From May 23 to 29, 2025, a doctoral field school was held in the former mining towns of eastern Morocco, including Mibladen, Zaida, and Ahouli. Organized through the collaborative efforts of the International Research Network SESAM (LIA SESAM), the International Research Laboratory AMIR (LMI AMIR), and the MinErAL Research Network, the initiative was made possible in part by funding from the Québec–Kingdom of Morocco Call for Projects of the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie (MRIF).
Bringing together students and researchers from Canada and Morocco, the school explored the environmental, social, and economic challenges of mining transitions through a collaborative, interdisciplinary, and multilingual approach.
Read the Field Journal
This field journal was co-authored by members of the field school to reflect its collaborative and multilingual character. Contributors include Sandra McKay and Hassan Dahmouni (PhD students), Dr. Latifa Rouzi, and Dr. Imad Eddine Cheddad.
The teaching team featured faculty from both Canadian and Moroccan institutions. From Canada: Professor Thierry Rodon (Political Science, Université Laval), Professor Sophie Thériault (Dean of Law, University of Ottawa), and Professor Tiff-Annie Kenny (Health Sciences, Université Laval). From Morocco: Professor Mouna Fahr and Professor Aziz Smouni (Biology, Université Mohammed V – Rabat), along with Dr. Clément Levard, a geochemist and Research Director at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD).