State-BRGM performance contract for 2018-2022.
© BRGM
Frédérique Vidal, Minister for Higher Education, Research and Innovation, François de Rugy, Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, Bruno Le Maire, Minister for the Economy, and Michèle Rousseau, the BRGM's Chair and Executive Director, have signed the new State-BRGM performance contract for 2018-2022.
This contract will further consolidate the BRGM's position as the reference organisation in France for knowledge on soils and subsoils and responsible use of these resources. The contract was prepared in a participatory manner with the BRGM's staff and its various supervisory organisations and partners throughout the preceding year.
6 main lines of action up to 2022
The State-BRGM performance contract sets out the BRGM's scientific priorities in pragmatic and realistic terms and defines the main activities to be undertaken up to 2022. It is built around 6 main lines of action, with goals and performance indicators in each case:
- Promote a research policy that supports the production and development of knowledge and expertise;
- Deploy the BRGM’s expertise to support public policy development;
- Support a proactive policy for innovation, development and transfer;
- Strengthen the BRGM’s European and international strategy;
- Develop a sites and training policy in line with the BRGM's scientific strategy;
- Boost governance and management dynamics.
A 10-year scientific strategy to meet social and economic challenges
The geosciences today are faced with major challenges that include climate change, urban expansion and human pressures on soils and water. Changes in society such as the energy transition and the development of a circular economy are generating new challenges for the geosciences, with the rapidly expanding use of soils and subsoils.
The State-BRGM performance contract is built around a revised 10-year scientific strategy designed to meet six major challenges where the geosciences and the BRGM in particular will have an important role in the years to come:
- Geology and knowledge of the subsurface;
- Data, digital services and infrastructure;
- Risks and spatial planning;
- Groundwater management;
- Mineral resources and the circular economy;
- Subsurface potential for the energy transition.
As Michèle Rousseau, the Chair and Executive Director of the BRGM, explains:"with this performance contract for 2018-2022, we aim to make the best possible research choices to ensure that our geoscientific knowledge contributes to concrete responses that help society to meet the challenges that emerge".
