The French Regional Groups of Climate Experts (GRECs) : a network
Who we are
Since 2010, several regional initiatives have been launched to bring together academics from various disciplines and socio-economic actors (science-society interface) around issues related to the effects of climate change at the regional scale. Named "Regional Groups of Climate Experts" (GREC in French), these "self-organized" dynamics are anchored in territories at the regional level. Their objective is to inject the most-up-to-date scientific knowledge in support of decisions made by socio-economic actors, public administrations, .... 
The targeted decisions are to implement measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, to develop adaptation strategies to face climate change, and also to promote the ecological transition. Even if the name GREC refers essentially to climate issues, most groups have been enlarged to address all environmental transitions.
These frontier organizations, which are interfaces between local scientists, territorial representatives and socio-economic actors, constitute a catalyst for action in response to the challenges posed by global changes.
As of today, most French administrative regions (continental and overseas) benefit of such organization (see the figure). Recently, these different groups, created independently of each other, have chosen to share their initiatives, findings, questions, and to promote inter-regional activities. this inter-GRECs network is supported by the French National Committee for Global Change (CNFCG in French).
Members of the Network
Click on the name of the French region to get the details.
|
French academic region: Auvergne Rhône-Alpes
Name of the GREC: Ouranos-AuRA Contact: ouranos-aura.osug.fr/ |
French academic region: Bretagne
Name of the GREC: HCBC Contact: Laurent Labeyrie ; Charlotte Bourguignat |
|
French academic region: Corse
Name of the GREC: "under construction" Contact: TBD |
French academic region: Guadeloupe
Name of the GREC: GREC Guadeloupe Contact: www.synergile.fr/ |
|
French academic region: Grand-Est
Name of the GREC: "under construction" Contact: TBD |
French academic region: Hauts de France
Name of the GREC: ECRIN + CERDD Contact: https://ecrin.cper-hautsdefrance.fr/quest-ce-quun-grec/ & https://www.cerdd.org/ |
|
|
French academic region: Normandie
Name of the GREC: GIEC Normand Contact: www.normandie.fr/giec-normand |
|
French academic region: Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Name of the GREC: AcclimaTerra Futurs-ACT Contact: http://www.acclimaterra.fr/ & https://futurs-act.fr/ |
|
|
French academic region: Grand Ouest
Name of the GREC: Comite21 Grand Ouest Contact: http://comite21grandouest.org/ |
French academic region: Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Name of the GREC: GREC Sud Contact: www.grec-sud.fr/ |
We share common objectives and missions
The GRECs share many common objectives and missions. However, some differences arise from their geographical location and thus differential issues (overseas, mountainous regions, ...), their historical specificities (e.g. wine regions), and their history (self-created by a scientific consortium or co-constructed with the regional authorities). .
Our overall common objectives:
- Inject the most up-to-date scientific knowledge on decisions whether made by political administration or sectorial stakeholder;
- For this, we disseminate, regionalize and analyse the latest scientific knowledge.
- Inform all actors of our region, including the civil society, about the most up-to-date scientific knowledge on climate change, loss of biodiversity and socio-economic interactions;
- We organize or participate in scientific mediation events and we contribute to maintain the scientific and educational state of the art at the regional and local levels.
- Promote joint science-stakeholders’ strategies to actors engage in all transitions through actions to favour territorial resilience;
- We support science-based decisions on adaptation and transitions per sector (energy, water, agriculture, transport, infrastructures, etc…), per area ((cities, coastal regions, watershed, mountains, etc…) and we advise stakeholders on new climate and adaptative actions. We also co-built projects involving scientists from all disciplines, local actors, citizens and stakeholders to identify adaptation, anticipation and mitigation solutions. We contribute to elaborate and experiment regional climate change adaptation plan
- Strengthen the science-society interface to help understand decisions on mitigation and adaptation strategies
- We develop facilitating methods for collective intelligence, including citizen science ones, and we contribute to build scenarios, narratives about potential futures and future solutions
We work with
- Territorial organizations (public and private);
- Socio-economic actors: decision-makers, managers, local authorities, associations, companies, sectoral groups citizens;
- Territorial planning actors at their request
- Citizens
- Scientists of various disciplines
Examples of achievements and outcomes
Below are some examples of achievements, more information can be found on GRECs’ web sites or here ;
- National science-society National congresses bringing together, in equal measure, scientists, socio-economic actors and decision makers (Bordeaux, 2017; Marseille, 2018; Grenoble, 2021)
- Books, notebooks, factsheets (Water bodies in the face of climate change published in French by AcclimaTerra in 2021 (Les plans d’eau face aux changements climatiques); Sea and coastline published in French by GREC-SUD in 2017 (Mer et littoral); Adaptation of the Cévennes National Park to climate change and its impacts published in French by RECO in 2021 (Adaptation du Parc national des Cévennes au changement climatique et à ses impacts); etc ….)
- (Meta)Databases including environmental and socio-economical data (SynergÎle-Guadeloupe, Ouranos-AuRA-Auvergne Rhône Alpes);
- Artistic creations to favour mediation (serious game; photo exhibition; shows from artists or from scientists) (Ouranos-AuRA)