Thierry Lefrançois from CIRAD,
first veterinarian appointed member of the French Scientific Council Covid-19

© Franck Dunouau

Thierry Lefrançois, has just joined the French Scientific Council on Covid-19. This appointment is emblematic of a desire to decompartmentalise the three fields of animal, human and environmental health. "We have been implementing the One Health - Une seule Santé concept at CIRAD for more than 10 years, with a multisectoral, multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder approach that integrates all types of health," stresses Thierry Lefrançois, whose work focuses on living organisms and their diversity, from the genome to the socio-ecosystem.

More:
https://www.cirad.fr/en/news/all-news-items/press-releases/2021/thierry-lefrancois-veterinarian-on-french-scientific-council-on-covid-19

Jean-Luc Chotte, Senior Scientist at IRD,
Chairman of the French Scientific Committee on Desertification

Jean-Luc Chotte, Senior Scientist at IRD, has been appointed Chairman of the French Scientific Committee on Desertification by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation for a three-year term

This new mandate will give him the opportunity to strengthen the land issue on the international agenda and to promote CSFD as a Science-Policy-Society interface. "According to my experience in the Science-Policy Interface (SPI) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), my knowledge of research issues and my conviction of the need to mobilize all stakeholders in land issues, I am aware of our future challenges: consolidating our achievement, connecting the land agenda to other initiatives (biodiversity, climate, ecosystem restoration, food security) at national and international level as well as consolidating CSFD's place within the Science-Policy-Society interface.
Jean-Luc Chotte succeeds Robin Duponnois, who has held this position since 2017.
Since 1997, the CSFD has been mobilising French experts in the field of desertification, land degradation and the development of dry regions. The committee is hosted and managed by Agropolis International.

More:
http://www.csf-desertification.eu/news/item/jean-luc-chotte-new-csfd-chair

Patrick Caron, Deputy Vice-President for International Relations of the University of Montpellier, appointed as a high-level expert on food systems by the European Commission

Patrick Caron, also a researcher at CIRAD and President of Agropolis International, is one of 19 international experts appointed by the European Commission to assess the need for an International Platform for Food Systems Science.

Towards an international platform for food systems science?
This group of experts will assess the needs, options, impacts and possible approaches for an International Platform for Food Systems Science (IPFSS) by identifying the lack of data to facilitate better food governance.

Missions and expectations of the High Level Expert Group (HLEG)
The HLEG will consist of 19 international experts from different disciplines and continents, under the chairmanship of Tom Arnold, Chair of the Irish 2030 Agri-Food Strategy Committee
The 18-month mission is expected to produce its first conclusions in June 2021 ahead of the UN Food Systems Pre-Summit.
In addition, the reactions and results of the pre-summit and the summit held in September in New York will inspire and guide the second part of the work of the group of experts, which will end in May 2022. This work will propose a set of policy options and recommendations to further strengthen the international science-policy interface for better governance of food systems.

More :
https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/new-high-level-expert-group-assess-need-international-platform-food-systems-science-2021-feb-17_en