As part of the Normandy region's contract of objectives, steered by the Normandy Regional Chamber and ACTA Normandy, and following on from the Champs d'innovation I and II projects, the aim of the Champs d'innovation III project is to continue accelerating and developing the triple performance of Normandy farms by focusing not on the "what" (knowledge production) but on the "how": supporting change towards triple performance through three action levers: sharing and disseminating knowledge, appropriating innovations and developing skills.

The project is structured around 4 operational objectives:

1. Mobilize organizations around the development of agroecology
2. Transfer knowledge
3. Explore the social pillar
4. Communicate to generate support and positive commitment to agroecology

Project website

Contacts : Joao Avila and Loïc Sauvée

The SAFARRI project (2021-24) is entirely dedicated to the production of agroforestry references specific to the Hauts-de-France region. Agroecology references are often still young and incomplete, or do not cover all terroirs and local histories. This is why UniLaSalle Beauvais, on behalf of all the operators in the Réseau Haies/ AFAC Agroforesteries network in the Hauts-de-France region, has proposed to set up in Picardie, with Junia in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, the first repository of knowledge and know-how dedicated to regional agroforestry.

See web page

The CoEDiTAg project (Coevolution of Equipment, Digital Technologies and Agroecological Models) is a project led by INRAE as part of the PEPR (Priority Research and Equipment Program) "Agroecology & Digital". It aims to understand the co-evolution between the development trajectories of Digital Equipment and Technologies (DET) and the transformation of structures, systems and organizations in the agricultural sector. This project is based on the hypothesis that the direction of this co-evolution is not predetermined, and that it largely depends on the strategies of players, their socio-economic interactions and public policies.

CoEDiTAg brings together a range of research projects in different social sciences to understand the mechanisms of this coevolution and study the levers for influencing it. The project is organized into four complementary Work Packages focusing on :

1. the industrial organization of EDiT development (WP1),
2. the impact of EDiT on knowledge production and innovation systems (WP2)
3. the short- and long-term effects of information and communication technologies on agricultural production models and work organization (WP3),
4. public policies that target or use EDiTs as tools for promoting agroecology (WP4). The InterACT research unit is mainly involved in WP2.

Contacts: Nicolas Brault and Fatma Fourati

The NINSAR project is led by INRIA as part of the PEPR (Programme Prioritaire de Recherche et d'Equipement) "Agroécologie & Numérique" program. The NINSAR project aims to develop robotic approaches to new agricultural practices, capable of acting as a lever for agro-ecological practices. Deploying the principles of agroecology on a large scale requires the ability to take discriminating, precise and frequent action on crops. This requires a workforce that is increasingly difficult to recruit, given the arduous nature of the work involved. The use of robotized tools therefore appears to be a promising lever that needs to be developed. However, constraints in terms of productivity, precision and environmental and crop variability require robotic capabilities that are still immature, or difficult to achieve with a single robot.

The NINSAR project therefore proposes to carry out ambitious research based on the design of agroecological itineraries using a fleet of elementary robots, endowed with the ability to cooperate and feedback with the environment. Such an approach, which represents a break with current developments, requires numerous advances, both in the definition of new farming practices and in robotic developments. The project will also develop innovative decision-making approaches dedicated to multi-robot systems, in order to adapt robotic behaviors to the diversity of actions required by agro-ecological practices. Reciprocally, the evaluation of the performances obtained will enable new itineraries to be designed according to the degree of efficiency achievable (in terms of precision, speed, actions performed).

Project website

Contacts: Marco Medici and Loïc Sauvée

The "TYPTERRES" typology proposes agronomic soil types, based on the Référentiels Régionaux Pédologiques (RRP, from GIS Sol - Inventaire Gestion et Conservation des Sols). The aim is to understand the agronomic properties of the diversity of soils in a given territory by means of an agronomic soil classification:

• Easily shared within a territory,
• Simple and easy to understand,
• Operational for agronomic advice,
• Complete and homogeneous within a territory.

The typology is the result of grouping Soil Typological Units (STU) into "TYPTERRES" Units (STU). The RRP geographic and semantic database is the data source used to construct the "TYPTERRES" units. A set of objective classification criteria is applied to the existing data (RRP). The classification criteria consist of an ordered series of sorts applied to variables describing soil properties at TSU and stratum level. The properties selected concern: i) parent material (geology); ii) degree of profile evolution; iii) variables of agronomic interest (coarse elements, texture, hydromorphy, depth, limestone).

