Objectives and Missions

 

Reducing the uncertainty

Never human pressures on the planet has been so critical. Never mankind expectations have been   so high about the Earth. Major issues challenge our societies and our scientific knowledge:
  •  Significant alteration of ecosystem functioning and biodiversity
  •  Global disruption of major cycles (e.g. water, carbon)
  •  Climate change
  •  Large changes in agricultural production systems (intensive productivity)
  •  Rapid changes in land use (deforestation, desertification, land abandonment)
  •  Overexploitation of natural resources (e.g. air, water, soil)
  •  Ever growing vulnerability of the populations in developing countries

 

Graphique

Understand the Earth & Life System processes and contribute to sustainable solutions development

 
Building on the convergence between societal issues and scientific challenges, the Institute aims to tackle the complexity of interlinked systems at various spatial and temporal scales along three research directions:
 
1.    Process understanding : climate system, biogeochemical cycles, ecosystem functioning, living system; population and community dynamics, biodiversity erosion; global ecological change and physical, biological and anthropogenic drivers; tolerance and adaptation of crop plantsto biotic and abiotic stresses; interactions between human societies and their environment.
 
2.    Drivers identification : quantitative monitoring, environmental indicators, risks assessment; impacts of degradation, pollution and food chain contamination; plant disease, food security, food quality control; numerical simulation and upscaling.
 
3.    Technical, management and regulation innovation : production systems, nature conservation and restoration, cleanup process, renewable resources development (carbon sink, biofuel, micro-organisms, etc); land use planning, agricultural policy, environmental regulation, natural resources economy, decision support systems for integrated strategies.
 
 

The complexity and the interdependency of the issues and challenges require approaches emphasizing and bringing together different study objectives and several levels of analysis. These new synergies will form the backbone of the Institute and will develop and promote an interdisciplinary approach, based on the scientific dynamism of the various specializations.

The added-values of the Institute


1. External visibility and attractiveness. The outreach of the Institute comes from ​​its critical size and from its capacity to mobilize large numbers of experts and high technology to meet significant societal challenges.

2. Interdisciplinarity. The complexity and the interdependency of the issues and challenges require approaches emphasizing and bringing together different study objectives and several levels of analysis. These new synergies will form the backbone of the Institute and will develop and promote an interdisciplinary approach, based on the scientific dynamism of the various specialisations.

Additional impact 

 
Doctoral training. Most of the fields of research of the Institute are covered by the following graduate schools :

  1. BEE - Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution (EDIV within UCL)
  2. Land Development
  3. ENVITAM - Science, Technology and Environmental Management
  4. Geography
  5. Plant Science
  6. SCAIB - Agricultural Science and Bioengineering 
  7. UNITER - Science of the universe, space, Earth and Climate

The Institute aims to foster joint training activities between the various graduate schools.

Mobilization and resource sharing. The critical size and attractiveness of the Institute is expected to bring in external funding.

 

| 7/06/2011 |