Wo r k i n g i n p a r t n e r s h i p
Upper Atlas region, Morocco
Annual report • 2006
••• International
••• French
overseas territories
••• Metropolitan
France
Wood carving, Benin
39
Mediterranean basin
32 researchers and engineers
67 research projects
20 individual grants allocated
6 new Southern research teams (JEAIs) supported
• International Desertification Year: study of the Tunisian
Jeffara
• Research into hydrological changes
• “Sciences au Sud” exhibition on tour (50,000 visitors)
• International seminar on International Migration and
Public Policy
• Hercomanes programmes on architectural and town
planning heritage.
Latin America-Caribbean
199 researchers and engineers
128 partnership research projects
61 individual grants allocated
16 new Southern research teams (JEAIs) supported
The IRD around the world
Key figures and highlights
Latin America
• Sustainable development in Amazonia
• “Cities and Volcanoes” conference, Quito, Ecuador
• “Humboldt Current system” international conference
(IRD and Instituto del Mar del Perú, Peru)
• Participation in 4th World Water Forum, Mexico City,
Mexico
French Guiana
Inauguration of SEAS Guyane, a technology platform using
satellite data to monitor the Amazonian environment
Martinique
Global warming symposium
Annual report • 2006
Asia-Pacific
228 researchers and engineers
74 research projects
11 individual grants allocated
1 new Southern research teams (JEAIs) supported
Africa-Indian Ocean
491 researchers and engineers
200 research projects
89 individual grants allocated
9 new Southern research teams (JEAIs) supported
Africa
• AMMA Programme – analysis of the African
Monsoon
• Niger River basin: research in hydrology, agriculture and
health
• Mozambique: South-South collaboration with Brazil,
on environment and health
• One-day “young researchers” event, Dakar, with
UCAD
• Technology platform on emerging vector-borne diseases
set up (Mahidol University, Thailand)
• Soil fertility improvement, Thailand and Laos
• Prevention of mother-to-infant transmission of HIV,
Thailand
New Caledonia:
• International Santo 2006 expedition to catalogue biodiversity in Vanuatu
• Biodec Forum (biodiversity of coral environments)
• Expert group review: “Invasive Species in the New
Caledonian Archipelago”
French Polynesia:
• International conference on aromatic and medicinal
plants
• Expert group review: “Natural Substances of French
Polynesia”
• Archaeological work in the Marquesas Islands
Madagascar
Research on nutrition, in liaison with Gret and Cirad,
on deforestation and poverty
La Réunion
• Opening of a research and science watch centre on
emerging diseases of the Indian Ocean (CRVOI, Centre
de recherche et de veille scientifique sur les maladies
émergentes de l’Océan Indien)
• Chikungunya control
41
International
With its network of 23 centres and 294 researchers
in 38 countries, the IRD takes part in many of the
international research programmes working for
sustainable development. It is expanding its
international activities, working with new countries
and in more European programmes and forging
closer
ties
with
other
French
research
establishments.
••• Africa and the Indian Ocean
IRD/OCEAC
memorandum
of understanding,
Cameroon
Sub-Saharan Africa is a priority area for the IRD. Its
involvement with the Portuguese-speaking African
countries took a step forward this year with assistance
missions to the research ministry in Mozambique. The
Institute was also more widely represented in, and
working more closely with, countries in East and
Southern Africa – Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and
Mozambique. This opens new prospects for regional
partnerships. Cooperation with institutes and universities
in Kenya and Ethiopia increased, focusing on social
science and water-related issues.
In West and Central Africa, the Institute worked to foster
the development of regional partnerships. The main
focus was on multidisciplinary programmes in the Niger
river basin, involving Niger, Mali, Guinea, the Niger River
Authority and the Senegal River Authority.
The IRD also wants to see more South-South
cooperation projects, particularly between Africa and
Latin America. With this in mind it organised exploratory
missions between Brazil and Mozambique.
The IRD centres continue to open up to African partners
and now also play host to other French and European
research bodies.
