The ANR Agrobiosphère program: importance of thematic programs for the emergence of new concepts[Le programme ANR Agrobiosphère : l'importance d'une programmation thématique pour l'émergence de nouveaux concepts]

The ANR Agrobiosphère program (2011-2013) aimed to support and fund research projects addressing the issue of transition towards sustainable production systems. It followed in the steps of the ADD (2005-2006) and Systerra (2008-2010) programs and of Adage, a prospective workshop on the impacts of climate change and new adaptation strategies. Priority was given to issues related to the long-term evolutionary trajectories of systems, to the design of agro-ecological innovations at the territorial and sector levels, also including the notions of transition, sustainability and resilience in situations of change. This paper gives the main points of a final review conference organized in November 2016, at which the results generated by the projects were discussed within five sessions: adaptation to global changes; biogeochemical cycles; functional biodiversity; territorial modeling and support to actors; relations between natural environments and economic systems. We show that the program succeeded in building bridges between different scientific communities in an innovative way. It facilitated the development of new forms of interdisciplinarity and inter-institutional collaboration, leading to a significant increase in the contribution of scientific teams in ecology and social sciences to the project, and thus opening a space in agronomic research for the various dimensions of sustainable development. The program has proved crucial in stabilizing the concept of agroecology, which has now became a very concrete component of French public policy. The lessons learnt from Agrobiosphère are a strong argument for thematic programs to support targeted research on emergent issues.