Introduction
The word of the Regional council

Regional stakes

Historically a crossroad of human activities and ideas, the Indian Ocean Region is facing today major challenges e-g.: the evolution of traditional societies and social relationships, population increase, global warming, unresolved important structural delays, and more.

In addition, the impact of globalization, the consequences of geopolitical evolutions in a multi-focused world and the risks of intercultural conflicts in a plural environment also representa challenge to the region.

The Indian Ocean Region can aspire to a justified ambition to become an area of peace and prosperity, built around common values in a logic of partnership based on principles of equality, fraternity, solidarity and mutual respect of our cultural values for a sustainable development in partnership.

In this regard, research and technological innovation represent favourable tools to satisfy the stakes of our collective development.

n this respect, the Regional Council of Reunion Island, along with its partners, intends to create the emergence of the "Indian Ocean Research Area" as a place of exchange and sharing.

Objectives

As an Outermost Region of the European Union, Reunion Island is also an "active border" of Europe that contributes to the international dimension of the European Research Area.Aware of its assets from its double membership (Europe and the Indian Ocean Region), Reunion Island intends to use regional cooperation in a strategy of development in partnership.The Regional Council of Reunion Island has also initiated a series of partnerships with regional territories. These territories include the Indian Ocean Commission, Africa (the South African Province of Kwazulu-Natal, Mozambique, Zimbabwe), Asia (Vietnam, the Indian State of Karnataka and the Chinese Province of Tianjin).

In this dynamic current and after French meetings dedicated to research in the French Oversea Territories, and after Reunionese meetings and an European seminar between Outermost Regions, we felt that it was important to cooperate with regional stakeholders.

It is essential to confront our common territorial problems such as water distribution, demography, health, biodiversity, climatic changes, sea, energy and implanttation of new technologies, and more.

In view of this, we believe that we can try to find answers to these common problems within an Indian Ocean Research Area.


Objectives
Identification of common research issues in the Indian Ocean Region  
Contribution to the emergence of research and training projects  
Optimization of tools and complementarities in view of collaborative development in the Indian Ocean Research Area.
  		 
Organisations
  The thirteen countries involved are : