 The research examples
selected here present a few examples of the recent
advances made in the various research domains of the
institute. They deal with sustainable-development issues
such as the preservation of the quality of natural
resources and of biodiversity confronted with human
activities, anticipation and prevention of natural
hazards, prevention of pollution and waste treatment,
multi-functional management of rural areas, conflict
management between different uses of natural resources
such as water or quality control in the production and
transformation of foodstuffs. Greater understanding of
the links between sustainable management of land and of
water requires more research on the role of water in
territorial dynamics, taking into account governance
difficulties caused by the different management scales.The interviews accompanying each
example illustrate the Cemagref approach to research, in
close partnerships with companies, local governments and
the various ministries and government agencies. These
research efforts also depend on collaboration with a
number of other French organisations and universities.
And of course on the European research community,
notably in devising a strategy for the framework of the
PEER network (Partnership for European Environmental
Research) that I have the honor of presiding. The
examples discussed here also present the prospects for a
few of our priorities in the coming years, i.e. develop
the economic and social approaches in our research
themes, strengthen the relations between land and water
systems, reinforce our work on hazards and develop
ecotechnologies. I hope this document will prove
interesting and useful.
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