PEPR "Solutions for Sustainable Cities and Innovative Buildings" (VDBI)
Launched in 2023, led by CNRS and Gustave Eiffel University the Priority Research Program and Facilities "solutions for the sustainable city and innovative buildings" (VDBI) aims to accelerate the creation of knowledge and help build a scientific communitý capable of taking on the issues of implementing the sustainable city and innovative buildings.
Five major challenges need to be addressed:
- Climate change,
- Urban resilience,
- Sober and frugal urbanization,
- Inclusive and equitable urbanization,
- Sustainable urbanization for health and well-being.
In addition to these, emerging challenges require researchers and stakeholders to pay close attention to the weak signals that herald the major socio-technical transformations to come.
Starting from the issues and problems (obstacles, barriers, difficulties) involved in implementing sustainable cities and innovative buildings, the aim here is to build together by encouraging exchanges between scientific communities and local players.
Implementation of PEPR
PEPR is implemented through two mechanisms:
- Two calls for projects spread over two years, enabling consortia made up of researchers, local authorities and socio-economic players to work together on scientific projects;
- Operational centers to support research on the implementation of VDBI, working on :
- Making available data and information on sustainable cities
- Helping to understand the role of models in action
- Evaluating VDBI public policies
Learn more about PEPR
The "Priority Research Programs and Equipment", or PEPR, are the upstream/research component of the France 2030 strategies.
They aim to build or consolidate French leadership in scientific fields linked or likely to be linked to technological, economic, societal, health or environmental transformation. They are considered priorities at national or European level, and will make a major contribution to structuring national research over the next eight years.
The PEPR programs, financed from a target amount of €3 billion, exist in two forms: national acceleration strategy PEPRs and exploratory PEPRs. These programs benefit from government support, managed by the Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR) under France 2030 (the "directed" component of the 4th Programme d'investissements d'avenir (PIA4), as part of strategic investment funding).
Since 2021, 27 PEPRs have been launched in a variety of fields, including the environment, sustainable cities, healthcare, energy systems, quantum technology and cybersecurity.