Newsletter

 


In 1948, after the Second World War, young French scientists decided to gather their skills to establish a team dedicated to the oceanographic research. Their idea was that oceanology is not a separate science, but a federation of cooperating disciplines requiring diverse and complementary skills. So more than thirty-one members, with various origins and competences, constituted the first Committee of Honour. Among these members, this committee gathered some names called to an international notability: Jacques Yves Cousteau, Théodore Monod, Jean Rouch, ….

Under these promising patronages, the Centre of REsearch and Oceanic studies (CREO) was born. It became a French Limited company in 1984, with IFREMER (French Research Institute for sea exploitation) as major shareholder.

During a decade, CREOCEAN received a strong technology transfer from the public institute. Sixty years later, we are proud to carry this inheritance: respecting the scientific ethics, we keep the idea of multidisciplinary skills necessary for the understanding of coastal and offshore marine environment.

During all these years, accompanying the technical and scientific knowledge, we follow the evolution of societies within the framework of the Sustainable Development.

Jean-Marc Sornin

President and CEO

The development of coastal areas is growing as a major concern all over the world. It is widely recognized that the development of urban, industrial, agricultural or touristic activities close to or in the sea needs to be managed in accordance with environmental preservation.
Based on its long-term worldwide experience and multidisciplinary scientific approach, CREOCEAN has developed a functional vision of Coastal Areas Sustainable Development.
CREOCEAN’s commitment is to provide decision-aid tools for the development of sustainable costal activities in harmony with their human and natural surroundings.
For each case our answer is the crossed result of three concerns:
The preservation of human and natural patrimony: global environmental preservation itself is an objective, especially in areas of high patrimonial value. Rare species, biodiversity and ecosystems density, coastal and submarine landscapes as well as potential for human use require comprehensive management.
The harmonious development of coastal activities: each urban, harbor, industrial, agricultural or touristic development may affect surrounding activities: pollutants, water intakes and outlets, hydrodynamics modifications, resources exploitation, coastal planning and landscaping etc. are among potential threats. We aim at avoiding harmful impacts and conflicts between activities, towards a rational management of coastal and marine resources.
The development of sustainable facilities and activities: coastal areas have specific characteristics that must be taken into account for each new development. The success of some activities even necessitates the environment to be kept in pristine condition. Coastal touristic activities require excellent landscapes and environmental quality conditions to be successful, coastal facilities durability depends on oceanographic constraints, fishing activities can suffer from overexploitation, aquaculture needs good quality sea water input, etc.
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