Type 4: Public research as key initiator of intensive transformation

Class 4 of the typology groups together cases where the diffusion of innovations arising from INRAE's research requires significant transformations in the behaviour of the users concerned and in the context. It typically corresponds to an anticipation of societal demand in a context unfavourable to diffusion.

First observation: research aimed at responding to the needs of public users – for example, the health risk linked to the use of Bisphenol A – is characterised by the short period between research results and first observed impacts. INRAE, in collaboration with its academic partners (as in the NUTRI‑SCORE case), mobilises its scientific resources and infrastructures to provide a rapid and adapted response to the demands of public actors, and ensures that the integrity of the scientific messages it diffuses is preserved once the elements of its research enter the public debate.

Although potentially carrying a strong promise of impacts, other innovations arising from this type of research are often only weakly used and generate weak impacts because they do not correspond to the dominant social demand. Nevertheless, Type 4 is representative of INRAE's public research mission: to transcend different social demands, increase the diversity of available options, and propose solutions that move towards sustainability, even if this means engaging in applied research without the collaboration of current users.