Prof. Patrick du Jardin appointed Chairman of the INRAE-Cirad-Ifremer-IRD Joint Ethics Committee

On April 4 2024, Prof. du Jardin will begin a 4-year term at the head of the Joint Consultative Ethics Committee of the French research institutes INRAE - CIRAD - IFREMER - IRD. This committee focuses on the ethical issues raised by research, in France and abroad, in the fields of food, agriculture, the sea, the environment and sustainable development.

The Pr. du Jardin has been unanimously appointed by the 4 heads of organizations and their boards of directors, as the new chairman of Comité Éthique en CommunINRAE-Cirad -Ifremer-IRD (respectively Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement; Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement; Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer; Institut de Recherche pour le Développement).

From his involvement in the first ethics committee set up by INRA in 1999, to the development of a module focusing on ethics in the university curriculum of future bioengineers at Gemblout, Pr. du Jardin has been heavily involved in the world of ethics applied to agronomic research and biotechnologies in the broadest sense. Following in the footsteps of such prestigious presidents as Pr. Axel Kahn, this designation marks the culmination and recognition of his work in this field, carried out in parallel with his duties as a researcher and teacher at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech.

Founded on the concept of the "good life", the INRAE-Cirad-Ifremer-IRD Comité Éthique en Commun (Shared Ethics Committee) reflects on the ways in which research organizations and teams can contribute to the pursuit of this goal. It aims to be the voice of the ethical dilemmas faced by the institutes' researchers. By reformulating them and putting them into perspective, it proposes recommendations on complex questions that generally have no immediate answers.