Catherine Darrot

Full professor of Sociology

Department of Physical Environment, Landscape and Territory (MilPPaT) 
Teaching unit: Humanities and Territories

Research unit: UMR CNRS Espaces et Sociétés (ESO)

Habilitation defense (2025): "Reconnecting agriculture, food, the environment and territory": emergence, characteristics and trajectory of a sectoral reference framework in a context of transition - Université Lumière Lyon 2 - Supervisor: Béatrice Maurines - Jury members: Luc Bodiguel (chair), Patrick Mundler, Sandrine Glatron, Claude Compagnone (rapporteurs), Emilie Lancianno (examiner) - Defended on 17 June 2025

Teaching activities

Training coordination

Co-educational coordinator for the Environmental Engineering specialisation and the TEAM Master's programme 
Local correspondent for the Agro Institute of the teaching team for the IMRD International Master's programme

Teaching topics, from L3 to M2

  • Transition dynamics in territorialised agri-food systems in Europe
  • Multi-criteria approaches to farm sustainability
  • Sociology of agricultural and rural worlds
  • Trajectories and current state of agricultural and rural policies in Europe: what social construction processes?
  • Qualitative methods in social sciences
  • Approaching multi-stakeholder processes around environmental common goods 

Research themes

Transitions in agri-food systems and rural sociology

  • NormaPAT project (Normative innovations for the environment and health in territorial food projects, 2025-2027 - Coordination Luc Bodiguel, CNRS - Funding from IERDJ and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty) - Coordination of task 2 "methodology", supervision of tutored work, field data collection.
  • Atlass2 project (Territorial Action for Sustainable and Solidarity-based Food, 2021-2024 - Coordination FRCIVAM Bretagne, co-financing Fondation de France, Recovery Plan - Format: action research - Objective: to characterise and support the adaptation of territorial food systems to crisis situations in six pilot territories in Brittany and Normandy, to develop policy recommendations - My role: scientific coordination of component 1 devoted to assessing the Covid crisis in these six territories)
  • National survey "Eating in the time of coronavirus" (2020) – Member of the scientific coordination team, data analysis and publication
  • Scientific coordinator of the SOFIANE project (Supporting and promoting food-producing agriculture with positive externalities in the French Atlantic islands - 2018-2022 - UMR CNRS ESO, IEP Rennes - Funding from the Fondation de France)
  • Including supervision of a CIFRE thesis
  • External expert and coordinator of data collection in Brittany for the H2020 SALSA project (2016-2020) "Small farms, small food businesses and sustainable food and nutrition security"
  • Scientific coordinator of the FRUGAL Grand Ouest project (Urban Forms and Food Governance - 2015-2020 - PSDR4 funding) - 8 cities studied. Also coordination of the "systemic approaches" synthesis section
  • Obs-TAE – Sociological Observatory of Agro-Ecological Transitions (2015-2018 – Coordination Claire Lamine, Marc Barbier, Nathalie Couix, INRAE) 
  • European FP7 Farmpath project (2011-2013) "Territorial transition toward sustainable agriculture": scientific coordination of the French team, scientific coordination of the "Local Food Systems" cluster
  • RENNES VILLE VIVRIERE – Prospective for food autonomy and resilience in the Rennes Métropole basin - 2010-2013
  • SOLALTER project (2013-2014): "Territorialised food solidarity in Brittany" (co-financed by EAFRD / Fondation de France) Scientific direction of the project, partnership with FRCIVAM Bretagne
  • European FP7 FAAN project (Facilitating Alternative Agrifood networks in Europe – 2008-2010) – Post-doc throughout the project

Environmental sociology

  • Sociological evaluation of the Breizh Bocage 2 programme (2020 - Public replanting programme for agricultural hedgerows, project management by the Brittany Region, Water Agency, project ownership by local authorities)
    - including supervision of a 9-month post-doctoral researcher
  • Scientific coordinator for the FRUGAL project in western France (Urban Forms and Food Governance - 2015 - 2020 - PSDR4) - Interdisciplinary approach to the relocation of food supply chains around nine French cities, in partnership with the Terres en Ville association
  • "Prévalaye Paysanne" 1 and 2 in Rennes - Collection of sociological data - INRA-SAD coordination
  • Participation in the sociological component of the ANR Maris project (2015-2017)
  • ANR BipPop project (2011-2014): coordination of the sociological research component of the project

