Objectives

Objectives and interdisciplinary scientific challenges

The XRISQUES metaprogram is continuing along the lines set out by the Atelier de Réflexion Prospective (ARP) on multiple risks. Its aim is to develop innovative research on interacting processes at different spatial and temporal scales that could cause serious damage. XRISQUES addresses research questions that require the integration of several levels of system organization (natural ecosystems, forest and aquatic systems, agricultural and food systems) at different spatial and temporal scales, using the appropriate methods. XRISQUES will therefore address, within INRAE’s Agriculture-Food-Environment field of activity, questions concerning:

• The integration and interpretation of data and knowledge concerning identified or emerging risks with different characteristics and impacts
• The spatial and temporal modeling of multiple risks affecting various actors, groups, segments of the population, territories and systems, and their integration into global models
• The strategies and policies for the prevention and management of multiple risks, using modeling approaches, participatory approaches and combined methods (qualitative and quantitative).

Within this general framework, XRISQUES focuses on the challenges of interdisciplinary research with an international scope and the renewal of public policies, as well as the challenges of scientific coordination, training through research, and the building of a visible interdisciplinary scientific community around these multiple risk issues.

The XRISQUES MP is structured around four main themes:

• establishing connections between different types of risk
• understanding the vulnerability of systems
• moving from specific risks to the management of transitions
• analyzing the behaviors, perceptions and transformative views of different risks