“This UNESCO Center will help us take a major step forward”
On October 15, the University of Montpellier, the Ministry of Higher Education, Research Innovation, andUNESCO signed a six-year agreement to establish an international center dedicated to water. This marks a first in France and a major achievement for Eric Servat, director ofthe Mediterranean Institute for Water and the Environment and the project’s lead. An interview with this key figure in the water sciences community in Montpellier.
The University of Montpellier is set to host an international UNESCO center dedicated to water. It is called Icireward. What does this acronym stand for?
It was my colleague and friend Olivier Barreteau, director of the UMR G-EAU, who came up with this acronym. It stands for “International Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Water System Dynamics.” In French, it would be translated as “International Center for Interdisciplinary Research on the Dynamics of Socio-Hydro-Systems.” And that perfectly captures who we are and what our project is all about.
It is a UNESCO Category 2 Center. How does it differ from a Category 1 Center?
In practical terms, this means we have more autonomy in defining our strategic priorities than a Category 1 Center. In fact, in the field of water sciences, only the Delft Center in the Netherlands was a Category 1 Center, but it too has requested to be reclassified as a Category 2 Center. We will nevertheless have a UNESCO representative on the Strategic Steering Committee, and, of course, we will produce the required reports every two years. We work with UNESCO in an atmosphere of mutual trust that will allow us to implement our project with confidence.
How many UNESCO water centers are there worldwide?
There are about thirty of them in total, and we are the first in France. The French scientific community—and in particular the water sciences community in Montpellier—has been working with UNESCO for a very long time, so it made sense to formalize these ties.
People are talking about a "water community" in Montpellier—are there really that many of you?
This UNESCO Center brings together fifteen laboratories in the Montpellier area (in the broadest sense, as it includes Narbonne and Alès). These are major institutions that are 100% dedicated to water sciences, such as HydroSciences, which I directed for 14 years, as well as G-EAU andLisah at the Institut Agro – Montpellier Supagro. And then there are all the other labs where water is part of their work. If we take stock of all this, it amounts to about 400 scientists and nearly 150 doctoral students. When you’re able to bring together that many people, it creates a significant critical mass that, in the field of water sciences, is the largest structured community in France.
In all subjects?
At HydroSciences, you’ll find physicists, modelers, and hydrologists, as well as chemists, geochemists, and microbiologists. At G-EAU, there are economists, sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists… At Lisah, there are agronomists, soil scientists… and in the other laboratories, geographers, remote sensing specialists, etc. We cover an extremely broad and diverse spectrum of scientific disciplines.
Montpellier also has a long history of water sciences
Yes, it’s our history that has given us all this expertise. Even back in the days of the USTL—the University of Science and Technology of Languedoc—there were already laboratories dedicated to mathematical hydrology and hydrogeology. In the 1960s, people were studying the source of the Lez River, such as Professor Avias. There was a strong pool of expertise, and all the national organizations working in the water sector established themselves in Montpellier—the CNRS,the IRD,CIRAD, the BRGM, INRAE…This history means that, perhaps more than anywhere else, we have the ability to bring together people with different yet highly complementary skills and areas of study.
Is that why Montpellier was chosen to host this center?
The strength of the water sciences community in Montpellier lies in its ability to be both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary. This is what sets us apart from other sites in France that do excellent work but lack this distinctive feature. This interdisciplinarity was already the foundation of the Mediterranean Institute for Water and the Environment (IM2E), and it is this distinctive feature—our main strength—that we have incorporated into our project to establish a UNESCO Center.
Isn't it hard to get everyone to work together?
We have worked hard to establish this collective and coordinate the activities of these teams. An IFR, or Federative Research Institute, had laid the groundwork for this collective before ceasing operations in 2010. We then completed this work by creating IM2E on January1, 2015, which provided a gathering place for all these stakeholders to define collective strategies. And, of course, there was the creation of Muse.
What role did Muse actually play?
In a way, the UNESCO Center is somewhat the result of the Muse project. Through Kim Waters, Muse encouraged us to identify initiatives and projects capable of boosting our international appeal and visibility. More directly, Muse provided us with the financial means to launch research projects that typically foreshadowed what the UNESCO Center’s projects would eventually become. I’m not sure if we would have secured this Center without Muse’s help. It’s that trust and support that makes us believe in it. And in return, I hope that with this Center, we’ll do our part to ensure the Muse project’s long-term success.
What are the main points of the projects you'll be working on now?
When we work with UNESCO, we are working with the United Nations, so the overarching framework is the Sustainable Development Goals.SDG 6, of course, is entirely dedicated to issues of water supply and sanitation, as are a number of other SDGs as well. Today, more than 2 billion people lack access to either safe drinking water or reliable sanitation systems, which contributes to making water the leading vector of disease—a paradox that is all the more striking given how essential it is.
Do you have any specific areas of focus?
We have structured this research project around five main areas, ranging from the characterization of fundamental processes to approaches focused on the functioning of societies. We refer to these as socio-hydro-systems. This includes, for example, the vulnerability of these systems to human-induced pressures, as well as the availability and quality of water resources in relation to climate change. But it also includes work on social dynamics and the trade-offs that must be found between, for example, land use and water resource management policies. We make the most of this diversity of scientific expertise that characterizes Montpellier. This is the challenge we have decided to take on: to emphasize interdisciplinarity in order to address the critical issues emerging in the field of water for the years to come.
This agreement is for six years—and then what?
The Center has been established until October 14, 2026, but there is no reason why it should not be renewed after that. The Delft Center has been in existence for about sixty years.
We imagine this agreement will open many doors for you…
Yes, the international recognition and visibility provided by UNESCO are a major asset that will enable us to take a significant step forward. Our goal is to play a meaningful role within the network of UNESCO Centers and Chairs, known as the “UNESCO Water Family.” This gives us the ability to interact with all the other Centers—in Delft in the Netherlands, in Łódź in Poland, in Dundee in Scotland, in the United States, or in Japan. This openness will strengthen our networks and offer opportunities for exchange through student exchanges or research visits.
The South as well?
UNESCO has a significant impact in the Global South, where it helps build scientific communities through the international programs it implements. We already have the IRD and CIRAD networks, which are highly structured and often long-standing, and here again UNESCO will provide us with opportunities to develop these networks. All the more so because many of us are deeply involved in major UNESCO programs, particularly within the Intergovernmental Hydrological Program (IHP).
In terms of training, what will this center offer?
Educationis a top priority for UNESCO. So, as far as we’re concerned, the idea isn’t to create additional programs, but rather to promote the high-quality programs offered in Montpellier to make them even more attractive than they already are—whether it’s the Master’s in Water,Polytech/STE, Institut Agro – MontpellierSupagro,AgroParisTech,the École des Mines d’Alès… And in particular by opening them up even further to students from the Global South.
And in terms of funding, does UNESCO provide any support?
UNESCO has limited funding capacity, but it will likely be easier to secure funding as a UNESCO Center. It’s not the same thing, for example, to approach major national and international foundations as the “mere” director of IM2E as it is to do so as the director of a major UNESCO Center. For us, this should make a big difference.