Thesis supervision

  • Co-supervision of Morgane Dovergne's thesis (Clermont-Auvergne University, main supervisor Michel Streith), Developing a "One Health" approach in the dynamics of food system transformation: action research in the context of two Territorial Food Projects in Puy-de-Dôme. Thesis start date March 2024
  • Co-supervision of Doriane Guennoc's thesis (University of Nantes, UMR CNRS Law and Social Change, supervisor Luc Bodiguel) Public construction of citizen dynamics in territorial agri-food projects – Thesis start date February 2022.
  • Supervision of Naïla Bedrani's CIFRE thesis (University of Rennes 2), Island agriculture and public policy in the French Atlantic islands – Defence in December 2025
  • Co-supervision of Paola Hernandez's thesis (University of Evora, Portugal), Local Food Systems, Food Security and the Role of Consumers in Linking Farm to the Table – Defence in 2024
  • Co-supervision of Marion Diaz's thesis, UMR ESO (Transition to sustainable agriculture at the regional level, supervised by Jean-Eudes Beuret), defended in October 2015 at the Institut Agro Rennes-Angers
  • Nathalie Udo, UMR Ecobio (What are the natural and human factors leading to invasive status? The case of gorse (Ulex europaeus) on the island of Réunion, supervised by Anne Atlan), defended in January 2016 at the University of Rennes 1

Publication

Articles in peer-reviewed journals

  1. Darrot, C., Marie, M., Bodiguel, L., Hochedez, C., Margetic, C. et al. FRUGAL Indicators: Assessing the Food Strategies of Urban Areas. International Journal of Bioethics and Ethics in Science, 2023, Food between ethics, science and innovation, 34 (4), pp.101-118.
  2. Gaillardo Gomez, J., Darrot, C., 2023, The role of low-income consumers in food system transitions: case studies of community supported agriculture and social groceries in France, Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies - https://rdcu.be/c4F3G
  3. Darrot, C., Marie, M., Hochedez, C. et al., Chronology of the transition to local food in four western cities: what lessons can be learned?, Économie rurale, 2022/4 (no. 382), pp. 111-131
  4. Marie M., Guillemin P., Darrot C., Pecqueur, B., The social composition of the territory in the constitution of the Cestas de Bens e Serviços: the example of the local structuring of short food supply chains in France, Raizes: Revista de Ciências Sociais e Econômicas, 2022, 42 (1)
  5. Darrot, C., Chiffoleau, Y., Bodiguel, L., Akerman, G., Maréchal, G., 2020, Local food systems put to the test by Covid-19: feedback from France, Revue Systèmes alimentaire / Food Systems 2020-5
  6. Noël, J. and Darrot, C; Eight initiatives in Brittany promoting solidarity-based urban agriculture: what forms of justice and food democracy? VertigO - the electronic journal of environmental sciences [Online], Special issue 31 | September 2018, published online on 5 September 2018
  7. Darrot, C. and Sbiti, N., 2018, Urban forms and food governance tomorrow: the example of Rennes, Les dossiers FNAU, ‘Food planning: local issues and initiatives’, no. 44, pp. 18-19, December 2018
  8. Noël, J., Darrot, C., Towards territorialised food solidarity. A look back at the SOLALTER action research project conducted in Brittany, Anthropology of Food, 2018, URL: http://journals.openedition.org/aof/8271
  9. Udo, N., Darrot, C., & Atlan, A. (2018). From useful to invasive, the status of gorse on Reunion Island. Journal of Environmental Management.
  10. Udo N., Darrot C., Tarayre M., Atlan A. Human and natural history of a biological invasion, Revue d'ethnoécologie No. 9, 2016, URL: http://journals.openedition.org/ethnoecologie/2724
  11. Darrot, C., Giorgis, D., Billaud, J.-P., Boudes, P., 2015. How can we promote the provision of agricultural public goods in Europe? People don't come to see the quality of the water in a stream, they come to see a landscape, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Studies, 96, 4, 623-649
  12. Boudes, P., Darrot, C., Public goods: economic construction and social registers, Revue de la régulation No. 19, 1st semester, 2014, URL: http://journals.openedition.org/regulation/11805; DOI: 10.4000/regulation.11805
  13. Atlan, N. Udo, B. Hornoy, C. Darrot 2015 Evolution of the uses of gorse in native and invaded regions: What impacts on the dynamics and management? Revue d’Ecologie (Terre et Vie), vol 70 (supplement 12 ‘Invasive species’)
  14. Darrot, C., Giorgis, D., Billaud, JP, Public goods at the heart of the confrontation between the CAP and farmers: a sociological contribution to the analysis, Proceedings of the INRA SFER Social Sciences Research Days, Angers, December 2013
  15. Diaz, M., I. Darnhofer, C. Darrot and J.E. Beuret (2013). Green tides in Brittany: What can we learn about niche-regime interactions? Environmental Innovations and Societal Transitions 8: 62-75
  16. Atlan A., Darrot D. 2012. Biological invasions between ecology and social sciences: what are the specific features for French overseas territories? La Terre et la Vie-Revue d’Ecologie. Sup 11: 101-111
  17. Darrot, Von Hirschhausen, 2011, CAP and agricultural transition in Poland and Romania: the new terms of the process, Economie Rurale, issue 325-326 September-December 2011
  18. Bazin, G., Darrot, C., Mouchet, C., Initial effects of the European early retirement policy in Poland, Economie Rurale, no. 315 January-February 2010
  19. Darrot, C., The Polish peasant way, a structural chimera that baffles Central Europe, Revue AutrePart, no. 46, 2-2008
  20. Dumusois (Darrot) C, Priest FG. Extracellular serine protease synthesis by mosquito-pathogenic strains of Bacillus sphaericus. J Appl Bacteriol. 1993 Nov;75(5):416-9.