Another aggregation criterion is the surface area of the UTS, which determines the "dominant" and "minority" types. Minority" types can be added to the dominant types, ignored or aggregated among them, or left alone if they have particular characteristics.

In addition, to facilitate understanding and identification of what each UTT represents, and in particular communication with farmers, UTT names are associated with the vernacular names used in each territory.

The simplicity and ease-of-use of TYPTERRES is based mainly on the aggregation of UTS into UTT, aimed at reducing the number of soil types per department. This reduces the number of soil types from an average of 200-300 to less than 80. The comparison and pooling of certain UTTs in one area with those of neighboring areas leads to a reduction in the total number of UTTs created for the union of these areas.

The operational character of the typology for agronomic advice consists in the description of TUs with the modal values of quantitative variables and the main values of qualitative variables of agronomic interest. In addition, other variables not present or incomplete in the RRP are calculated or estimated by pedotransfer rules. This is the case, for example, of the Useful Water Reserve. These variables are then used as input data for numerous decision-support tools (DSTs), eventually establishing an interoperable database between DSTs.

Another advantage of "TYPTERRES" is its link with the source of geographical and semantic data that is the RRP, a national mapping program that will cover the whole of France by the end of 2018. This source guarantees the richness, quality and homogeneity of the soil description methods used.

Contact : Yosra ELLILI

Project website 

The DOP' Picardie project (2020-2022) is a FEADER-funded project, part of Picardie's rural development program, led by UniLaSalle (Guénolé BOULCH) and involving 4 major partner networks (Val France, Terres Inovia, the Oise Chamber of Agriculture and farmers). The aim of the project is to develop an integrated soybean supply chain combining security of supply, environmental management and high value-added outlets.  In this context, the project aims to provide field-tested answers for immediate transferability to three key regional issues:

• "The production and consumption of plant proteins in a territorialized organization"; and
• "Anticipation, mitigation and adaptation to climate change
• "Agroecological practices and innovative production methods" ...

The InTerACT team is mainly involved in WP2 on agronomic optimization and WP3 and WP4 of the project on the identification of key success factors for a sustainable territorial anchoring of the soybean chain from an economic and social point of view on the one hand, and on the other hand on the organization of the chain and the valorization of a local French production :

WP2: (led by David Grandgirard) Diversification of rotations and cropping systems to meet the challenges of reducing agro-environmental impacts on natural resources (water and air) imposed by the progressive ban on herbicides and expected by farmers as a lever for weed control in autumn; optimization of cropping practices (densities, spacings, sowing dates, weed management).
 

WP3: (led by Catherine Delhoume) Understanding of existing collective dynamics, support for innovation dissemination. Identify the farmers behind the innovation and their territorial scope (organizational, geographical, etc.). Identification of action levers for innovation dissemination and territorial innovation governance.
 

WP4: (led by Lucian Ceapraz) Identification with farmers and collectors of innovative outlets (with high added value).  Co-construction of economic projects with stakeholders.

Contacts: Lucian Ceapraz, Catherine Delhoume, David Grandgirard

The CasDAR MOCA project aims to develop, with and for farmers, trainees and advisors, an approach to assisting the design and ex ante evaluation of agroforestry systems to ensure their sustainability. The tools developed will facilitate the monitoring of projects in the field by operators and farmers themselves.

The project is structured into 5 actions:

action 1: Co-design process and definition of project constraints and opportunities

action 2: Development of the ECOAF / DIAFnostic tool

action 3: Multi-criteria evaluation tools for FAS and reference systems

action 4 : Integration of the approach and tools, testing and deployment

action 5 : Coordination and life of the network

Coordination: GRAB (Organic Agriculture Research Group)
Partners: GAB, INRAE, AGROOF, CFPPA de Die, Chambre D'Agriculture De L'Hérault

Contact: David Grandgirard

The PIVERT program, supported by the UTC, the IAR cluster and Sofiprotéol, is the only regional Institute for Energy Transition (ITE) dedicated to the development of plant-based chemistry. Within this framework, the INTERACT team is involved in two projects: MIT1 and AmontBioRaf.

Contact: Loic Sauvée

INTERACT, in collaboration with COSTECH (UTC) and CREIDD (UTT), is taking part in the "Bioraffinerie: vers un métabolisme industriel" work package.

