Presentation

LATTS (a French acronym meaning “research group on technology, territories and societies”), which was founded in 1985, is a joint research group of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS - http://www.cnrs.fr), the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (ENPC, a top French engineering institute under the auspices of the French Ministry of Public Works - http://www.enpc.fr/) and the University of Marne-la-Vallée (http://www.univ-mlv.fr). Latts brings together a team of approximately thirty researchers (in city planning, economics, ergonomics, geography, management, history, political science and sociology) mainly originating from these three academic institutions and thirty doctoral candidates.

Latts members carry out research into enterprises, public administration, local institutions, collective action, territorial dynamics and the related technical systems. By means of field research, comparative investigations and conceptual thought processes, this work in the social sciences pursues multidisciplinary aims: between disciplines, between theory and empirics and between scientific controversy and public debate.