. territory. The stakes are then different, especially in terms of Sustainable Development (SD) since IE promotes more sustainable forms of development on industrial parks or territories.An evaluation tools for SD applied to local IE projects is suggested. They are built to guide the decision-making process but may be used in a more general manner to assess territorial approaches to SD.Firstly, the general feasibility of an IE experiment is tested using a logical pattern of project organization that takes into account the different dimensions of IE (technical, economic, environmental, and risks). Secondly, indicators are classified into four themes: material and energy flows, functioning mode of the industrial area, environmental integration and territorial development. Some indicators refer to the corporate scale when others to a larger scope. Users will eventually choose among those indicators depending on the objectives of collective action or, even better, that all stakeholders of the project will construct together a set of indicators.