Abstract
Are the biology of invasions and the operational management of invasive alien species rooted in values? If so, what are these values, and what does this anchoring in values imply for scientists and managers faced with invasive alien species issues? Having clear answers to these questions is vital to legitimize research into biological invasions, justify private and public investment in combating them, teach people about the issues at stake in an honest and transparent way and, more generally, better understand and think about our individual and collective choices when they concern or are impacted by invasive alien species. To help clarify the answers to these questions, in this seminar we will explore the diversity of ways in which values are embedded in the concepts and questions through which biological invasions and their issues are thought. On this basis, we will discuss the attitudes that researchers and practitioners can adopt to rigorously and transparently take account of the presence of these values in their practices.
Yves Meinard
Former student at the École Normale Supérieure (Cachan) and agrégé in biology, Yves Meinard is a research fellow in philosophy at the CNRS, affiliated with the Centre Gilles Gaston Granger in Aix-en-Provence. His work lies at the interface between ecology, philosophy and decision sciences. Yves Meinard analyzes decision-support systems, the conceptual frameworks in which they are rooted, and the technical tools that derive from them, from the triple point of view of their normative presuppositions, their conceptual foundations and their political scope. Biodiversity conservation policies and their operational implementation in the field are the main focus of his work, which he approaches through the practice of field philosophy, in close interaction with operational players.