In this project, UniLaSalle and its partners are exploring the economic, institutional and organizational feasibility of new supply chains for these biorefineries, in relation to the organization of agricultural production, agri-supply, collection and primary processing. The conditions for creating an agro-industrial ecosystem combining agriculture and research and development activities are also addressed. In parallel, the societal dimension is developed through the question of the acceptance of disruptive innovations by the agricultural and rural world, as well as the sociological conditions of the professional transition of the agricultural world.

Contact: Loic Sauvée

The INTERACT team is leading this project with partners COSTECH (UTC), CREIDD (UTT) and CETIOM. The introduction of biorefineries is leading to a profound change in the upstream agricultural sector, modifying the roles, functions and place traditionally assigned to agriculture. Supply systems are set to evolve both in terms of the functional contribution of their entities (notably in an industrial ecology logic) and in their modes of interaction (learning and collective action phenomena).
The project aims to :

• build an analytical framework to grasp these changes,
• outline perspectives in the form of territorial development scenarios,
• create approaches and tools for support and development
• to overcome constraints and ensure the long-term supply of diversified, competitive biomass to biorefineries.

Contact: Loïc SAUVÉE

Funded by the Tuck Foundation.

The ETHANORG project aims to assess the impact of the gradual emergence of energy crops on agricultural markets and the organization of production basins. It is structured around two complementary axes that will be addressed simultaneously. The first seeks to assess the impact of the liberalization of ethanol markets on trade, French production and competition between food and energy supplies, while the second looks at the consequences of the mobilization of energy resources on the operation and evolution of the ethanol sector in the major French production basins.

Contact: Loic Sauvée

"Prospective diagnosis of the Picardy beet industry".

Funded by the Conseil Régional de Picardie and carried out in partnership with the Université de Picardie Jules Verne and the Brazilian Universities of Rio de Janeiro and Fluminense.

The DIPROBE project aims to analyze the socio-economic impacts that the reform of the European sugar regulation could have on Picardy, and to establish scenarios for the evolution of the beet sugar sector that could serve as a decision-making aid for the stakeholders concerned.

Contact: Loic Sauvée

European FP6 project funded by the European Commission, led by the University of Copenhagen and involving 52 partners (academic, professional, institutional) from 16 European countries and 4 countries outside Europe (USA, China, Brazil, South Africa).

The part undertaken by UniLaSalle researchers includes an analysis of product differentiation strategies in the pork industry from the point of view of the organizational modes and governance mechanisms implemented, and then associates it with the evaluation of performance levels (financial, commercial, etc.) obtained at different levels of the industry.

Private and public certification brands, cooperative and producer group brands, distributor brands and industrial brands are studied.

Contact: Loic Sauvée

European FP7 project, funded by the European Commission, led by Ghent University in partnership with 8 European universities.

Focusing on innovation processes in agri-food SMEs, the project combines scientific research with the development of practical tools for entrepreneurs, network organizations and public decision-makers, intervening at two levels: that of the individual company and that of the network contributing to innovation, by studying the functioning of the latter as a whole and its effects on innovation. The ultimate aim of the project is to increase the learning capacities of agri-food SMEs in terms of innovation.

Contact: Loic Sauvée

As part of the Normandy region's contract of objectives, the Innovation Fields project aims to accelerate the development of triple performance on Normandy farms by focusing not on the "what" (the production of knowledge) but on the "how": supporting change towards triple performance through three levers of action: sharing and disseminating knowledge, appropriating innovations and developing skills.

The project is structured around 5 operational objectives:

1. Mobilize organizations around the development of agro-ecology (Multi-partner governance to steer the project (monitoring and evaluation) / Facilitate the emergence of work from the perspective of the sector / Organize a forum for exchange on new themes in line with societal expectations in particular).
2. Transfer knowledge (Transfer agro-ecological knowledge to as many people as possible / Facilitate the appropriation of innovations / Support change / Support the implementation of changes on farms by relying on farmer groups and facilitation methods that enable farmers to be more involved in building the responses best suited to their contexts / Develop the skills of advisors both in terms of technical knowledge and in terms of postures to support change).
3. Exploring the social pillar (addressing the fields of work organization, managerial and entrepreneurial skills of farmers, as levers for action towards triple performance).
4. Communicating to generate support and positive commitment to agroecology (Concerted, coordinated communication to support all the actions to be carried out in the field, as well as the overall management of the project).

