Through its multidisciplinary skill-set, its local roots and partnerships with socioeconomic players, Cerema is a key partner in developing, testing, and supporting innovation on a regional level. To provide this service, Cerema draws on:
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Multidisciplinary skills: always one of our establishment’s specialisms. These multidisciplinary skills enable us to gain input from professionals with different ways of seeing the world (engineers, developers, sociologists, geographers…)
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A partnership culture: turning new research or a new idea into a product, process, or service that finds its market requires input from multiple stakeholders: It mobilises businesses, regional institutions, and research centres.
While all of Cerema’s agents are in some way involved in innovation, it is the core business of several hundred agents and experts.
Innovation at Cerema
Innovation is one of Cerema’s main strategic directions, especially when harnessed for the energy and ecological transition of regions. Indeed, against a backdrop of budgetary pressure, the transition to a clean, environmentally friendly economy can only be achieved through innovation.
Cerema, a member of 18 competition and regional clusters, sets out to both deliver and support regional innovation, and translate emerging local needs into themes for innovation – including technological development and innovation – by establishing methods and providing software and technical and scientific information systems, along with prototypes and ad hoc tools.
Cerema operates within a broad spectrum, from support for project owners and businesses, to the roll-out of innovative solutions, whether they are technologies, services, procedures, or uses.
Our long-standing cooperation with different regions means that Cerema can enter into a constructive dialogue with local authorities, in discussions focused on adapting models to local contexts, and capitalise on best practices nationwide.
What Cerema does best
Innovation at Cerema is approached from a transversal standpoint, incorporating the challenges of the energy and ecological transition into development projects, applicable to every field.
Furthermore, Cerema’s deep regional roots and its proximity to local and national stakeholders, its ability to leverage a network of scientific, its technical expertise and its research and development work are all major assets in promoting innovation.
Active in regulatory consulting and involved in standardisation, Cerema is well-versed in regulatory changes and knows how to take public policy issues into consideration.
Lastly, Cerema knows how to mobilise its range of public and private partners, locally or nationally, to deliver innovative projects.
Innovation resources at Cerema
Cerema boasts a selection of tools that provide concrete support in the development and dissemination of innovation:
R&D platforms, project support, experiment tracking programmes, certifications, coordination of a stakeholder community, and knowledge transfer.
Fab lab
Cerema’s pillars include Digital Prototypes and Projects Department in the fields of instrumentation and sensors, navigational aids, and in the development of inspection equipment, especially for infrastructure.
Technological platforms
Cerema boasts 11 technological platforms for conducting laboratory or field experiments in the fields of the environment, infrastructure, light sources, noise, vibrations, climate conditions, and materials, in particular.
Living Lab
It is through the living lab concept that Cerema is seeking to give fresh impetus to the roll-out of innovation across our regions. Regions become life-size proving grounds for new technology, as well as – and primarily – to explore new uses.
Get involved with Cerema
Industrial partnerships
Together we can forge lasting partnerships, as part of a strategy that supports innovation and knowledge transfer amongst French companies. The partnership may result in the joint development of products. It can also take the form of a shared lab.
The Carnot system
Cerema's Carnot Institute, Clim'adapt, helps the companies and the local authorities to take up the climate challenge and make the transition to a resource-efficient, low-carbon and environmentally friendly economy. Accordingly, through bilateral contract research services, Cerema provides these economic stakeholders with the scientific excellence of its researchers and experts in the establishment’s six fields of activity: Regional expertise and engineering, Building, Mobility, Transport infrastructure, Environment and risk, Sea and coast.
External call for projects
Cerema can, accompanied by business or local authority partners, submit bids to external calls for projects. These projects include the Single Inter-Ministry Fund (FUI), calls for European projects such as those included in Horizon 2020, and ADEME calls for projects.