In light of the complexity of current societal issues (climate change, energy transition and digital transition, etc.), the world of research, questioned by society, is aiming for broader sharing of scientific results, greater transparency in scientific processes and the emergence of new forms for the transmission and co-building of knowledge with society. Given its missions and numerous research and expertise themes, related in particular to the city of the future, Université Gustave Eiffel is actively involved in an opening to society which is illustrated notably by the steering of participative research and expert analysis.

The ALLUVIUM project: solutions for raw earth, a bygone material with a promising future

In the framework of the Alluvium project, launched in October 2018 and funded by a call for projects under the FUTURE initiative, a participative action was organised on the southern forecourt of the Copernic building on the Champs-sur-Marne campus. As part of the sustainable development week, students and staff came together from 22 to 25 September to discover and test raw earth (mud) building techniques.

An ancestral material, mud was used as far back as the Neolithic period in the fertile crescent to build the first cities in the history of humanity. Viewed as less noble and thus often discredited over the centuries, raw earth was gradually abandoned, particularly in the West, in favour of other materials. At present, there is renewed interest in the use of raw earth due to the availability of this soil matter and its ecological benefit. It must be pointed out that the works currently under way on the Grand Paris Express in the Parisian region will generate around 40 to 50 million tonnes of excavation earth by 2030. This soil is a potential resource for the raw earth sector, if feasible technical solutions for its adequate formulation and implementation are found. Clay-rich excavated earth is subject to swelling in damp conditions, which can lead to cracking.

Composed of 6 partners, Université Gustave Eiffel, LRMH, C2RMF, Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, FCBA and ETH Zurich, and funded by the FUTURE initiative, the Alluvium project will test formulas of raw earth combined with bio-sourced materials such as plant fibres (e.g., cotton or cellulose), starch (from cooked rice water for example) and food waste, etc. ‘With these additives, we’re looking for solutions to strengthen the mechanical properties of raw earth and make it damp-resistant’, Emmanuel Keita, a researcher from the Navier laboratory, explains. The addition of a surfactant-type organic molecule should ‘render the earth insensitive to dampness’.

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The integration of third-sector research in the aims of the Law on Research Planning

Via the University-managed Labex SITES and GIS IFRIS, LISIS and LATTS lent considerable support in 2020 to the ALLISS Science and Society network for the recognition and opening of the French research and innovation system to third-sector research (TSR), i.e., society and other stakeholders. On 20 January 2020 at the French National Assembly, these units took part in parliamentary debates aimed at integrating TSR in the aims of the Law on Research Planning. The units then supported and participated in the Third-sector Research Conferences organised by Rennes 2 University in late November 2020. This support consists in revisiting the knowledge resources produced in the last ten years by IFRIS (Île-deFrance Institute for Research, Innovation and Society) around science and innovation policies, participative research and expertise for political purposes.