Project led by the Chambre Régionale de Normandie and ACTA Normandie

Contact: Loïc Sauvée

Awareness of the value of grasslands is necessary to arbitrate between the right to turn them over and incentives to maintain or restore them. This implies being able to estimate the economic value of grassland production (in terms of ecosystem services rendered), taking into account the plurality of agricultural practices, different types of industry and different territories. In order to provide objective elements for estimating the value of grasslands, it is necessary to measure indicators that can be used to assign use values on the one hand, and non-use values on the other, in order to access their total economic values.

The scientific objective of this project is to answer the following question: What is the economic value of grasslands, taking into account (1) the plurality of its dimensions (use and non-use value) and (2) the diversity of scales expected for its evaluation?

The project's operational objectives are to

• Identify and refine existing decision-support tools for farmers, sector managers (sheep and beef farming, local produce, etc.), professional agricultural organizations (OPA) and local authorities,
• Analyze the coherence and effectiveness of public strategies to encourage the maintenance of grasslands in Normandy.

Project partners: Parc Naturel Régional des Boucles de la Seine, Chambre Régionale d'Agriculture de Seine Maritime, EPLFPA d'Yvetot (76).

Contact: Marie-Asma Ben Othmen

The "Vallées habitées" action-research project examines the evolution of landscapes and development in a rural world abandoned by the peri-urbanization of the major cities of Normandy and Paris. It aims to mobilize the local system of players in the programming of appropriate and synchronized actions, in architecture, urban planning and agriculture, aimed at requalifying the residential and presential economy of the villages located at the bottom of the valleys.

The 3 main objectives are to

• To put an end to the excessive consumption of natural and agricultural spaces, in favor of urbanization and economic activities in the towns located on the well-served plateaus of the Eure, by revitalizing the urban and economic dynamics of the inhabited valley bottoms.
• Define the profiles of residents and workers capable of using and developing local resources (buildings/nature/energy).
• Establish the conditions for attracting these profiles (stakeholder networks/public policies).

The challenge is threefold:      

• Recycling already-urbanized land, in particular by encouraging the recycling of wasteland in the valley bottoms.
• Enhancing the value of our heritage, in particular by encouraging the renovation of existing housing.
• Preservation and restoration of ecological continuity by reclaiming dry hillsides and wet meadows.

Project partners: Ecole Nationale du Paysage de Versailles, Ecole Nationale de l'Architecture de Rouen, Conseil de l'Architecture et de l'Urbanisme de l'Environnement 27

Contact: Marie-Asma Ben Othmen

The Réseau Mixte Technologique (RMT) AgroforesterieS is a network of nearly fifty partner organizations (90 members) from the fields of research, training and development, working together on the theme of agroforestry in France. The aim of the network is to create lasting links between network partners in the development of agroforestry.

The overall aim is to pool the skills, expertise and other resources of the various agroforestry development partners, in order to develop technical and methodological tools for setting up and managing agroforestry plots.

The activities of the RMT AgroforesterieS revolve around 5 actions:

• Creation of a national agroforestry observatory - Networking of stakeholders  
• Analysis of the dynamics of adoption of agroforestry projects - Pooling and exchange of know-how,  
• Foresight and coordination of agroforestry R&D projects,
• Tools and resources for setting up and managing local and regional agroforestry systems,  
• Mobilizing initial and continuing training, from CAPA to engineer.

The InTerACT unit, a founding member of the RMT and its historical coordinator, is responsible for coordinating, with the Ariège Chamber of Agriculture, the identification, expertise and provision of sufficient tools and documentary resources required for the co-design, evaluation, implementation and management of efficient agroforestry systems (Action 4, now GT 7). Its leitmotiv: to help the agricultural advisory and training sectors to have all the assets at their disposal and to provide comprehensive, integrative training on all FAS components to maximize the chances of success of such innovative agricultural systems. He is also involved in the WG6 dedicated to agroforestry training.

RMT AgroforesterieS website 

Contact : David GRANDGIRARD

The HOMTEC project, supported by the Conseil Régional de Picardie, brings together the COSTECH laboratory (UTC), the project leader, and the INTERACT research unit.

