Inhabiting the Guiana coastline: a look back at a research project at the frontiers of disciplines

Understanding the dynamics of Guyana's coastline

How do you live along the coastline of the Guiana Shield, one of the most mobile in the world? This coastline, bordered by mudflats from the Amazon, is constantly changing its face. Mangroves move, beaches appear or disappear, and episodes of rapid erosion profoundly transform inhabited areas. This seminar provided an opportunity to combine scientific, environmental and social approaches to better understand these changes.
The researchers shared their analyses and questioned people's ability to adapt to these natural transformations.

A collective work on change

The book Living on the Guiana coast, adapting to change? brings together researchers from a wide range of disciplines. Their first ambition is to describe how people have inhabited and continue to inhabit this unique coastline. The second was to understand the vulnerability of societies and their adaptation mechanisms in the face of rapid environmental change. Today, against a backdrop of global climate change, the book offers a cross-section of local and scientific knowledge. It highlights the wealth of human experience and the diversity of responses to the challenges facing coastal Guyana.

A multidisciplinary approach

Each chapter explores a particular aspect of the Guiana coastline:

• Archaeologists present their findings on pre-Columbian occupations.
• Geographers and historians analyse colonial attempts to control the environment, such as land reclamation in Suriname and the construction of dykes in Guyana.
• Anthropologists are studying Amerindian and Creole ways of living, based on mobility and adaptation.
• Finally, the case of Kourou, the “space city”, illustrates the tension between planned and spontaneous development.

This diversity of perspectives provides a better understanding of the relationship between human societies and their coastal environment.

A seminar at the heart of local issues

By bringing together researchers from a wide range of backgrounds, the “Borders, Circulations, Interculturalities and Human-Milieu Interactions” seminar confirms the University of Guyana's position as a major player in regional research.
It helps to promote interdisciplinary work and collective reflection on the environmental challenges facing the Guianas.

This project is a perfect illustration of our desire to think about borders, mobility and the interactions between man and the environment.

This review of the Living on the Guiana coast highlights the the need for dialogue between disciplines to understand and anticipate changes to the coastline. Bringing together science, culture and society, this initiative reinforces the role of research in building a sustainable future for the Guianas.

👉 Next event: to continue these scientific exchanges in order to better understand the relationship between populations and their environment.

Find out more about the book : Palisse, Marianne, and Gérard Collomb. 2025. Living on the Guyana coast, adapting to change? From the Americas. Presses universitaires de Rennes.