Articles in non-peer-reviewed journals

  1. Darrot, C., Toussaint, M., 2024, On the involvement of farmers and public authorities in replanting the Breton bocage: three paradoxes and what we can learn from them, in Revue POUR (2023/3) From disaffection to desire: hedges have come a long way
  2. Darrot, C., Marie, M., Bodiguel, L., Hochedez, C., Margetic, C., Pecqueur, B., Approaching urban food systems through indicators: describing, comparing, prioritising. Innovations Agronomiques, INRAE, 2022, 86, pp.91-105. ⟨hal-03655351⟩
  3. Morel, K., Darrot, C., 2018, Changing the world: the contribution of the ZAD, in Revue POUR no. 234-235
  4. Darrot, C., 2017, How eaters have overturned the order of concerns, in Revue Urbanisme no. 405 "Feeding urban dwellers ‘
  5. Darrot, C., 2014, ’Rennes, a food-producing city? A prospective study by students of the ‘Sustainable Agriculture and Territorial Development’ course at Agrocampus Ouest, Pour magazine no. 224
  6. Darrot, C., Diaz, M., Durand, G., When producers and consumers ‘reconnect’, in Place Publique, November-December 2014, pp. 27-31
  7. Diaz M., Zagata L., Darrot C., 2013, Short supply chains in cities, a comparison between Pilsen (Czech Republic) and Rennes (France), Revue POUR No. 217 (March 2013)
  8. Marion Diaz, Lukáš Zagata, Catherine Darrot - Short supply chains in cities, a comparison between Pilsen (Czech Republic) and Rennes (France), in Revue POUR No. 217 (March 2013) Rural dynamics in Eastern Europe: obstacles, drivers and prospects
  9. Darrot, C., Martinez, A., Organic farming, the mirage of small and medium-sized farms in Poland, in Revue POUR No. 217 (March 2013) Rural dynamics in Eastern Europe: obstacles, drivers and prospects