The central objective of this project is to investigate epistemologically, historically and empirically the question of the singularity of the methods, practices and aims of research in SHS when it is part of a technological universe of training and research.

This is achieved through three axes:

• a historical, sociological and epistemological reflection on the ways in which SHS has been integrated into engineering training;  
• a description of the actual practice of SHS research in our technological universities and engineering schools;  
• an epistemological reflection on some actual and possible relationships between SHS research and innovation, based on case studies of past and current projects at UTC and UniLaSalle. This project is part of the activities of the GIS UTSH.

Contact : Loïc SAUVÉE

The INTERACT team is an associate partner of this new RMT, led by the Picardie Regional Chamber of Agriculture, and accredited for the period 2014/2018. The aim of this RMT is to gather, capitalize on and disseminate the knowledge already acquired, define priority research areas based on the needs of ongoing biomass projects, and build specific joint R&D projects. It will maintain and strengthen a network of multidisciplinary players, in place since 2008 through the "Biomasse Energie" RMT. This "Biomass & Territories" network is focused on resolving the complex issues and challenges associated with the development of the biomass sector.

It is organized around two axes:

• knowledge of the resource, and support for the deployment of sectors in the territories ;  
• multi-criteria assessment of the mobilization and emergence of the sector.

Contact: Loïc SAUVÉE

The PARASOL project (2015-2018) is an ADEME REACCTIF project aimed at elucidating the potential for integrating agroforestry-derived tree fodder into ration and feed management for sheep farming systems. The aim is twofold: (i) to quantify the feeding potential of the silvopastoral systems studied, without jeopardizing current and secondary income (tree biomass, landscape amenities, pollination and biodiversity...) and (ii) to develop scenarios for the use of systemic agroforestry integrated into current livestock systems to optimize their forage autonomy, improve their environmental footprint and the known socio-economic balances. To ensure that the work undertaken is both climatically and culturally realistic, work is being carried out with a network of 9 farms located in 3 diversified agricultural regions: sheep systems in the Pyrenean Piedmont, mid-mountain systems in the Auvergne, and sylvopastoral systems on grassland-agricultural land in the north-west.

As part of this project, InTerACT and UniLaSalle are working on (1) quantifying the available arboreal biomass (on ash, apple, maple and walnut trees), (2) the consequences of agroforestry systems on the behavior and well-being of ewes, and (3) assessing the overall performance of farms and the socio-environmental impact of using arboreal forage in these systems. Finally, workshops and/or reference farms could be described and proposed as a basis for discussion of possible grassland management or conversion to agroforestry sheep farming.

Project website

Contact : David GRANDGIRARD

The SCA0PEST program (2013-2019) is a DEPHY ECOPHYTO EXPE project funded by ONEMA (Office national de l'environnement et de la gestion de l'eau). It aims to design, implement and test innovative cropping systems for which the use of synthetic pesticides, and more specifically herbicides, is limited in order to meet the commitments announced in Ecophyto 2018.

While most of the innovative systems tested involve reductions (25 to 75%) in the use of certain pesticide families, some systems have been designed to test the limits of pesticide reduction reasoning and to create benchmarks that do not exist outside organic farming. Among these systems, the EXPE Res0pest, Vertical and SCA0PEST programs involve co-construction with the agricultural world and its practitioners, followed by the testing of revisited, complex and breakthrough systems. SCA0PEST, a pesticide-free agroforestry cropping system, deals more specifically with agronomic risks (soil degradation, production losses, yield quality, continuous adaptation of rotations, mechanical weeding, etc.) and eco-environmental opportunities (C balance, food autonomy, soil protection, ecological connectivity and landscape amenities). Set up 5 years ago, it is also a place for intensive educational exchanges and expert consultation, to ensure the ongoing adaptation and transfer of experience and even of the references produced.

In addition to new teaching modules for farmers undergoing conversion (agroforestry, AB) or setting up, numerous agrotechnical references and avenues for improvement are offered to local and agricultural partners and/or published.

Project website

Contact : David GRANDGIRARD

Against a backdrop of increasing scarcity of fossil fuels and global warming, the major challenge facing the agriculture of tomorrow is to improve the productive efficiency of agricultural areas, in order to meet the dual need for sufficient, high-quality food production and a contribution to the production of renewable resources for energy, chemicals and materials, as well as the imperative of reducing negative impacts on the environment.

