On from 1 January 2020, French EVOLTREE partner, INRA (National Institute for Research in Agronomy), merges with IRSTEA, (National Institute for Environmental and Agricultural Science and Research) to become the new French research institute, 'INRAE'.
By bringing together the range of existing complementary disciplines and skills in INRA and Irstea - comprising more than 9,500 permanent scientists, engineers and technicians - the new institute will set out to become a future, global public research leader in the fields of agriculture, food and the environment.
The synergy of scientific and technological skills and the pooling of research infrastructures and data will enable the generation of scientific knowledge at the highest level of international quality standards and the promotion of open science, implying the dissemination of and free access to research results.
This new establishment will also be a driver for the regional structuring of research and will participate in the dynamics of French higher education, research and innovation centres.Research will be carried out within seven new Divisions made up of Irstea-INRA research units in the following fields:
- The agroecological and digital transition of agriculture
- Aquatic environments and the control of associated risks
- The management of sparsely populated continental ecosystems
- Economic and social evolution in agriculture, food and the agrifood industries
- Data sciences and artificial intelligence, robotic technologies and sensors
- Support for territorial transitions and management
- The bioeconomy and bioresources
INRA was at the origin of EVOLTREE as a Network of Excellence and has served as coordinator of the network till today. With the support and involvement of additional IRSTEA researchers, INRAE will continue supporting and promoting EVOLTREE, extending its contribution on the evolution and responses to climate change of forest trees.
