Editorial by Valérie Verdier, Chairman and CEO
Last Friday saw the holding of the J'IRD Institute Days, the first to be held during my term of office and in a new format due to the crisis. I was determined to maintain this institutional meeting, which brings together our unit directors (DUs), representatives and regional delegates. We organised this meeting using a live video and chat facility, which enabled us to talk to them wherever they were in the world, with all the members of our governance team at my side - Corinne Brunon-Meunier, Deputy Director General, Isabelle Benoist, Secretary General and Philippe Charvis, Deputy Director for Science, who was confirmed in this role following the Board meeting on 26 June. I would like to thank the team who, in perfect coordination with the Institute's three divisions, orchestrated this event.
Our two supervisory ministers (MESRI and MEAE) have done us the honour of opening this meeting with two recorded video sequences. They thanked you and expressed their encouragement for the research carried out at our Institute, stressing the importance of partnerships with southern countries, particularly in the current crisis.
Frédérique Vidal, our Minister for Higher Education, Research and Innovation, conveyed to us the Government's "deep gratitude for everything that the scientific community has given to our country during the particularly trying weeks that have just passed". She emphasised the IRD's remarkable commitment to this general mobilisation to "find solutions, enlighten decision-makers in their decisions and citizens in their behaviour". (watch the video)
The French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, highlighted the leading role played by the IRD - "three letters that keep cropping up in meetings [he] chairs all over the world" - in France's strategy for a united response to the pandemic crisis, thanks to the links we have forged with our partners on every continent. He called for diplomacy that puts science back at the heart of the debate.
Michel Miraillet, Director General for Globalisation at the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, also honoured us by attending and answering participants' questions.
I then addressed all 180 participants. Through this J'IRD and now through this message, I wanted to share the main priorities I have set for our Institute over the next four years. We need to give greater impetus to the positive trajectory we are on. These are challenging times for research for development, and the years ahead will be no exception. The priorities I have set should enable us to further increase the strength and impact of the original model of equitable scientific partnership that we are promoting, a model that is unique in the global research ecosystem.
There can be no development without science and research, and no research without support functions. I therefore want science to be at the heart of the IRD's actions, with governance that is closer to you, and new forums for exchange that enable new interdisciplinary scientific fronts to emerge. We need to be at the forefront of sustainability science, developing a different way of thinking and doing science to provide answers to the questions of citizens, in the North and the South. Following the Board meeting on 26 June, which installed the position of Deputy Director for Science (D2S A) in charge of Sustainability Science, I have decided to appoint Olivier Dangles, currently Acting Director of the ECOBIO Department. Olivier Dangles will officially take up his new post at the beginning of September. Over the course of the day, he presented an initial reflection on the deployment of sustainability science at the Institute during the crisis, developed at my request alongside Philippe Charvis. This is based on what we are learning step by step from crisis management, and mobilises a wide range of scientific and administrative expertise in the search for practical solutions to the questions and difficulties we are facing.
My second priority is to strengthen our model of equitable scientific partnership in the South and overseas France. We have nearly a hundred active schemes, including LMI, JEAI, GDRI-Sud, etc., which are real tools of scientific diplomacy. Together with our partners, we need to promote them and make them better known to our supervisory bodies, both nationally and internationally. As far as possible, these should lead to the emergence of centres of excellence in the countries and with the partners we work with.
It is also important to strengthen links with development players and donors, particularly the French Development Agency (AFD), with which we have built major projects such as ARIACOV during the crisis. Europe, philanthropists... we will be stepping up our exchanges with many other development donors over the coming months.
Another point that is particularly close to my heart is modernising and simplifying our operations, investing and making our jobs more attractive, while taking into account our specific characteristics and promoting synergies with other higher education and research operators.
We must do even more to promote, innovate and promote open science for sustainable development. The bridges we build between science and innovation, between research and application, are fundamental. In the same way, we must continue to work to strengthen our role in coordinating open science in the countries of the South.
Finally, I want to pursue a strong policy on gender equality, young people and the environment. We have significant room for improvement on these fronts. In terms of parity, for example, there are 15 % female unit managers and 30 % female representatives. We need to be determined and pragmatic if we are to make progress. I would like to see a "green IRD", in line with our values and our model, as part of a green deal that we are building with our partners in the South. Our environmental roadmap, presented to the Board of Directors in June, is a step in this direction.
These priorities are in line with a trajectory that I want to be very ambitious, in the service of research and capacity building for the South, which is and always will be my guiding principle. We must exploit all the opportunities open to us to bring this programme to a successful conclusion.
We also need to have all our forces at our disposal. With the end of the state of health emergency on 10 July, we are returning to our normal work organisation rules, including a return to the classic teleworking arrangements as they operated before 17 March. This does not, of course, exclude taking into account the problems of childcare that some of you have encountered and which could persist this summer, and vulnerability to illness. Steps have been taken to address these issues.
From 1 September, we will also be restarting the long-term assignments and missions outside mainland France scheduled for 2020. The administrative formalities and the purchase of travel tickets can already begin. Naturally, these departures will be limited by the opening conditions of the countries concerned and the capacity of commercial flights. If I have given this instruction to restart assignments and LDMs, it is because we must be ready, as soon as we are given the opportunity, to continue our work alongside our partners in the South. Ready, but also exemplary, with the absolute duty to respect health regulations when entering and staying in a partner country.
The virus is still circulating, it's still with us. Wherever we are, let's remain cautious and responsible, and let's all respect the preventive measures: physical distance, wearing a mask, washing our hands.
I wish you a very happy and peaceful summer holiday.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones,
Valérie Verdier