To achieve this, the challenge is to produce and mobilize agro-resources where they are used, and to support the development of bio-economy chains in local areas. The bioeconomy is defined here as the economy based on the use of renewable carbon, particularly of agricultural origin, for food or non-food purposes. The development of these sectors and their operating methods will lead to changes in reasoning and practices at both farm and regional level. The "IAR Network of Demonstrator Sites" project aims to create the conditions for mobilizing the agro-resources that feed the bio-economy sectors, so that they are sustainable and create added value in the regions.

Financially supported by the Commissariat Général à l'Égalité des Territoires (CGET, formerly DATAR), the Picardie Region and the ERDF between 2015 and 2020, the project brings together 16 scientific, technical and economic partners from Picardie.

Project managed by Agro-Transfert Ressources et Territoires

Contact: Loïc Sauvée

Visit the website

Mitigation of the greenhouse gas balance integrating carbon storage in soils on a territorial scale, participative application and appropriation of the approach

The methods commonly used to calculate the GHG balance of territories do not take into account variations in the carbon stock of agricultural soils, or do so on a flat-rate basis (such as the Climagri tool, Doublet, 2013) and independently of the actual practices of local farmers. Yet these stock variations, whether positive or negative, can make a significant contribution to the GHG balance of agricultural activities. With this in mind, the 4 for 1000 initiative launched by France aims to study the possibility of offsetting part of GHG emissions by increasing the organic carbon stock in soils.

The aim of the project is to make the ABC'Terre approach operational and applicable throughout mainland France. This approach makes it possible to design and evaluate strategies for optimizing soil organic carbon management and mitigating the GHG balance of cropping systems on a territorial scale. The aim is also to enable future users to appropriate this approach.

The objectives of this project are to :

• simplify, improve and automate the method for calculating the GHG balance and the other components of the ABC'Terre method,  
• make this prototype method operational and transferable to all French agricultural areas,  
• prepare the transfer of the method to future users.

The central result expected at the end of the project is an approach to diagnosis and territorial simulation of carbon flows in agricultural soils (organic carbon storage/CO2 emissions) and GHG emissions from cropping systems within territories. The approach is designed to be operational, transposable to many French farming areas, formalized in a practical manner and technically and legally framed.

Users of the ABC'Terre approach are referent coordinators, such as agricultural advisors from the Chamber of Agriculture, who have been trained in the tools used to structure the approach. These "ABC'Terre referent" coordinators will then roll out the approach to the final beneficiaries, i.e. rural land managers and local authorities.

Contact : Yosra Ellili

Project website

The "DIVERCROP" project (2017-2020), is a European ARIMNET2 program, led by INRA Avignon. The project aims to understand the impact of land use change on biodiversity and food supply in the Mediterranean.  The INTERACT unit is involved in coordinating the project's WP2 ("Land system dynamics at the Mediterranean basin level") with INRA Avignon's UR EMMAH, and is also participating in the project's WP4 on the link between land use modeling for the whole Mediterranean basin and local case studies.

Contact : Elisa Marraccini

Project website

The GeRiCo project (financed by AFB & MAA), led by FNAB, involves studying a mechanism for covering the risks associated with the adoption of new techniques. It aims to provide organic producers with concrete solutions for avoiding contamination and offsetting its economic impact on the farm.

InTerACT is participating in this project by setting up a working group bringing together producers, insurers, members of the administration and researchers specializing in agricultural risk management. This group will produce concrete proposals, formalized in a written deliverable.

Contact: Sylvie Lupton

As part of the Normandy region's contract of objectives, steered by the Normandy Regional Chamber and ACTA Normandy, and following on from the Innovation Fields I project, the Innovation Fields II project aims to extend the acceleration and development of the triple performance of Normandy farms by shifting the focus from the "what" (knowledge production) to the "how": Accompanying change towards triple performance through three action levers: sharing and disseminating knowledge, appropriating innovations and developing skills.

The project is structured around 4 operational objectives:

1. Mobilize organizations around the development of agroecology (Multi-partner governance to steer the project (monitoring and evaluation) / Facilitate the emergence of work from the perspective of the sector / Organize a forum for exchange on new themes, particularly in relation to societal expectations).  
2. Transfer knowledge (Transfer agro-ecological knowledge to as many people as possible / Facilitate the appropriation of innovations / Support change / Support the implementation of changes on farms by relying on farmer groups and facilitation methods that enable farmers to be more involved in building the responses best suited to their contexts / Develop the skills of advisors in terms of both technical knowledge and change management postures).  
3. Exploring the social pillar (addressing the fields of work organization, managerial and entrepreneurial skills of farmers, as levers for action towards triple performance).  
4. Communicating to encourage positive support and commitment to agroecology (concerted, coordinated communication to support all the actions to be carried out in the field, on the one hand, and the overall management of the project, on the other).

