Jacob Lauranne

After classical law studies, I chose geography and mountain. Firstly I made a geography research paper on the changing landscape of cross-border Valley (Vallorcine) in relation to its socioeconomic development. After an internship and a legal brief on the Espace Mont Blanc, I found my way: the mountain cross-border cooperation. This research topic combines completely geography and law.

My PhD projectthesis entitled "Governing the border.Innovations in operation between Alpine areas: Espace Mont Blanc, Alpi-Marittime-Mercantour "under co-supervision between the Universities of Grenoble-Alpes and Geneva, was funded for three years by the ITEM Labex.
My research focuses directly on social innovation, cross-border governance, territorialization movement around borders and on the perception of the mountains borders. I also study the legal tools and public policy for border areas.
My research is therefore characterized by a multidisciplinary approach.

During my first three years of PhD, I’ve had the opportunity to combine teaching and field research in France, Italy and Switzerland with a stay as  a visiting scholar in Canada (British Columbia). So I became familiar with a new bibliography on the governance of North American cities and discovered other governance models.
As part of my joint PhD programme, I went to Switzerland in Geneva for a five-months research stay in the mountain team of Professor Debarbieux. My stay continues with an assistantship contract for the year 2015-2016.

Within the ITEM Labex research, I joined the group WP2 liminality and conducted within this framework additional research on the perception of the border in the Vallorcine valley. I now belong to Telimep group. I’ve also contributed to Magic mountain project.