Résumé
Since the 2000s, flood prevention and river management policies have focused on nature-based solutions rather than heavy hydraulic engineering. Projects to preserve and restore flood expansion areas (FEA) are increasing, in an attempt to maximize river overflows in those areas. However, these FEA projects are planning operations that take place within territories that are occupied, appropriated, used and sometimes built upon, supporting a variety of projects and crossed by contradictory interests. This article examines the territorialization of FEAs - understood as the complex process of implementation and appropriation at local territorial level. To this end, several approaches to recreating FEAs in various territorial contexts - urban and agricultural - in mainland France are analyzed. These case studies show that local actors appropriations of the FEAs can be done by turning FEA projects into territorial projects. In urban areas, this has been made possible by architectural and landscaping approaches. These approaches have helped to convince local actors (elected representatives and residents) that FEAs can be a multifunctional asset for their area. In agricultural areas, the agricultural characteristics of the territories can act as brakes on the adaptation of farming practices. Even if they are well-established, these characteristics need to be reconsidered in order to reconcile farming and flooding in FEAs.