Introduction

Résumé 0

To stimulate the emergence of new fields of research, to facilitate the convergence of research programs on themes that are considered a priority, to meet the expectations of a society that poses questions to researchers, to manage new fields of investigation and to make known their results, to know how to end some activities without squandering the wealth of knowledge within years of work: this is how you could summarize the mission of a research organization such as the CNRS. Then add one more important activity to this list: to collaborate with other research institutions within the framework of a national policy. What is the best way to illustrate these questions for readers of La Revue ? We thought that the theme of the environment would serve as a good example, permitting us to explore our questions within one field of research that has developed during a relatively short time-span, about 25 years. Only at the end of the 1960's did we begin talking timidly about environment. Until then, one spoke about milieu, for example in programs dealing with pollution. Florian Charvolin retraces for us the emergence of the term "environment." It can take an event of major proportions, like the 1973 energy crisis, for an industrial society to reach an operational phase with the creation of a solar energy program. Jean Deflandre reports on how such a program has been constructed. This type of program may appear as though it has an object that is defined in scope, but in reality researchers have discovered multiple facets to which the question of solar energy utilisation is linked. Consequently, the program was set up. This is the focus of articles by Marcel Jollivet and Alain Pavé. Still at the end of the 1970's, using the word "environment" in the program's title might have led one to think that its significance was well defined. This has been, in fact, the object of debate, as researchers are interested by and try to answer larger questions they think are linked to the environment. In short, what is important is the question of constructing a new field of research and, once it is set into motion, his impact on well established fields. The solar energy and environmental programs were meant, from their origins, to be not only interdisciplinary, traversing different departments within the CNRS, but also to extend to other institutions. This is the common thread that connects the articles in this issue. To present the thoughts of those who have tried to put these concepts into practice is the way we can contribute to the on-going debate that engages both researchers and research administrators.