ACT: turning the University into an experimental campus

Supporting the energy and environmental transition of campus buildings

Examples of projects carried out:

The SMARTEES-U (I2M) project is working with the Real Estate Department to develop energy efficiency services to improve performance monitoring and identify potential energy savings for five buildings on the Peixotto campus in Talence. The benefits of deploying them on a wider scale will then need to be assessed.
The Pensons Vert (LabPsy) (Think Green) project aims to promote energy efficiency by specifically targeting the use of fume cupboards using a two-pronged approach: a fundamental approach to understand the psychological levers that encourage energy efficiency, and an applied approach to design and evaluate an intervention on university campuses.

The energy manager/s play an essential role in the Living Lab Energy. Their technical expertise and operational knowledge in the field are crucial to the success of these projects. They are involved in both research and training activities, providing support for tutored projects focusing on nudges and thermal comfort, as well as practical work on analysing the profitability of photovoltaic installations on campus.

Making the campus a showcase for water use 

The Living Lab brings together a number of projects focusing on three major issues: reducing drinking water consumption on campuses, improving knowledge of waste and integrating the management and use of natural water.

Examples of projects carried out:
The overall aim of the Eau’bservatoire (Waterbservatory) project is to gain a better understanding of the consumption dynamics and uses of drinking water on the University of Bordeaux’s campuses via a dedicated data platform. A network of around twenty piezometers is being used to assess the state of the campus’s surface water. This scheme, in which Ensegid students are taking part, will allow the possibility of using this resource for certain specific purposes to be studied. Finally, the Bassin project focuses on analysing the quality of the Peixotto garden pond and implementing appropriate corrective measures.
To raise awareness, the transition ambassadors were mobilised to create an exhibition on water on campus as well as an event hub for World Water Day.

Transforming the campus into a testing ground for studying climate change in urban environments

Examples of projects carried out:
The aim of the experimental forest project is to study how forests respond to climate change so that they can be adapted to help combat global warming.
The Passeurs d’arbres (Tree keepers) project, a metropolitan network of 80 citizens trained by academics in the importance of trees in the city and the ecosystem services they provide, is the result of a partnership between teams from Bordeaux Métropole and the university.

Introducing healthy, sustainable and accessible food on campus

The Living Lab brings together a number of food-related projects: diversification of supply, combating food insecurity, food education (cookery workshops, round tables, conferences, etc.), promotion of local sourcing (support for shared gardens on campus). CROUS is a key participant in the scheme, making its university canteens available for experimentation.

Examples of projects carried out:
The ACDéC project is based on a thesis in social psychology that aims to analyse the role of culinary workshops in supporting students’ dietary transition, drawing on various theories in the field of social engagement.
The COMEDO project, which is run in conjunction with teams at Inria, aims to test a system for depicting the carbon impact of meals in a visual way, with a view to promoting responsible eating in catering facilities.

Making the campus a place of well-being and sustainable health

Examples of projects carried out:
The Pauses actives (Active Breaks) project aims to prevent sedentary behaviour among students and will be rolled out at the start of the 2025-2026 academic year. It follows on from the Active University project, which aims to test ways of getting staff moving at pilot sites.

The student health observation platform project, launched in 2024, follows on from the PRISME project, which aimed to design and evaluate a digital intervention to prevent poor mental health and mental illness and to promote good mental health among 1st-year students at the University of Bordeaux. The project was completed at the end of 2023. PRISME has provided the first French data on students’ mental health post-pandemic. PRISME also sought to compare the prevalence rates of depressive symptoms and thoughts of suicide among students before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The results reveal an alarming deterioration in students’ mental health in the post-pandemic period compared with the pre-pandemic era. This study led to articles in the press and an article published in an international journal.

Experimenting with resilient housing to address the challenge of on-campus accommodation

Example of a project:
The IMAGO project designs student accommodation with an entire life cycle that is as economical as possible. The IMAGO project will involve apprentice architects and engineers from the Arts et Métiers, students from the IUT civil engineering course, industrialists, a consultancy firm, an architecture firm, etc.