Book chapters

  1. Olivier, G., Lamine, C., Darrot, C., 2023, Giving meaning to greening practices in Barbier, M., Lamine, C., Couix, N., in Agricultural practices and knowledge in the agroecological transition, Editions des Archives Contemporaines, 299 p. - https://eac.ac/books/9782813003560
  2. Darrot, C., Guehenneuc, T., 2023, Integrating hedgerows into farming systems, in Agricultural practices and knowledge in the agroecological transition, Editions des Archives Contemporaines, 299 p. - https://eac.ac/books/9782813003560
  3. Darrot, C., 2021, Reconnecting agriculture and society through environmental public goods: a typology of dynamics, in Nutridialogo, ‘Le funzioni sociali dell'agricoltura’, Edizioni ETS, Publisher: A. Di Lauro, G. Strambi (eds.), Pisa, Italy
  4. Marie, M., Guillemin, P., Darrot, C., Pecqueur, B. 2021. From the social differentiation of food practices to the local structuring of short supply chains. Di Lauro A., Strambi G. (eds.). Le funzioni sociali dell'agricoltura, 2, ETS, 2021, Nurtidialogo.
  5. Udo, N., Darrot, C., Atlan, A., 2018, ‘Espèce nuisible, espèce invasive : des statuts publics inscrits dans la succession des lectures du monde. Le cas de l’ajonc d’Europe sur l’ile de la Réunion’ (Pest species, invasive species: public statuses inscribed in successive interpretations of the world. The case of European gorse on Réunion Island), in Luglia, R. (ed.), Sales bêtes ! Mauvaises herbes ! ‘Nuisible’, une notion en débat, Ed. Presses Universitaires de Rennes, pp. 247-262
  6. Darrot, C. & Giorgis, D. (2016a). Chapter 8. Questions addressed to sociology. In: ed., La production de biens publics en agriculture (pp. 113-118). Dijon cedex, France: Éducagri Éditions.
  7. Darrot, C. & Giorgis, D. (2016b). Chapter 9. Fields of study in Europe. In: ed., The production of public goods in agriculture (pp. 119-126). Dijon cedex, France: Éducagri Éditions.
  8. Darrot, C. & Giorgis, D. (2016c). Chapter 10. Sociological analysis of European situations encountered. In: ed., The production of public goods in agriculture (pp. 127-146). Dijon cedex, France: Éducagri Éditions.
  9. Darrot, C., Diaz,M., Tsakallou, E., Zagata, L., , The missing actor”: Alternative Agri-Food Networks facing resistances of key regime actor, in Sutherland et al. (Dir.), Transition pathways towards sustainability in European agriculture, CABI (Ed.), 2014
  10. Darrot, C., Durand, D., 2011, Central reference framework for local short supply chains: Highlights and status for action, in Traversac, JB (Dir..), Short supply chains, contribution to regional development, Educagri, 224 p

