Territorial conflicts, whether they involve environmental, land use, planning or urban development issues, are on the rise and often lead to the delay, or even the abandon, of diverse projects. While previous studies have emphasized the complex relationships that exist between conflicts and territories, few have successfully set the perspectives of the different actors on an equal footing.This thesis seeks to understand the real place occupied by the territory in the different perspectives of the various actors involved in territorial conflicts. Three case studies in particular have been used to clarify this aspect. The first study concerns the Notre-Dame-des-Landes International Airport conflict. The second is a comparison of land-fill site conflicts and the third focuses on the analysis of the conflict surrounding „Thursday night parties” in Rennes City Centre.The different scales of mobilisation and the different arguments advanced in these case studies were examined from the angle of the analysis of the different representations made by the various actors. We interpreted the positions of the different actors, laypersons, experts, and decision-makers, on the same level: that of the project territory. We also investigated how new mediations between different players could be put into place to allow a better understanding of the convergences and divergences of the positions held by different actors.To do this, we mainly used a “mental mapping” tool, which involved precisely outlining the objective of our study before developing a new methodology for resolving conflicts. The study of the different representations with this tool has undoubtedly allowed a better understanding of the different assertions made by opposing positions in territorial conflicts. As such, we have established a new design for the system of different actors and of the models of territorial complexes.From these new models, we established a global synthesis of conflict which we have termed “belliforme”, and which serves as a starting point for new processes of territorial cooperation, both prior to and following, the decision-making process. Furthermore, we question the key role that could be played by a cartography centred around the actors, rather than around the projects, in the understanding of the interplay between conflicts and territories.