••• North Africa and Middle East
The Europe-Mediterranean-Africa axis is another of the
Institute’s geographical priorities, so work in North
Africa and the Middle East continued. In Morocco,
where cooperation has been very lively since the IRD
centre opened in Rabat in 2005, the number of
programmes has increased considerably. In many of
these programmes the cooperation is regional,
transcontinental or Euro-Mediterranean. In Tunisia, the
6th consultation meeting with the research ministry
highlighted this country’s integration into the EuroMediterranean area and a growing desire to develop
tripartite cooperation with sub-Saharan African
Advancing dunes, Tunisia
countries. At the Unesco symposium on the future of the drylands, held in Tunis in June 2006, the Institute ran a session
on hydrological changes in the Mediterranean basin.
International migration: comparing Morocco and Mexico
The IRD was joint organiser of the international seminar on International Migration and Public Policy, which compared
Mexico/United States migration with Morocco/Europe. The seminar was held at the Centre Population et Développement
(CEPED) in Paris and was supported by the French foreign affairs Ministry. Leading scientists and policy makers from Morocco,
Mexico, Europe and the United States shared information and ideas about the demographic, economic and political challenges posed by international migration. The seminar also provided an opportunity to strengthen the research networks on
this theme.
••• Asia
In Vietnam, cooperation has continued to gather momentum since the IRD office there was
granted official status. This is a particularly busy time, with teams working on five social
sciences projects supported by the French foreign ministry’s Priority Solidarity Fund.
The Institute received a visit from the Chairman of the Vietnamese Academy of Social
Sciences with a view to a future cooperation agreement. The Chairmen of the IRD and Cirad
went to Hanoi together. And a delegation from the Vietnamese science and technology
ministry, led by the Deputy Minister, came to meet the IRD at the invitation of the French
foreign ministry.
In Thailand, research into emerging diseases and salty soils continues.
••• Cooperation with the European Union
The IRD organised the international seminar for the closure of the Euro-MedaNet project, financed by the European
Commission under INCO. The EC wishes to open the European research area to non-European Mediterranean countries
and strengthen its scientific and technical cooperation with them. Euro-MedaNet set up a network of information points in
Mediterranean countries to raise awareness in research circles in these countries of the opportunities for programmes under
the European Framework Programme. Following on from this project, the IRD is now taking part in ERA-MED, another
INCO project. The aim of this project is to continue strengthening the European research area (ERA) in the Mediterranean
countries.
Forest, French Guiana
The Institute continued to increase its research in the
Andes region. In particular, the programmes in Peru were
expanded. The Andes region is now the focus of 77% of
the Institute’s Latin American programmes and more
than 70% of its staff on that continent. The programmes
on tropical glaciers, Andean geodynamics, hydrology,
the Humboldt current and migration all have a strong
regional dimension. Transcontinental cooperation between
Latin America and Africa is also growing. For example,
Mexican-Moroccan networks are being established in
three different fields: migration, transformation of the
agricultural and industrial fabric in the face of
globalisation, and access to and management of water.
Migration was the subject of a first international
comparative seminar, held in France (see ‘North Africa’
facing page).
Annual report • 2006
••• Latin America
At the launch of the 7th Framework Programme in France, the session on international cooperation was jointly organised
by the IRD and Cirad (Centre de cooperation internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement). The event
was transmitted live by satellite to 15 French regions and, with the help of the Agence universitaire de la francophonie (AUF),
was broadcast by relay in Morocco, Lebanon and Algeria.
••• Multilateral cooperation
The Institute’s multilateral actions were strengthened in 2006, particularly through cooperation with organisations in the
United Nations system. The French government appointed the IRD as an expert body to take part in the government
delegations to two important events organised by the FAO – the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural
Development in Porto Alegre and the World Food Summit.
The IRD, Cirad and Inra (Institut national de recherche agronomique) drew up the regional reports on Latin America, North
Africa and sub-Saharan Africa for the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development
(IAASTD), which is coordinated by the World Bank.
The IRD, Cirad, Inra and Cemagref (the French agricultural and environmental engineering research centre) signed a new
framework cooperation agreement with the CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) to
strengthen collaboration in research, training and forecasting. A book covering the main scientific results of this
cooperation is now being written.