Guest speakers

  1. Darrot, C., Eating in the time of Coronavirus, INRAE workshop ‘Territories in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic’, 14 and 15 January 2021
  2. 2. Toussaint, M., Darrot, C., Preserving and restoring the Breton bocage: What support is needed? Sociological survey of farmers and their network, Bocage Région Bretagne Seminar, April 2022, Pontivy
  3. Darrot, C., Process of reconnection with the natural environment and food production activities: the challenges of a transition to practices yet to be invented, CNRS-Sorbonne-LeMonde Forum, Paris, November 2013
  4. Darrot, C., Society facing climate and energy challenges in Brittany: transitions and disruptions, A prospective study looking ahead to 2050, Regional Economic and Social Council, Rennes, April 2022
  5. Diaz, M., Darrot, C., Sociological approach to transitions, INRA-SAD School-Researchers ‘Mobilising approaches through transitions in research on agricultural and food changes’, Sète, 10-12 March 2015
  6. First national meeting ‘Linking agricultural policy and food policy in French cities and metropolitan areas’ - Tuesday 12 November 2013 in Paris - Île-de-France Regional Council – Speaker at the round table ‘Governance of local agricultural and food policies’
  7. INRA-SFER-CIRAD national symposium ‘Short local supply chains: reconnecting territories and food consumption’ - AgroParisTech Paris, 4 and 5 June 2013 – Plenary address: ‘Territorial trajectories, from facts to models: reinterpreting empirical data from Rennes’
  8. Rapporteur for one of the four workshops at the conference organised by the European Commission on ‘Local Agriculture and Short Food Supply Chains’ – Brussels, 20 April 2012
  9. European Congress of the IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements), Gödöllö, Hungary, 2011 – Plenary address: ‘Developing sustainable rural economies by promoting local processing and marketing’
  10. Cerisy Decade ‘Agriculture and food in a globalised world’, September 2011 – Presentation of the theoretical framework of the ANR BipPop project (Public Goods in Public Agricultural Policies)
  11. Darrot, C., Feeding the local population from local resources? Reflections based on the ‘Rennes Ville Vivrière’ study, Institut de Formation de l'Environnement (IFORE), Ministry of the Environment, 2015
  12. Darrot, C., Food production requirements of cities – Zurich in comparison with Rennes and Strasbourg, Zurich University as part of the “Zürich iβt” (“Zurich eats”) week, 2015
  13. Darrot, C, Possibilities for food self-sufficiency in the Rennes metropolitan area, Academy of Agriculture, session held in Rennes “Becoming a sustainable metropolis”, October 2014
  14. Darrot, C., ‘Réflexions d’après “Rennes Ville Vivrière”’ (Reflections based on “Rennes Ville Vivrière”), 1st Study Day on Landscapes, Territories and the Environment, Ministry of the Environment, March 2015
  15. Darrot, C., ‘Perspectives on food self-sufficiency in Rennes Métropole’, Rencontres de l'agriculture, Nantes Métropole, June 2015
  16. Darrot, C., Verdier, P., Rennes Métropole, from ‘archipelago city’ to ‘food-producing city’. Is landscape the mediator of this new challenge?, Post-oil Landscapes Symposium, Paris, November 2014
  17. Symposium on the connection between Breton livestock farming and the land, Pontivy, 2014
  18. Forward Planning Unit of the Ministry of the Environment, Paris, June 2013
  19. Thematic school ‘Urban agriculture(s), metropolisation of agriculture and food issues’, Strasbourg, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, June 2013
  20. UNESCO Chair "World Food Systems ‘, Montpellier Supagro, May 2013
  21. IUFN (International Urban Food Network) International Conference ’Hungry city‘, Paris, December 2012
  22. Venice National School of Architecture, April 2012, International Conference ’Beyond Peri-urban, Agriculture through the city, Farming space in the territorial project"
  23. Rennes Métropole Forward Planning Unit, Rennes, March 2012

