The PSDR 3 research program examines the role played by territorial dynamics, so as to analyse and contribute to the processes of regional development.

At the heart of this program are agriculture and the agri-food industry, as well as the associated non- agricultural activities in rural areas. Services, the exploitation of local resources, the processes of innovation, sustainable development and territorial governance are also closely examined.

The PSDR 3 program is jointly organized by the INRA, the CEMAGREF and the CIRAD in partnership with the Regional Councils of 10 Regions: the « Greater West » (comprising Lower Normandy, Brittany, Pays de Loire and Poitou-Charentes) and six other regions (Aquitaine, Auvergne, Burgundy, Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrénées, Rhône-Alpes).

Emphasis is laid on the research topics that are relevant to all the regions, so as to foster common questions and interregional research projects.

37 projects are being pursued in the framework of the PSDR 3, with an average of 4 disciplines per project. Two thirds of the projects concern two or more Regions and address the following six research questions:

• Production systems and chains
• The competitiveness of firms, sectors and territories
• Environment, natural resources and climate
• Work, employment and new activities
• Rural and urban areas
• Development mechanisms, actors and public policies

Over 200 laboratories are involved in this program, with 6 laboratories per project, combining the disciplines of social sciences and biotechnology sciences.

Half of the projects are headed by the INRA, while the other half are led by the Cemagref, the universities and Institutes of agronomic sciences. Approximately 320 researchers and engineers, as well as 240 teacher-researchers are involved, in addition to almost 300 other people (doctoral students and post doctoral fellows, fixed term contract workers and trainees).

The originality of the program lies in the fact that it is developed by and realized within the ten Regions concerned, addresses questions that are directely related to the concerns of different people or groups of people and is co-financed by the Regions and Research organizations equally.

Approximately 295 partners are involved in the research projects: actors of the agricultural sector, Local and Territorial authorities, decentralized State departments and partners belonging to other categories of activities (environment, industrial firms, fishing, forestry...).

Three research groups, transversal to both the Regions and the projects, examine the following questions:

• Partnerships
• Regional/ territorial development
• Territorial governance and development

The particularity of the PSDR 3 research program - which meets the usual scientific criteria, including the intervention of an independent scientific council – lies in the fact that its results are shared and discussed with the local actors. The results must be transferred and exploited so that they can be converted into research-development proposals. This is the idea which the combination of « For » and « About » in the title of the program, is meant to convey.

In each region, a group animation unit provides a forum for research organizations and regional partners to exchange and discuss results and ideas.