Julie Hermesse

Julie Hermesse serves as Professor at UCLouvain, holding the Chair of Anthropology of Contemporary Europe within the Institute for the Analysis of Change in History and Contemporary Societies (IACS) and the Faculty of Economic, Social, Political and Communication Sciences (ESPO). Her academic work spans the three core missions of research, teaching, and societal engagement.

Her research focuses on European identity through the lens of ecological transitions, particularly examining how citizens contribute to local urban and rural ecological transformations amid climate collapse narratives. She investigates three primary thematic areas: ecologization and reterritorialization in European agriculture, dependence on phytosanitary products in conventional farming, and social agriculture models. Her work intersects political ecology, symbolic anthropology, and food system studies, with field research conducted in Guatemala, Cuba, and the Philippines.

Hermesse leads research projects including Ultra Tree (peri-urban farming viability in Brussels), CONACI, Wood in Molenbeek (circular economy initiatives), and collaborates on the ANR Bioculturalis project. Her methodological approach emphasizes participatory research frameworks and ethnographic observation of agricultural practices.