Emmanuelle Santoire will speak at the CNRS thematic workshop entitled ‘Agrivoltaics: definition, challenges and implementation – A multidisciplinary and international approach’ on the energy and spatial challenges of agrivoltaics.

His talk will take place on Monday 1 June 2026 in Saint-Malo.

Introduction to the ‘Agricoltaics’ thematic school

If you would like to learn about agrivoltaics or discover new aspects of it, you are welcome to join the CNRS thematic school, which will take place in Saint-Malo from 1 to 5 June 2026. This international and interdisciplinary thematic school is open to PhD students, lecturers and researchers. Participation in this school is not restricted to any particular discipline, and international researchers are welcome to apply as the working language will be English.  

As a means of reconciling several key issues—namely food production and energy generation—agrivoltaics is becoming increasingly popular. Whilst its development almost inevitably involves turning to the so-called ‘hard’ sciences to partly justify its growth and address the technical and technological challenges that its implementation entails, it must be acknowledged that the contributions of the humanities and social sciences are largely overlooked. However, the existence, development and design of agrivoltaic installations cannot be uniform, as they depend largely on the divergent needs expressed by a wide range of stakeholders.

The aim of this course is threefold. Firstly, it seeks to revisit the very concept of agrivoltaics in order to highlight not only the synergies that were originally intended, but also those that have emerged subsequently or have been overlooked. Secondly, it aims to emphasise the need to avoid one-size-fits-all agrivoltaic solutions. This is why, building on an open Franco-American international partnership, the sharing of experiences will not be centred on France. Finally, the school aims to highlight the importance of interdisciplinarity and, in particular, the role of the humanities and social sciences in determining these technological choices in response to complex challenges. This is why the work and methods of the humanities and social sciences will be fully presented and utilised through the collective development of scenarios within workshops.

Find all the information here.

The article ‘Agrivoltaics’ on the energy and spatial challenges of agrivoltaics first appeared on LATTS - Laboratory for Territorial and Societal Techniques.