Pierre-Nicolas GRISEL, is an agronomics engineer (Agro ParisTech) who has specialised in agricultural development since 2005. He completed a Master in Integrated Sustainable Development (DESTIN) in 2007-2008 at the UVSQ and his dissertation concerned the matter of the influence of environmental functions on the development of rural communities. Begun in October 2008, his PhD (co-supervision Martin O’Connor; UVSQ & Peter May, CPDA Programa de Pós-graduação de Ciências Sociais em Desenvolvimento, Agricultura e So-ciedade -UFRRJ Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) rests on a case study in Brazil within the area of Rio de Janeiro. He is studying the ecological and economic determinants of Brazilian agricultural communities. More precisely, he is studying the actual mode of community governance which controls the adoption of agro-ecological practices as a reference for local systems of agricultural production.