OHM | Human-environment observatory of Fessenheim

Human-Environment Observatories (OHM) are living labs by nature since their purpose is to bring together scientists, local authorities, and citizens around highly anthropized socio-ecosystem in which humans interact directly with both the geo- and the bio-spheres. Through their research and the dissemination of their results to the scientific communities and society, they contribute to the sustainable development of the territory.

The OHM Fessenheim was created in July 2018 under the aegis of The University of Strasbourg and four CNRS institutes (Ecology & Environment, Earth & Space, Nuclei & Particles, Humanities & Social Sciences) with the upcoming closure of the Fessenheim nuclear power plant (NPP). Its socio-ecological framework stems from the construction in 1970-1977 of the Fessenheim NPP, cooled by the waters of the Rhine River. In 2020, the shutdown of the NPP constitutes a sudden disrupting event for the Fessenheim socio-ecosystem, which will drastically alter its evolutionary conditions.

The location of this socio-ecosystem, i.e., in a highly industrialized region along the Rhine River at the borders of France, Germany and Switzerland, makes it a unique research topic. The goal of the OHM Fessenheim is to carry out a collection of scientific observations to study the ecological, economic, and social consequences of the NPP shutdown.

Key issues and how the observatory will help to tackle them

The shutdown of the Fessenheim NPP creates a major tipping point, mixing old ecological, societal and infrastructural legacies with modern economic constraints, including the announcement of strong energy transition policies. This shutdown induces major changes in the socio-economic structure of the riparians communities, which must be studied in the Upper Rhine region.

To tackle this, (i) research will particularly focus on the time 0, i.e., the date of the disrupting event, a key date on which we can rely to observe diverging trends; (ii) the OHM Fessenheim has identified three phenomena shaping the territory and the environment, and their interactions, that will be studied on the long term and with a prospective vision:

• The evolution of the environmental compartment, and in particular the dynamics of pollutants or contaminants and their evolution following closure and during the dismantling phase / as well as the dynamics of landscapes and associated biotopes.
• The evolution of the societal compartment, and in particular the issues of employment, mobility, risks and perception of risks (natural, industrial, technological, sanitary, psychological, etc.), and the quality of life (health, standard of living, demography, identity) / as well as the general dynamics of deterritorialization and reterritorialization following the shutdown.
• The evolution of the share of new, mainly renewable energies under the influence of national and European energy policies, which in turn will have repercussions on the Upper Rhine region and even beyond.