We have been able to resume our on-site activities for almost a month now, beyond the business continuity plans and Covid-19 research activities. This gradual resumption has gone smoothly thanks to the preparatory work carried out by the regional delegations and the prevention assistants in the units.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced that the whole of France (with the exception of Mayotte and French Guiana) has been placed in a "green zone", allowing work to resume more quickly on site.
At the beginning of July, we will be able to resume our face-to-face activities to the maximum capacity of our sites, in liaison with our partners. In the meantime, each and every one of us must be able to return to our place of work as soon as possible. This gradual return to normal must, of course, take place while guaranteeing your safety, which is the priority. Vigilance remains the order of the day. It remains essential to respect the barrier procedures, the physical distance and the instructions in our business resumption plans. Protective equipment, markings, communication... everything is being done to ensure your safety and facilitate your return to the site. All the work carried out over the last few weeks has demonstrated the effectiveness of our systems, allowing a more serene return to normal operations. At the end of the summer period, we should be able to return to work under normal conditions, with all our staff working on site.
Many of you are facing childcare problems. These problems should be resolved as from 22 June, when nurseries, schools and colleges reopen. Some of you, and it's perfectly understandable, may be feeling stressed by this new change of environment and pace of life. You may also have a vulnerable relative who needs to be absolutely protected from outside contact.
Whatever difficulties you are experiencing, talk to your manager, who will be able to help you manage your return to work as smoothly as possible. You can also turn to the HR department, which is there to listen to you.
Your return to the site, to your work group, is crucial because human relations have a strong impact on working together. They can also help you to overcome fears and difficulties.
This return to face-to-face teaching is also essential for the smooth running of our school. We need the skills and commitment of all of you. Our laboratories in particular cannot function without the involvement of our support functions. This is important if we are to keep pace with the programmes and major projects to which we and our partners are committed. It is also our duty to contribute to national and international efforts to overcome the consequences of the crisis and prepare for the future.
This crisis, perhaps more than any other, has shown us the importance of knowledge in overcoming the challenges we face today. Science will undoubtedly be essential in rebuilding our societies, which have been damaged by the pandemic, and in forging new paths. To do this, science must also take new paths. This is the thrust of an article we recently published with Olivier Dangles, Philippe Charvis and Philippe Cury: to be able to propose concrete solutions and meet the challenges facing the planet, to play a decisive role in the major orientations of the future, researchers must embrace the science of sustainability. And here again, we need your talents and the commitment of all of you to go beyond disciplinary interests and develop unifying projects and concrete actions.
I encourage all researchers to consult and submit articles to Nature Sustainability , the journal to which the IRD now subscribes. Access is open, directly on the journal's website, or via our Researcher's Office. We also have access to the journal Sustainability Science and to JStor's Sustainability collection, which offers a wide range of publications in the field of sustainability science.
I would also like to invite you to read the interview that Jean-François Silvain gave us in this week's IRD INFO, to tell us about a major study carried out by the Foundation for Research on Biodiversity (FRB), with several IRD researchers, on the link between the Covid-19 epidemic and the erosion of biodiversity. Jean-François Silvain is Director of Research at the IRD and President of the FRB, a position in which he plays a key role in mobilising inter-agency, multidisciplinary expertise to support decision-making. He will be stepping down from this position in December. We will have the opportunity to pay tribute to him and thank him.
Thank you all very much.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones,
Valérie Verdier