RHN 115/2025 | Opportunity
MSCA CHORAL Project (Cultura Heritage Outreach in Romance Languages)
UNITA - Universitas Montium consortium and UPPA - Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour
Deadline for Applications: 17 January 2026
The MSCA CHORAL Project (Cultura Heritage Outreach in Romance Languages) has launched its third call for predoctoral contracts to support joint doctoral theses between universities in the UNITA - Universitas Montium consortium.
Among the selected projects is "Watermills in Navarra and Béarn: the trans-Pyrenean history of a landscape heritage," supervised by Loïc Artiaga (UPPA Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour) and José-Miguel Lana (UPNA-NUP), which is number 4 among the approved Research Topics (https://www.research.univ-unita.eu/en/choral-project/phd-research-topics.html).
Project
Watermills, with their typical paddlewheel or bucket wheel, are an emblematic feature of mountain landscapes. This ancient technology was the backbone of the agrarian, craft and then industrial economy until the 19th century. Yet mills are at the crossroads of several issues dear to the UNITA alliance. Mills are part of our material heritage, bearing witness to an economic, technical and social history, as well as being part of our typical landscape, dotted along the banks of developed watercourses. They also bear witness to the economic and social organization of mountain communities. The 19th century was the golden age of mills; the invention of the turbine enabled them to be converted into hydroelectric power stations. Then, in the 20th century, the centralization of production led to the abandonment of many micro-power stations. Today, however, there is renewed interest in microhydropower plants as part of the energy transition. Small hydroelectric installations offer several advantages (free resource, decarbonized, controllable energy, local dissemination, local development tool, etc). Today, many watermill renovation projects are underway, promising to meet ecological and heritage preservation objectives. However, the relationship between heritage and the environment is not self-evident. Mills with the best energy profiles are not necessarily those of greatest historical interest. By adopting a microhistorical approach to these projects, the research seeks to highlight the tensions and negotiations between economic uses, environmental constraints, and cultural values, thereby situating the patrimonialization of mills at the intersection of economic, environmental, and cultural history.
Research aims and methodology
The main aim of this thesis is to offer a critical analysis of the relationship between the environment and landscape
heritage, drawing on a sound synthesis of scientific literature and a comparative study of the landscape heritage of
watermills in Béarn and Navarra.
The approach to be adopted will take into account the multiple applications of this ancient technology, given that
its versatility made it widely present in the processing of raw materials such as cereals (flour mills), olives and seeds
(oil mills), iron (hammer mills) and wool (fulling mills).
The thesis will have to answer a series of questions:
- What types of mills can be found in rural and urban areas, and how have they been distributed spatially?
- What is the state of this landscape heritage in the two areas studied?
- What are the main threats to its preservation and what policies are being implemented to achieve this? Who are
- the players involved?
- What other experiences have been carried out in other regions and countries to conserve, protect, or revitalize
- this heritage?
- In more general and theoretical terms, how can the environment and heritage be reconciled?
Further information about the project can be found here: https://www.research.univ-unita.eu/en/choral-project/phd-research-topics.html
Applications are possible from November 17, 2025, to January 17, 2026.
Full details can be found at this link:
https://www.research.univ-unita.eu/en/choral-project/for-applicants.html
Source: https://seha.info/es/PORTADA/