Key Challenges Facing the Occitanie Region
Advancing regional research to better preserve biodiversity, more effectively combat vector-borne diseases, envision the future of viticulture and oenology, and address the collective challenges of the water cycle… These are all scientific challenges that the University of Montpellier and its regional partners intend to address by leading four of the 15 “key challenges” identified and supported by the Occitanie Region.
The “key challenges”are initiatives launched by the Occitanie Region to support the collective efforts of research stakeholders in Occitanie. Centered on strategic issues for our region, they aim to encourage the formation of scientific communities, thereby making regional research even more collaborative, visible, and attractive, and to produce research of the highest quality in line with the Region’s policy priorities, particularly the Transformation Plan—Green New Deal adopted at the Plenary Assembly on November 19, 2020. Each key challenge receives €2 million in regional funding to implement its action plan over a four-year period.
Among the 15 challenges supported by the Region, the University of Montpellier is leading the “key challenges” focused on biodiversity, water, infectious diseases, and viticulture and wine, in collaboration with numerous partners located throughout the region.
Key Challenge: BIODIVOC
Officially launched on April1, 2021, the Biodivoc project aims to advance basic research in ecology and evolution focused on the theme “Dynamics, resilience, and management of biodiversity and ecosystems subject to human-induced environmental pressures.”
Key RIVOC Challenge
Officially launched on March 18, 2021, the RIVOC (“Infectious Diseases and Vectors”) project aims to develop innovative and sustainable approaches to improve the understanding, surveillance, and control of these diseases and their vectors.
VINIDOCC Challenge
The project “Innovation for the Future of Viticulture and Oenology in Occitanie” was launched on September 16, 2022, to conduct multidisciplinary, basic, and applied research and to develop new practices for the viticulture and oenology of tomorrow.
BIO’OCC Challenge
Bio’Occ is a government-funded project under the France 2030 plan. This regionally focused initiative aims to attract, train, and retain the talent and key players of tomorrow by developing specialized training programs in the fields of biotherapies and bioproduction.
Key Challenge: “Water Occitanie”:
The Water Occitanie project aims to develop expertise in wastewater reuse; design and analyze infrastructure, equipment, and governance structures to address, at the local level, the constraints faced by stakeholders; assess the impacts at the scale of major watersheds; and analyze the cumulative capacity to address collective challenges related to the water cycle as a whole.
MarinOc Key Challenge
Launched on July 9, 2026, the Clé MarinOc Challenge aims to strengthen collaboration among laboratories, institutions, local governments, and socioeconomic stakeholders to generate knowledge that will help understand, anticipate, and support conservation and adaptation efforts for coastal and marine socio-ecosystems in the face of increasingly frequent extreme events caused by climate change or human activity.
