7th RIISQ Call for proposals (2026-2028)

Risk cultures in Québec: history, knowledges, policies and intersectoral practices

This RIISQ call for project proposals aims to explore how individual and social representations of risks (including flooding and other water related risks) have an impact on the societal decisions motivating the ways in which disasters are managed. Proposals should consider intersectoral research projects that will try to answer these questions: how, specifically, have risk cultures developed in Québec? How are they defined and redefined through time? How do they transform the way we act? What are some concrete aspects of these risk cultures and how are they transformed by contemporary phenomena, such as climate change, economic crises, and political and geopolitical contexts?

Results of RIISQ’s seventh call for projects: Four projects to better understand and transform risk cultures in Quebec

We are proud to announce that four major projects have been selected. RIISQ, funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec, will invest $800,000, along with nearly $250,000 in partner contributions, bringing the total value of the research activities to more than $1 million:

  • ARTERISQ – Arts, Territories, and Flood Resilience: risk cultures and intersectoral mediation in Quebec, led by Isabelle Thomas (UdeM), will make it possible to better understand the construction of risk cultures and to develop innovative mediation approaches among science, society, and the arts.
  • Representations of disasters and risk cultures: epistemologies of flood risk and disaster responses in Quebec, led by Gonzalo Lizarralde (UdeM), will analyze narratives surrounding floods in order to better understand their influence on risk cultures and choices of action.
  • Quebec’s relationship with drinking water: uses and cross-cutting perspectives, led by Emmanuelle Bouchard-Bastien (INRS), will document perceptions of the risk of water shortages and the influence of past climate experiences on those perceptions.
  • Assessment of the performance and contribution to resilience of blue and green infrastructure in southwest Montreal through an integrated approach combining urban ecology and life cycle assessment, led by Cécile Bulle (UQAM), will produce knowledge and decision-support tools to better assess the environmental and socio-economic benefits of these infrastructures.

Important note: more than 60% of RIISQ funding, or $480,000, is dedicated to supporting emerging talent, helping prepare a new generation to face systemic risks related to water and flooding.

After seven years of network-building, these projects also illustrate the strength of RIISQ’s intersectoral research: 50 members, 8 universities, and 28 partners from municipal, governmental, private-sector, and civil society circles are mobilized.

Congratulations to everyone involved! We look forward to seeing these collaborations in action and sharing the knowledge that will emerge.