The BRGM and CEREMA signed a framework partnership agreement on 16 February 2018, mainly on seismic risks, gravity risks and geothermal applications.
16 February 2018
 Signature of the partnership agreement between BRGM and CEREMA

Bruno Lhuissier, interim executive director of CEREMA and Michèle Rousseau, executive director of the BRGM, sign the framework partnership agreement between the two public institutions on Friday 16 February 2018 in Paris.

© BRGM

The agreement signed by the BRGM and CEREMA on 16 February 2018 strengthens and continues their partnership over the next five years. The two institutions will build on their complementary areas of competence to boost research and innovation, knowledge capitalisation, communication and transfers of research results, studies and expert assessments, distribution, demonstration and communication activities, support to public policy-making and training.

Their jointly implemented activities will mainly concern seismic risks, gravity risks and geothermal applications.

Seismic risks

In the field of seismic risks, the agreement aims to:

  • strengthen the impact of research and development activities,
  • enable joint responses to French or international calls for R&D
  • emphasise their complementary positions in discussions with the Ministry for the ecological transition and local government agencies,
  • develop joint offers of service,
  • communicate and share data acquired through public projects.

Gravity-related risks

The synergies developed between the two organisations in the field of gravity-related risks will be applied to:

  • understanding and modelling land movements,
  • assessing the vulnerability of local areas,
  • pursuing cooperation under the national "subterranean cavities" plan,
  • assessing and measuring clay soil shrinking and swelling.

Minimum-impact geothermal applications

Finally, on minimum-impact geothermal applications, joint BRGM-CEREMA studies will focus on:

  • accelerating coordinated regional mapping on a partnership basis, 
  • developing geothermal energy integration in thermal geo-structures,
  • conducting joint studies on conflicting resource uses,
  • developing the "geothermal energy" component in planning documents (PCAET and SRADDET).