A look back at the 2019 and 2020 Awards

Launched for the first time in 2019, the “Georges EMBLANC Awards for River Culture, Flood Risk Prevention and Biodiversity”, runed jointly by ERN France and EPTB Seine Grands Lacs, aim to reward deserving students who, over the last three years, have carried out works on an educational project related to rivers, on the theme of flooding/flooding prevention or biodiversity in wetlands and related subjects such as climate change.

The 2019 Awards

The first edition of these awards was organised in 2019. A total of a dozen applications were received in 2019 and submitted to the jury. After difficult decisions given the quality of the applications received, 3 winners were finally chosen and awarded their prizes on 4 June 2019, in Paris, during the inter PAPI (Flood Prevention Action Programmes) meeting of the EPTB Seine Grands Lacs, in the presence in particular of Nicole and Baptiste Emblanc, wife and son of Georges Emblanc.

The 2019 Awards Ceremony in Paris at the Inter-PAPI meeting in June 2019, with the two laureates who came to Paris : Noémie THOMAS and Marion PERNEY

Links to the works of the winners awarded in 2019 :

¤ Winner 2019 : Noémie Thomas, a graduate of INSA Strasbourg and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Strasbourg, winner of the Georges Emblanc 2019 First Prize for her dissertation on : Water: An urban planning tool for adaptation to climate change Exploration in the Grand Est Region – L’eau : Outil d’urbanisme pour l’adaptation au changement climatique Exploration dans la Région Grand Est

¤ Winner 2019: Marion Perney, holder of a master’s degree in architecture from the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), and the Faculty of Architecture, Architectural Engineering and Urban Planning – LOCI Brussels, winner of the Second Georges Emblanc Prize 2019 for her dissertation : Resilience of a Flood-prone Territory – Between Surface and Underside – Résilience d’un territoire inondable – Entre surface et sous-face

¤ Winner 2019 : Arnaud Manry, graduate of the Master 2 IMSGA speciality “Crisis Situation Management” from the University of Technology of Troyes for his thesis : Extreme rains and rapid submersions: Social and economic solidarities for resilience? – Pluies extrêmes et submersions rapides : Solidarités sociales et économiques au service de la résilience ?

The 2020 Award

Five prizewinners were presents at the Georges Emblanc 2020 Awards ceremony organised at the EPTB Seine Grands Lacs in Paris

Links to the works of the winners rewarded in 2020 :

¤ Winner 2020 : Victor Bourdet for his dissertation as Landscape Designer at the School of Nature and Landscape of Blois: From Marne-la-Vallée to the future Natural Park : what future for the peri-urban valley of the Grand Morin? The reconquest of a watercourse to erase the divide between town and countryside – De Marne-la-Vallée au futur PNR: quel avenir pour la vallée périurbaine du Grand Morin ? La reconquête d’un cours d’eau pour gommer la fracture entre ville et campagne

¤ Winner 2020: Eric Bonnot for his Master 2 thesis on Water, Resources, Management, Planning at the University of Lorraine: Diachronic analysis of the course of watercourses and developments in flood-prone areas in the Lower Moselle basin since the 19th century (Interim report) – Analyse diachronique du tracé des cours d’eau et des aménagements en zone inondable dans le bassin de la Moselle aval depuis le XIXème siècle (Rapport intermédiaire)

See also the dedicated web page of the University of Lorraine : The historical study of the PAPI was awarded a prize. L’étude historique du PAPI d’intention a été primée

¤ Winner2020 : Manon Lestage for her thesis as State architect in Bordeaux : The relationship to the river in the urban project. The case of the Garonne-Eiffel Joint Development Zone (ZAC Garonne-Eiffel) – Le rapport au fleuve dans le projet urbain. Le cas de la ZAC Garonne-Eiffel

¤ Winners 2020 (for a collective application) : Morgane Russeil-Salvan, Lauryane Arzel, Aurore Mancip, Eugénie Pimont, Master’s students in journalism at the IEP of Rennes (Politicarl Sciences Institute) for their long-format investigation on floods and risks of marine submersion in Brittany and an original podcast : Risque à crues

The video of the Georges Emblanc 2020 Awards Ceremony : Remise des Prix Georges Emblanc 2020

Congratulations to all these laureates for their magnificent productions, their intellectual commitment and for these works which have contributed to make possible, in different regions of France, in their universities/schools or in their professional activities, the growth of this “river culture” that Georges Emblanc cherished so much.

We also extend our congratulations and strong encouragements to all the other candidates who took part in these first two editions of Georges Emblanc Award and who could not be laureates in 2019 and 2020, despite the remarkable quality of their applications. May they be warmly be thanked for their confidence and for having tried the adventure with us.