Developing knowledge creation on sustainability science issues

Example of a project:
The Grands défis en science de la durabilité (Major Challenges in Sustainability Science) project is one of the pillars of the ACT major programme and is part of the University of Bordeaux’s strategy to promote interdisciplinarity. The aim of this programme is to take a systemic approach, through interdisciplinary research, to the issues involved in addressing the major global challenges of sustainability. The approach consists of identifying and structuring communities that wish to explore these issues and offering them support to develop or consolidate such an approach through seed funding and coaching.

Promoting knowledge production to bring about transitions

Examples of projects carried out:
ACT supports teaching about transitions at university. During the second semester of the 2024-2025 academic year, 3,500 students at the University of Bordeaux took the new multidisciplinary taught module “Introduction to the challenges of environmental and societal change”. As an initial assessment, more than 90 teachers gathered on the Victoire campus in Bordeaux on 23 June to reflect on and discuss this new educational challenge.
The aim of the Démocratie (Democracy) project was to enlighten student citizens and equip them with the knowledge and skills required for democratic participation both within and from their university and in their civic, social and professional environment. It led to the drafting of a report by the students.
A course dedicated to decision-making in the Anthropocene has also been rolled out.

Experimenting with ways to reduce waste, reuse and repair on campuses

Example of a project:
The Tri des déchets (Waste Sorting) project was completed at the beginning of 2024. It has led to improved skills and knowledge on the strategy for supporting waste management within the university (equipment and flow management tests, study of different communication strategies based on unifying experiments, consolidation of methods and support levers relating to waste sorting and better user support, identification of progress margins), the acquisition of research data on the psychological levers for waste sorting behaviour, and environmental and social gains (health - prevention of MSD).
 

Experimenting with ways of increasing the use of soft mobility on our campuses

Example of a project:
The aim of the Liaisons Cyclables et Interconnexions (Cycling routes and Network Connections) project is firstly to identify the flows and problems associated with public space being shared by several modes of transport on a busy road, and secondly to put in place an active design and signage to address these difficulties. This project will be supported by the mobility chair for the installation of sensors and flow analysis, and by the mediation, information, communication and arts laboratory for the design of solutions.

Transforming research practices to address environmental and societal challenges

Examples of projects carried out:
The REDPLAST_UP project is tackling the over-consumption of plastic in laboratories at the experimental level using life cycle analysis (LCA) and optimisation tools. By building up a database, the project will create a simulator of protocols’ environmental footprint.
In addition to projects already underway, such as REDPLAST_UP, a call for projects open to all research units under the supervision of the University of Bordeaux until 2026 offers ambitious support and tailor-made funding.

Encouraging communities to take ownership of the challenges of transition through awareness-raising initiatives

Examples of projects carried out:
A support fund has been set up within the University of Bordeaux to encourage staff to initiate or strengthen initiatives to raise awareness of environmental and societal issues.
For the past three years, the transition advisers have played a key role in addressing the challenges of transition at the university by disseminating best practices and sharing resources (guides, tools, etc.). They act as intermediaries between the institution, their management, their colleagues and the industry and scientific experts. In 2024-2025, there were 81 transition advisers. The aim is to have one adviser per facility.
The annual “Bascules - Quand l’engagement bouscule le monde” (Tipping Points – When Commitment Shakes the World) event aims to encourage students to get involved in environmental and societal change. It is now a unifying element in the university’s programmes.
 

Developing data governance and strategy to support the university’s transformation

Example of a project:
Datalab aims to implement support measures for ACT project leads and propose a data policy to all ACT consortium partners. As a result of this project, ACT-funded projects receive help to draw up their data management plan. By September 2025, 128 datasets from ACT projects had been identified and catalogued with the aim of making them freely available to the scientific community. Datalab is also contributing to a “Data Workshop” certification scheme.

Producing a method to help steer the university towards transitions / Stimulating the emergence or growth of transitions-related projects, including partnerships

Example of a project:
Launched in 2022, the ”Rencontres des Transitions” (Transition meetings) is an annual event that brings together the region’s various networks and stakeholders to discuss the challenges of environmental and societal change and design partnership projects that address the concerns of institutions, businesses and citizens. Since 2024, the Rencontres des Transitions have also benefited from collaboration between Bordeaux Métropole and the University of Bordeaux via the ABCD project, which is funded as part of the European NetZeroCities network, 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030.