• The Geological and Mining Research Bureau will move its Coastal Risks and Climate Change unit from Orléans to Pessac.

  • The objective is to set up a “coastal risk research center of excellence” in New Aquitaine.

  • Its aim will be in particular to work on more precise predictive models for the next 10, 20 or even 30 years, and to help set up a coastal strategy.

Soon a “coastal risk research center of excellence” in New Aquitaine?

In any case, this is the ambition of the region and the BRGM (Bureau of Geological and Mining Research) which signed an agreement on Monday for a period of three years, which initially results in the move from Orléans in Pessac of the Coastal Risks and Climate Change Unit of the BRGM.

About twenty researchers and engineers will therefore settle in the Bordeaux suburbs.

The objective is to create more synergies with the laboratories of the universities of Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Pau, but also with organizations in the region such as the Observatory of the Aquitaine coast, and the GIP Littoral.

Developing predictive models, even if it "is not about being Madame Soleil"

With an ocean frontage of more than 790 km, the coast represents a major challenge for the region's activity.

A million inhabitants already live along this coast, and 300,000 additional inhabitants are expected by 2040. “It seemed more logical to me to continue to develop our activity on coastal erosion by being on the coast, and particularly in New Aquitaine where the consequences of global warming can be seen, through recent storms or the Signal building affair,” explains Michèle Rousseau, President of BRGM.

“There is also a solid research fabric here, with which we have had a long relationship.

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“The role of the research ecosystem in relation to these coastal issues is to shed light on the evolution trajectories of the coastal environment, and the field of possibilities in terms of evolution and adaptation, explains Christophe Poinssot , Deputy CEO of BRGM.

All this knowledge is intended to develop models to project into the future.

It is not a question of being "Madame Soleil", there is always a part of uncertainty that remains, but of being able to think about how we can prepare for these changes and adapt to them.

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“Provide decision support elements”

“We are starting to have a lot of data on the coast, adds Michèle Rousseau, but where we are perhaps a little weaker is on the predictive part.

However, it is necessary to give reliable indications over 10, 20 or 30 years.

The final objective for the BRGM researchers is "to provide decision-making aids for adaptation policies and management strategies", recalls Eric David, head of the Coastal Risks Unit.

The research that the BRGM will carry out in New Aquitaine on the coast, “concerns all the French coasts, insists Michèle Rousseau, including those located in the overseas departments and internationally, where the issues can be very different.

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  • Planet

  • erosion

  • Littoral

  • Global warming

  • Bordeaux

  • Aquitaine