Under the CGIAR’s Challenge Programme on water and food, the IRD is now coordinating a study on poverty linked to
water problems in the Niger river basin. Under the Challenge Programme on genetic resources, the Institute won a multiyear contract for joint research on
the comparative genomics of
African rice varieties, with teams
First international conference on the Humboldt current system
from CIAT (International Centre
for Tropical Agriculture), WARDA
The IRD and the Instituto del Mar del Perú (IMARPE) organised the first international conference on “The Humboldt current system - climate, ocean dynamics, ecosystem processes and fisheries”. It was held in Lima, with the support of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
(the Africa Rice Centre) and other
African research teams.
The conference was attended by 320 people from 27 countries, North and South. They included scientists but also Peruvian and Chilean fishing company
managers, Peruvian policy makers and Peruvian fishermen’s associations. The Humboldt current system is vital for the region and is more productive than
any other part of the global ocean; this was a first opportunity for the different stakeholders to gain an overview of how this complex system functions.
•••••• Contact: dri@ird.fr
43
Fr e n c h o v e r s e a s t e r r i t o r i e s
In the French overseas territories there are IRD
centres in New Caledonia, French Guiana, La
Réunion and French Polynesia. More than 60
researchers, 160 engineers and technicians and
some sixty staff on temporary contracts conduct
research with partner institutions and provide
consultancy services to the local authorities.
The IRD chairs the B2C3I committee, which brings
together all the French research bodies working in the
overseas territories. The other members are the BRGM
(geology and mining), Cirad (agriculture), Cemagref
(environmental engineering), Ifremer (marine research)
and Inra (agriculture). The purpose of the committee is to
stimulate collaboration among them around joint projects.
• New Caledonia has the largest IRD centre in the
overseas territories, in Nouméa. Here research is
conducted on climate, ecosystems, natural hazards,
health and the human sciences. In 2006 the centre
celebrated its 60th anniversary and organised a joint
forum on biodiversity in coral environments with the
Secretariat of the Pacific Community. The IRD took part
in the Santo international scientific expedition to
catalogue the terrestrial and marine biodiversity of Espiritu
Santo, a volcanic island in Vanuatu, South Pacific. A new
SEAS antenna was installed at the satellite receiving
station for the Syrhen project (decision aid system for
fishery resource management).
The expert group review on invasive species in the New
Caledonian archipelago was delivered to its sponsors, the
three New Caledonian provincial authorities.
On the sustainable ecosystem management side,
scientists made surveys of the flora, traditional
pharmacopoeia and herbal medicine of Easter Island. On
the health side, research into ciguatera was conducted in
partnership with the Institut Louis Malardé in Papeete and
the Institut Pasteur in New Caledonia.
The IRD is an active partner in the new Centre national de
recherche et de technologie sur le nickel, along with other
scientific institutions, mining companies and local
authorities, to pursue research into mining resources and
the environmental impact of nickel mining.
• In French Polynesia, the expert group review on
natural substances in French Polynesia was delivered to
the local authorities and the IRD centre in Tahiti hosted
the fourth international symposium on aromatic and
medicinal plants of the French overseas regions.
• On La Réunion, which was particularly hard hit by
the chikungunya epidemic, the IRD launched research to
characterise populations of mosquitoes that transmit
arboviruses. The EntomoCHIK project, funded by the
Agence nationale de la recherche, involved the IRD, the
Institut Pasteur, Cirad, the University of La Réunion and
the La Réunion regional health and social affairs
authority.
The IRD was appointed as commissioning agency for
CRVOI, a research and surveillance centre for emerging
diseases in the Indian Ocean, based in La Réunion.
Reporting to the health and research Ministries, the
centre involves research establishments, public health
agencies, the regional association of doctors in private
practice, the island’s hospitals and university and the La
Réunion regional and departmental authorities.
Cataloguing biodiversity in New Calédonia.
Aedes albopictus, chikungunya vector
The chairman of its managing committee is IRD
Chairman Jean-François Girard.
• In French Guiana, the satellite environmental
monitoring platform for the Amazon, SEAS Guyane,
opened in Cayenne. To understand the processes
underlying the emergence or chronic resurgence of
dengue fever, malaria and Buruli ulcer, a research
programme funded by the Agence nationale de la
recherche, started up with partners from French Guiana
and Metropolitan France: the armed forces health
service, the école des Ponts et Chaussées, the CNRS,
the IRD, the Institut Pasteur de Guyane, the Cayenne
hospital and the French Guiana university cluster.
