Earth Sciences Meeting 2025: the planet beneath our feet, a challenge for the future!
From October 27 to 31, 2025, Montpellier will host the 29th edition of the Earth Sciences Meeting (RST) at the Corum, an international congress bringing together some 900 participants. Organized by Géosciences Montpellier (Université de Montpellier / CNRS) and the Société géologique de France, this major event in the scientific calendar will bring together researchers, teachers, students, economic players and institutions to discuss the major challenges facing the Earth sciences and the ecological transition. Two highlights will punctuate the week: the inaugural evening on Monday, October 27, and the evening conference-debate for the general public on Tuesday, October 28.
A week to explore the challenges of the subsoil and natural resources
For over 50 years, the Earth Sciences Meeting (RST) has brought together the French geosciences community in a different city every two years. In 2025, this major scientific event will be held in Montpellier, one of the world's leading centres for Earth sciences research.
For a whole week, the Corum will be hosting themed sessions devoted to major contemporary challenges:
- the study of subsoils and the development of innovative digital tools;
- sustainable management of water and rare metal resources ;
- assessment of deep and surface geothermal potential;
- understanding and responsibly exploiting natural resources such as natural hydrogen.
These themes will be added to Géosciences Montpellier's historical subjects: field geology, terrestrial dynamics, plate tectonics and the study of coastal zones and natural hazards.
The congress will open on the evening of Monday October 27 with an inaugural evening in the presence of Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, Jean-François Ritz (Géosciences Montpellier) and Laurent Jolivet (President of the French Geological Society), co-presidents of this Montpellier edition.
A career forum organized by TERINOV, a network of companies and higher education establishments in the geosciences, will be held on Wednesday October 29. The aim is to build bridges between the academic and business worlds, by encouraging exchanges between students, researchers and professionals.
At the same time, the "Teaching Geosciences" forum, organized with the Montpellier education authority and IRES, will offer two days of training and exchange for secondary school and university teachers. The first day, Thursday, will be devoted to conferences and workshops, the second, Friday, to a field trip on the theme: "Understanding time in geology or In search of lost time".
The Geopatrimoine forum, in partnership with the Terre d'Hérault Geopark and the Lodève Museum, will bring together scientists and mediators to discuss the challenges of preserving and promoting geological heritage.
Finally, a stand dedicated to Pic Saint-Loup will offer an original approach combining augmented reality and interactive models, tracing the historical and scientific hypotheses on the formation of this emblematic landscape, from the work of Paul de Rouville (1823-1907) to current research.
"From the polar ice caps to the Mediterranean. Sea levels, between uncertainties and emergencies".
On Tuesday, October 28, 2025, at 7pm in the Corum's Einstein auditorium, Géosciences Montpellier, the Société géologique de France and the Fédération BioGée will be hosting an evening open to the general public (registration required). The evening will be opened by Michaël Delafosse, Mayor of Montpellier, before a lecture by Gaël Durand, scientific delegate for polar affairs at CNRS-INSU, and a specialist in the dynamics of Greenland and Antarctic glaciers.
In his talk, Gaël Durand will take stock of polar ice caps and glaciers, the main contributors to rising sea levels. He will review the acceleration in their melting since the early 2000s, the instability mechanisms specific to ice caps and the risks of crossing irreversible critical thresholds. Although projections are still subject to uncertainties, current observations suggest that sea levels could rise by more than one meter by 2100.
"Uncertainty does not rhyme with ignorance", reminds the researcher: our current knowledge, though imperfect, is sufficient to call for courageous and urgent decisions, both in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting territories.
The conference will be followed by a round-table discussion with :
- Gaël Durand, CNRS-INSU, specialist in the coastal glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica;
- Frédéric Bouchette, professor at the University of Montpellier, specialist in coastal dynamics;
- Christophe Manas, President of the Mediterranean Commission of the Occitanie region and member of the board of the Parlement de la Mer ;
- Véronique Négret, Mayor of Villeneuve les Maguelone and Vice-Chairwoman of the Métropole, responsible for the Coastline, Risk Prevention and Management of Aquatic Environments and Flood Prevention (GEMAPI);
- Nicolas Clarin, project manager for coastal development and studies of coastal hydro-morpho-dynamic processes at CréOcean.
Speakers will address the concrete impacts of climate change on coastal areas, and in particular the Languedoc coastline: coastal erosion, pressure on water resources, infrastructure degradation, loss of biodiversity and economic issues. Together, they will explore avenues for adaptation and action on a regional scale. This meeting is part of a shared desire for dialogue between science and society, to better understand future climate challenges and take concrete action to promote transition and resilience.