The sound world is attracting increasing attention in the human and social sciences. The emerging field of sound studies illustrates the diversity of approaches in this respect. It is immediately clear, from a quick review of the topics addressed and the fields under study, that sound environments of the past, present and future are the focus of considerable interest. It is no longer simply a question of working on noise pollution caused by motor traffic or the acoustics of concert halls, but rather one of developing pluridisciplinary – or even interdisciplinary – approaches, enabling us to describe auditory cultures and design everyday sonic territories in their full diversity and complexity. But what about in situ sonic perceptions? How are we to take into account the sonic experience of residents in the making of a city? What tools are available for such a task? This article seeks to explore these questions drawing on research work done at Cresson over the past 30 years. In addition to articles and books, the reader should not be surprised to find references to self-published research reports and grey literature, often little known (though still available), which nevertheless represents the raw material of results added to the public domain. To suggest various lines of inquiry for a situated approach to the sonic environment, I shall address the notion of sonic effect, then sonic territories, sonic design and finally sonic memory.