• In Martinique, the IRD centre hosted a symposium
on global warming. Its hydrologists took part in the
regional cooperation project Caraïbes-HYCOS, the
Caribbean strand of the world HYCOS system for the
evaluation, monitoring and management of water
resources.
•••••• Contact: dom@ird.fr
The IRD laid the groundwork for its new site policy to meet the challenges of its 2006-2009 objectives contract. The Institute is expanding and consolidating its partnership
arrangements, the keys to this process being stronger partnerships with national research actors (particularly universities), its teams’ participation in the newly-created
regional structures and better contractualisation of the research units.
The policy of greater openness and stronger structures
advanced further in the French regions, as partnerships were
forged and strengthened with research bodies and local
authorities throughout the country. Links with higher
education and research establishments were strengthened
in practical ways, with increased participation in joint
research units (now 29 UMRs or Unités mixtes de
recherche), inter-establishment structures (12 “federative
research institutes” (IFRs) in Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier,
Paris, Perpignan and Sète) and 43 scientific investment
agencies and national programmes (see appendices).
Annual report • 2006
M e t r o p o l i t a n Fr a n c e
structures. It is involved in the Paris School of Economics RTRA and is a founder member of two other major clusters.
One is the Aerospace Science and Engineering RTRA in Toulouse. This network links the scientific communities working on
engineering science, environmental, earth and universe sciences, and the science and technology of information and
communication. The other founder members are Paul Sabatier University, the CNRS, CNES, the French aerospace lab
ONERA and the Association Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées Aéronautique Spatiale Systèmes Embarqués.
The other, Infectiopole Sud, works on emerging infectious diseases and tropical diseases in the 21st century. It has brought
together on one site hospital care, preventive care, vaccination and research and teaching activities. The other founder
members are the Universities of Montpellier 1, Aix-Marseille 2 and Nice Sophia-Antipolis, the Montpellier and Nice teaching
hospital groups, the Marseille health services, the national blood transfusion agency, the armed forces health service, the
CNRS and Inserm.
••• Contracts between central and regional government
The IRD took part in preparing the Contrats de Projets État-Région under which central and regional government
collaborate on projects that will shape future development. The Institute is involved in eight technology platforms and
multi-establishment real estate investment projects. These are GEOSUD, CAP-MédiTrop 2 and Vectopôle in LanguedocRoussillon, the Infectiopole project in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, the Envirhônalp project in Rhône-Alpes, the pôle
observation de la Terre, and the pôle régional Mer and pôle Santé in La Réunion.
Inauguration
of the ASTERisque
particle
accelerator
••• New instruments
The recent research scheduling and guideline law
introduced two new types of regional structure: themebased advanced research networks called RTRAs and
higher education and research clusters called PRES. They
receive funding from the government, which wants to
foster the emergence of major, internationally recognised
French science clusters combining high level training with
top quality research. These structures unite several
research units in the same geographical area in a network
or cluster, to create a critical mass of top level researchers
sharing the same scientific objectives and strategy.
In 2006 the IRD was busily involved in setting up these
••• Involvement in six competitiveness clusters:
Competitiveness clusters help to make research in the regions more attractive and stimulate innovation. They bring
together private enterprise, training centres and research laboratories with a view to working out new innovation
strategies.
The IRD is a member of six such clusters:
• Mer-Bretagne (Sea-Nergie), in Brittany;
• Q@limed, on food systems and quality of life in the Mediterranean region, in Languedoc-Roussillon;
• RISQUES, on risk management and local/regional vulnerability, in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur;
• Mer Sécurité Sûreté (MSS), on the sea, safety, security and sustainable development, in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur;
• Orpheme, on emerging and orphan diseases, in Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur;
• Agronutrition en milieu tropical, on food and agriculture in tropical regions, in La Réunion.
It is also involved in two clusters in Toulouse, Aéronautique Espace et Systèmes Embarqués and Cancer, Bio, Santé.
•••••• Contact: dpr@ird.fr
45