Permanent public policy support systems

The permanent public policy support systems (DPAPP) are special partnership structures with their own permanent financial and human resources. They are co-directed by the ministries concerned and INRAE. They provide dedicated, long-term support for the implementation of public policies prioritised by the ministries in their partnership with INRAE, while at the same time constituting assets for the Institute’s knowledge production and scientific strategy, through the data acquired over the long term and the questions that these systems raise. These systems are very diverse: observatories, platforms, reference centres, study groups, databases or scientific interest, or experimental systems and networks.

In return, they provide research with data and raise new questions.

These permanent public policy support systems are the result of joint work, coordinated by the Public Policy Support Department, between INRAE and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Other long-term initiatives involve the Ministries of Ecology and Health.

The scope and management of each scheme are defined and may be the subject of a framework agreement.

Framework agreements and conventions: a reciprocal commitment

Most of the collaborations between INRAE and the major national public partners responsible for designing or implementing public policies are based on framework agreements. The drafting and signing of framework agreements reflects the Institute’s position, establishes its expertise in major themes and helps to develop structuring partnerships with non-academic public partners. The framework agreements specify the shared vision, the themes and the terms of collaboration, as well as the procedures for managing this collaboration. They are then the subject of specific application agreements specifying the action programme and deliverables committed to by INRAE and the partner. In this way, the partners’ trust is reflected in a commitment to long-term collaboration.

The Public Policy Support Division is responsible for drawing up, managing and monitoring national agreements and action programmes with major national partners.

Framework agreements are managed by a steering committee, which acts as an intermediary between the partner and INRAE scientists. It is co-chaired by a thematic project manager from the Public Policy Support Division and his counterpart in the partner organisation.

This process involves INRAE’s scientific divisions and research departments, the joint contract engineering service and the research centres’ project partnership engineers, as well as the support divisions concerned.

Similarly, the Institute’s representation on the bodies of local authorities and other territorial partner organisations ensures collaboration at regional level.

The Public Policy Support Department currently manages around twenty national agreements. All of these are the subject of consultation with public partners, which helps to ensure that the scientific offer matches the needs of the action, to anticipate the needs of public partners as far as possible, and to secure actions in terms of resources and duration.

Exchanges with the departments of the Ministries of Agriculture and the Environment are organised and systematised to ensure that needs are better understood and actions better anticipated.