The work of the INTERACT unit focuses on the evaluation of innovation transfer by extending the research mechanism to the project's three initiatives: the Innovation Forum, the Open Innovation House (POI) and the Prairiales. The aim of the research, centered on a panel of given innovative solutions, is to identify the modalities of innovation transfer and the complementarities between these different interfaces (or devices) for transferring innovative solutions (Forum, POI, Prairiales). The final objective is to propose an analysis grid for the "multi-channel" transfer of innovative solutions in agriculture.

Contact: Loïc Sauvée

Project website

The Soja Made in Normandie (SMN) project aims to develop the organic soybean sector in Normandy via innovative technical itineraries based on agroecological practices (guaranteed GMO-free production, low-input approach, and low carbon footprint), creating value for the entire sector (farmers, collectors, manufacturers, consumers).

The SMN project is part of the Regional Plan (stake 1), which aims to encourage experimentation and research on plant protein crops adapted to Normandy, in order to increase production, with its two priorities of Promoting and supporting Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) projects that meet the demands of operators in the sector and the local pedoclimatic context on the one hand, and on the other, encouraging the emergence of new productions.

The SMN project was built by combining the plant science and agronomy skills of 3 research units (EVA - INRA/Université de Caen; UniLaSalle (AGHYLE, INTERACT) ; Glyco-MEV - University of Rouen), members of the Structure Fédérative de Recherche Normandie Végétal (FED4277), the Terres Inovia technical institute, the Normandy Chamber of Agriculture (CRAN), agricultural cooperatives (Agrial, Coopérative de Creully) and 2 companies (Agrauxine by Lesaffre, Via Végétale).

The UniLaSalle team, through the INTERACT and AGHYLE units, is involved in several of the project's actions respectively:

• Action 1 on the analysis of the development potential of soybean cultivation in the Normandy region & the evaluation of soybean varieties adapted to Normandy's pedoclimatic contexts, as lead partner with Terres Inovia.  
• Action 2 on optimizing practices to promote symbiosis and crop establishment, as lead partner with Glyco-MEV.  
• Action 3 on optimizing mineral nutrition (P, S, Fe) in interaction with atmospheric nitrogen fixation during the post-planting development phases, also as leader of the Glyco-MEV action.  
• Action 5 on project coordination, communication and promotion.

This project will have several expected impacts in terms of economic, societal and environmental sustainability criteria.

Contacts: Elisa Marraccini et Loïc Sauvée

One of the main challenges of this project will be to assess the impact of cropping systems (CdS) with farmers on the main agronomic services (soil fertility, high and constant biomass production and bio-aggressor reduction), environmental services (input reduction and fertilization autonomy, reduction in GHG emissions and carbon sequestration, reduction in IFT) and economic services, in particular the production of constant biomass at low cost. This new knowledge will make it possible to formulate evaluation indicators that will be integrated into an approach for designing sustainable SoCs to supply the methanization sector.

The project will be carried out to inform the decisions of farmers in the Hauts-de-France region at several levels:

• For farmers who already supply a methanizer: help in choosing crops and rotations in order to develop sustainable cropping systems to ensure security of supply.  
• For farmers planning to develop agricultural methanization: demonstrating that the development of methanization can be designed in a sustainable way,  
• For farmers developing a methanization project: help in choosing crop rotations to manage supply to the methanization unit,  
• For farmers raising cattle who wish to choose an intermediate crop to meet the needs of the biogas plant and their herd;  
• For beneficiaries of the bioenergy produced, wishing to reduce the cost of methanization inputs, and funders of methanization projects, who need quantified, reliable data to compile funding applications.

FEADER funding
With the Chambre Régionale d'Agriculture and Agro Transfert Ressources & Territoires

Contact: Elisa Marraccini and Olivier Rey

The ORBE project aims to create a territorial biomass monitoring tool to improve assessment of available resources and knowledge of their use, to feed the Hauts de France region's bioeconomy portal in conjunction with the IAR cluster. It aims to provide the answers needed to support project developers seeking access to biomass in the region. Based on agricultural biomass, it proposes to standardize methods for spatializing deposits and projects, and characterizing biomass flows.