Presentations at conferences with scientific committees

  1. Darrot, C., Developing a theoretical framework for understanding environmental commons: the challenge of making objects and knowledge visible, 22nd AISLF Congress, Ottawa, Canada, 8-12 July 2024
  2. Minot, E., Simon, G., Boudes, P., Ernoult, A., Ménard, N., Perron, G., Darrot, C., Le Gouar, P., Human-non-human global change: The case study of the Barbary macaque in the National Park of Ifrane in Morocco, Autumn School ‘Global Forests 2024’ Forest Biodiversity: the ecology-social sciences dialogue, 14-17 October 2024, Maison Française d’Oxford
  3. Darrot, C., 2023, Protecting and managing environmental goods provided by agriculture: theoretical and methodological proposals, Communication at the 19th Congress of the ESRS (European Society of Rural Sociology), Rennes, July 2023
  4. Darrot, C., 2023, From classical frameworks on transitions to seminal utopia: learnings and inspirations from the 7 French small regions cases in the light of the combination of 3 frameworks, Communication at the 19th Congress of the ESRS (European Society of Rural Sociology), Rennes, July 2023
  5. Bodiguel, L., N'daye, P., Darrot, C. State of play and avenues for research on the competences of local authorities in the field of food. Autumn meeting of the National Network of Local Food Projects (RnPAT), Dec 2022, Paris, France.
  6. Toussaint, M., Darrot, C., 2021, The Breton bocage: forced publicity revealing fragmented agricultural identities, paper presented at the Congress of the French Sociological Association, Lille (and online)
  7. Catherine Darrot, Maxime Marie, Camille Hochedez, Luc Bodiguel, Christine Margetic. Understanding the urban food system through indicators (FRUGAL) . PSDR 4 Symposium ‘Transitions for Territorial Development’, Oct 2020, Angers, France.
  8. Darrot, C., Marie, M. Hochedez, C., Guillemin, P., Guillermin, P. Timelines of agricultural transition in five cities in western France: what lessons can be learned? Communication to JRSS INRA-SFER-CIRAD 2019
  9. Darrot, C. Braun, A. Spatial food justice: a blind topic in the local food networks agenda for transition, Communication at the XXVIIIth Congress of the ESRS (European Society of Rural Sociology), Trondheim (Norway), June 2019
  10. Marie, M., Guillemin P., Guennoc D., Bermond M., Maréchal G., Bailleul H., Darrot C., Pecqueur B. (2018) Describing and comparing urban food systems. Proposal for a set of indicators for eleven French urban areas , 12th INRA - SFER Social Science Research Days - CIRAD - ONIRIS, Nantes (44), 13 and 14 December, 16 p (Conference with proceedings)
  11. Darrot, C., Bedrani, N., Congretel, M. Boudes, P., The categorisation of agricultural land in Belle-Ile-en-Mer, revealing the specific social characteristics of the island, Paper presented at the 8th congress of the AFS (French Sociological Association), Aix en Provence, August 2019
  12. Darrot, C., Chau, M., Channels for promoting island agricultural products: factors of differentiation? , Iles2019 Symposium ‘Cross-perspectives on science, culture and society’, Brest, October 2019
  13. Darrot, C., Boudes, P., New sociological perspectives on environmental public goods: how do they apply to biological invasions? GDR Symposium ‘Biological Invasions’, Marseille, October 2016
  14. Darrot, C., 2016, Some evidence in favour of a widespread territorial transition process towards local food systems in France, CONFERENCE ON DEMOCRATISING FOOD GOVERNANCE, The American University of Rome (AUR), Rome, 14 October 2016
  15. Darrot, C., “Public goods in agriculture, Objects of negotiation”, European Congress of Rural Sociology, Aberdeen, August 2015
  16. Darrot, C., Sociological objects and methods of the teacher-researcher in a life sciences institute: what contributions for environmental sociology?, Congress of the French Sociological Association, Paris, 2015
  17. Noël, J., Darrot, C., “Towards territorialised food solidarity... A look back at the SOLALTER action research project conducted in Brittany”, Congress of the French Sociological Association, Paris, 2015
  18. Udo, N., Atlan, A., Darrot, C., Construction and cohabitation of the public statuses of gorse in Réunion: from its deliberate introduction to the desire to eradicate it, Congress of the French Sociological Association, Paris, 2015
  19. Darrot, C., Diaz, M. (2015) ‘Transition process towards local food systems in Rennes, France: from 20 years of feedback to a prospect for autonomy,’ AESOP 7th Conference on sustainable food planning in Turin, 8-9 October 2015
  20. Udo, N., Darrot, C. - Presentation at the 6th Congress of the French Sociological Association, St-Quentin en Yvelines, 30 June 2015, entitled ‘Construction and cohabitation of the public statuses of gorse in Réunion’
  21. Diaz, M. & Darrot, C. (2015) ‘Family farming in transitioning territories: bipolarisation or continuum in innovation processes?’ SFER Conference ‘Farming structures and agricultural activity: Continuities, changes or ruptures?’, 12-13 February 2015, 15p
  22. Darrot, C., 2015, Sociological objects and methods of the teacher-researcher in a life sciences institute: what contributions to environmental sociology?, Presentation at the 6th Congress of the French Sociological Association, St-Quentin en Yvelines, 30 June 2015
  23. Diaz, M. & Darrot, C. (2013) ‘Development of local food systems around Rennes: from confrontation to a shared plan’ AESOP 5th Conference on sustainable food planning - Innovation in urban food systems, in Montpellier, 28-29 October 2013
  24. Darrot, C., Giorgis, D., Billaud, JP., The social construction of public goods from the farmer's point of view: evidence of power relations?, Congress of the French Sociological Association, 2013
  25. Darrot, C., Pereira, S., Boudes, P., Farming systems as providers of public goods: a sociological perspective, Congress of the World Sociological Association, Lisbon, 2012
  26. Darrot, C., Giorgis, D., Public goods in agriculture: methodology for a sociological study, Proceedings of the INRA-SFER-CIRAD conference on social science research, Toulouse, December 2012
  27. Diaz, Beuret, Darrot (2011) Method for analysing the territorial transition trajectory of agri-food systems: an approach based on the sociology of translation, UMR ESO seminar on ‘Describing and understanding trajectories based on the concept of transition’, 12 December 2011

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