Améliorer la gouvernance territoriale de biens publics environnementaux au moyen d'institutions discursives

The paper claims that the concept of land governance should be enlarged in order to integrate the sustainability conditions of the territorial development process. Thus, the analysis focuses on the conditions that are required for the necessary redefinition of property rights on water considered here as a resource closely related to the soil. This approach is applied in the example of a Territorialized Agro-Environmental Measure (TAEM) implemented in a territory located inside the water basin of Adour and Garonne Rivers in the Midi-Pyrenees Region, France. The paper shows that the communicational process developed among the different partners implied in the TAEM plays a crucial role in the learning process, itself being a central factor for farmers to adopt new rules concerning the management of soil and water. This process is based on deliberation methods, which are qualified as discursive institutions. As such, they help farmers to update their reasons for acting and adopt improved ethical values concerning the use of environmental resources.