Full press pack
Founding agreement
Decree
Video of the press conference
Consortium website :
www.agreenium.org

Contact

Odile VILOTTE , AGREENIUM Coordination Unit, tel.: +33 (0)1 42 75 92 19, odile.vilotte@paris.inra.fr

Press contacts:
• INRA, Lise POULET, tel.: +33 (0)1 42 75 91 68, lise.poulet@paris.inra.fr
• CIRAD, Anne HEBERT, tel.: +33 (0)1 53 70 20 57, anne.hebert@cirad.fr
• AgroParisTech, Marie-Pierre QUESSETTE, tel.: +33 (0)1 44 08 86 50, marie-pierre.quessette@agroparistech.fr
• Agrocampus Ouest, Bénédicte VILLEROY de GALHAU, tel.: +33 (0)2 23 48 55 20, villeroy@agrocampus-ouest.fr
• Montpellier SupAgro, Ghyslaine ROBINIUS, tel.: +33 (0)4 99 61 27 30, robinius@supagro.inra.fr
• ENV Toulouse, Ismeline MATHET, tel.: +33 (0)5 61 19 32 72, i.mathet@envt.fr

Six top agricultural research and educational institutions launch AGREENIUM

03/11/2009 - Press release

INRA, CIRAD, AgroParisTech, Agrocampus Ouest, Montpellier SupAgro and ENV Toulouse are the six founder members of AGREENIUM, the French national consortium for agriculture, food, animal health and the environment.

In doing so, they have forged an organization that is more than capable of facing the global challenges imposed by new requirements in the fields of agriculture, food, animal health and the environment.
Several priority areas have already been singled out:
► Acting in the Mediterranean. AGREENIUM now participates in the Mediterranean Research Partnerships foresight discussion workshop (PARME ARP), which seeks to determine priority areas that ought to be the focus of research in the Mediterranean in the next ten years, with special emphasis on health, food and agriculture, water and energy, and culture and civilization. AGREENIUM will suggest operating structures and ways of facilitating cooperation in research, training and development.
► Weighing in on France's approach to international agricultural research. AGREENIUM has recently submitted its contribution to the interministerial Commission de la Recherche Agronomique Internationale (CRAI), the international agricultural research commission. AGREENIUM provides the French research system with a structure that brings research and higher education closer together, thereby facilitating the development of collaborative partnerships with counterparts around the world. The development of capacities for the South and the ability to cover the innovation chain are a plus in France's contribution to international agricultural research.
► Establishing an international doctoral college. Rather than creating a doctoral school in the strict sense, this endeavour seeks to establish mixed programmes with existing doctoral schools (in France, the Netherlands, China and Brazil) that already have agreements with the founding members of AGREENIUM. This structure, which could be up and running in 2011, would serve as an international training centre in the fields of agriculture, food and nutrition, animal health and the environment.

AGREENIUM is a public scientific cooperation institution created by the Ministries for Agriculture, Higher Education and Research, and Foreign Affairs to demonstrate their desire to improve French research and training structures in their fields, increase France's visibility, appeal and international relevance, and help create and mobilise new scientific capabilities in these areas.

AGREENIUM is supported by a strategic planning committee that will be open to French and foreign scientists. It will promote programmes and actions combining research, training, and development, and represent France in the international arena.

Other institutions and schools may become full or associate partners of AGREENIUM. This special partnership complements and strengthens previously-formed alliances within the French research and education system in the framework of the French Centres for Research and Higher Education (PRES), as well as with other research bodies and universities.

AGREENIUM was created by a decree dated 10 May 2009 as a public scientific cooperation institution while recognizing each member's autonomy and specific statutes.

Together, the 6 founding members represent:

  • 12,000 persons of whom 5,700 are scientists (5,150 researchers and engineers and 600 teacher-researchers),
  • 4,700 students and 2,200 doctoral students working in the agricultural and veterinary fields.
  • Some 300 officially recognized research units
  • 5 common research and training campuses in Ile-de-France, Montpellier, Rennes-Angers and Toulouse.
  • A network of top-notch technology platforms and open experimental facilities.
  • Rich and diverse university partnerships.
  • Cooperation agreements with industry partners and key development players.
  • Presence in over 50 industrialized and developing countries.