SHIELD Chair

Satellite Data for Environmental and Human Protection and the Improvement of Living Conditions

Who?

The SHIELD Chair is a research initiative developed in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Center for Economic Research on Governance, Inequality and Conflict (CERGIC), hosted by the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon.

The Institut Louis Bachelier (ILB) provides the Chair’s administrative and financial management framework. The Chair brings together researchers working at the intersection of satellite data, environmental change, economic development, and human well-being.

Why?

Environmental change, resource scarcity, and major demographic transformations are reshaping living conditions around the world. Deforestation, biodiversity loss, pollution, climate change, food insecurity, mining expansion, water stress, urbanization, and forced migration all affect livelihoods, health, education, mobility, and social stability, with particularly severe consequences in the most vulnerable regions.

The SHIELD Chair aims to better understand these interconnected challenges by studying how environmental and economic shocks affect populations, territories, and institutions. Its objective is to produce rigorous scientific evidence to inform public policies that promote sustainable development, resilience, and improved living conditions.

How?

Satellite data provide a unique opportunity to observe these transformations with precision, consistency, and global coverage. High-resolution Earth observation makes it possible to monitor environmental degradation, agricultural production, natural resource extraction, water availability, urban expansion, and population movements.

By combining satellite imagery with micro-level socioeconomic data, the SHIELD Chair seeks to quantify the impacts of environmental and economic shocks on living conditions, identify the most vulnerable populations and territories, and support evidence-based decision-making for environmental and human protection.

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