Funding from FRATRI (Fonds régional pour la 3ème révolution industrielle)
With Coop de France HdF, Chambre Régionale d'Agriculture and Agro Transfert Ressources & Territoires

Contact: Loïc Sauvée

Supported by the Transformations and Agroressources research unit (UniLaSalle), the LENEFIN project involves the creation of a 100% Normandy linen fragrance and secondary packaging. The Normandy flax project will work on the whole plant.

The InTerACT unit is dedicated to two modules:

• Assessing the main cost factors in this sector, and evaluating the relationship between direct costs and induced costs and benefits. The environmental dimension will be assessed on the basis of a study of the image of eco-products (packaging in particular):      
  • Cost-benefit approach: experimental economics based on observational data from existing sectors (perfume, packaging);
  • Eco-environmental analysis: benefits in terms of image and environmental impact.  
• Organizational methods required to implement these new value chains, from the point of view of the value chain, starting with the offer to customers (manufacturers) and end consumers (business to consumer). As an extension of the study, this work module proposes to provide elements for commercial/marketing actions.

RIN funding (Normandy Region)

Contact: Loïc Sauvée

The AMELECA project is part of SFR Condorcet's thematic axis 4, entitled "Conditions for the emergence of a sustainable bioeconomy". On the one hand, the project aims to characterize the French hemp industry from a socio-economic point of view. On the other hand, it aims to confront this sector with its potential future markets, the emergence of which would be triggered by the legalization of cannabis in France, i.e. by the possibility of producing, selling, holding and consuming hemp with a high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content. By examining the main ways in which the industry operates in the light of this major legal change, the aim of this exploratory study is to determine the capacity of industry players to respond to these new demands, while identifying the organizational changes they would entail. The aim is to determine whether these outlets represent new avenues of green growth for the French hemp industry, and whether they are compatible with existing business models.

With UPJV -CURAPP and URCA-REGARDS
Financing SFR Condorcet

Contact : Loïc Sauvée

This project, led by Stéphane Desobry (LIBio, Université de Lorraine) and Bernard Kurek (FARE, Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne), focuses on three major plant resources in the Grand-Est region (hemp, hops, oilseeds), with a view to maximizing their value in a circular economy.

This research project, which combines fundamental and applied aspects, covers the entire value chain: production, fractionation, purification of biomolecules, development of biomaterials, energy recovery and soil improvement. The models that will be developed will enable us to define a "reference" approach for a bio-economic system at national level, which can then be used for other sectors.

In each value-added system, common or specific scientific obstacles need to be overcome; this is the challenge that a comprehensive consortium, bringing together the vast majority of research players in the region's agronomic and agri-food plant sector, will attempt to meet. New resource selection methods, innovative fractionation methods (e.g. steam explosion), new material functionalization methods (click chemistry), new purification processes for biomolecules of interest, and new value-adding processes will all be developed.

The project's hundred or so researchers and associated infrastructures will enable us to understand a localized bio-economic system with complementary scientific and technical approaches.

Finally, industrial players in the bioeconomy sector will be key players in ensuring that we do not lose sight of the objectives and socio-economic impact that we want the project to achieve. The training of new generations of professionals will also be involved, through projects and internships, to pass on our multidisciplinary approach and inspire them to get involved in the emerging regional bioeconomy sector.

As part of this project, the INTERACT unit is focusing on two themes in particular:

• Agricultural identities and new players in the bioeconomic transition.
  Using a longitudinal approach, the research will look at how actors' representations and actual roles evolve over time, particularly in relation to their professional practices and interfaces of influence (media, social networks, etc.). We will seek to better understand the evolution of controversies specific to the bioeconomy and how they are shaped.
• New bioeconomy business models and farmers' place in the value chain.
  The research develops a systemic perspective on agricultural value chains in the bioeconomy (particularly hemp), risk representation, agronomic, economic and environmental performance approaches, and aims to propose a typology of new business models that are being implemented in the bioeconomy. Emphasis will be placed on the place of the agricultural sector, both in governance and contractual arrangements, and in its role in value creation and capture.

Contact : Loïc Sauvée