The Future Beach Institute

[Article] - Published on September 23, 2019 under Heritage, Research Centers, Research Units

In Le Grau-du-Roi, the former Boucanet hydrotherapy center will soon be home to the Gladys Beach Institute.

At the site of the Grau-du-Roi Marine and Solar Energy Center, formerly affiliated with the Nîmes University Hospital, the flurry of earthmoving equipment begins at 7 a.m. “We have to keep up the pace to meet the deadlines!” comments Frédéric Bouchette on site, as the opening of the future Gladys Beach Institute is scheduled for late 2020 or early 2021.

Last May, the researcher at Géosciences Montpellier (UM–CNRS–University of the Antilles) and future scientific director of the Institute gave a guided tour of the renovation and refurbishment site for the building that will eventually house researchers from the Gladys network (see box). “Initially, we were simply looking for a storage facility located in a strategic spot and suited to our research equipment, ” explains Frédéric Bouchette.

Multiple tasks

Starting in 2020, vehicles (trailers, boats, jet skis, ATVs), measuring equipment (current meters, wave recorders, pressure gauges, turbidity meters), and other state-of-the-art equipment—which Gladys network researchers currently store in their own garages—will be centralized at the Beach Institute. “Under the joint leadership of the Occitanie region andthe University of Montpellier, the Beach Institute’s mission will extend far beyond simply storing equipment, ” explains Frédéric. Set to become the future hub for the abiotic coastal science community and the network’s corporate partners, the Institute is poised to emerge, starting in 2021, as the new northern Mediterranean showcase for the study of coastal dynamics. “Basic research and research and development (R&D) activities will be combined with outreach initiatives aimed at the general public, particularly regarding raising awareness about coastal restoration, the preservation of sandy beaches, and the sustainable development of port areas,” explains the institute’s future scientific director.

A building that breaks the mold

Set within a 7-hectare area of century-old pine trees currently undergoing renaturalization (including the restoration of the dune system), the building that will house the future Beach Institute overlooks the sea. In this exceptional setting, just a few dozen meters from the shore, it will house several spaces spread over 1,500 square meters, including a research center for hydro-morphodynamics (see box).

Comprising an office area for researchers, a large storage space for vehicles and measuring equipment, and two technical areas—one for diving and the other dedicated to scientific experimentation—the building, once completed, will feature tanks and an indoor channel capable of generating artificial waves! Spanning two floors, another area will be reserved for hosting companies that are partners in the Gladys network and specialize in coastal Research development.

Protect

Led byUM, funded by the Occitanie Region to the tune of 500,000 euros through a CPER grant and by the Gladys network, the project to establish the Gladys Beach Institute is at the heart of one of the three major challenges for the 21st century championed by the Montpellier University of Excellence initiative: “Protect.” With the goal of studying the coastline (coastline evolution, wave motion, coastal erosion, sea-level rise, flood risk, etc.) and proposing sustainable solutions for its preservation in the face of natural and human pressures (overpopulation, massive urbanization, pollution, …), the institute is expected to welcome the first researchers from the Gladys network (geophysicists, physicists, geomorphologists, mechanical engineers, etc.) in 2021. It will subsequently open its doors to external university researchers, thereby becoming the first collaborative research center in hydro-morphodynamics in France.

Keywords: University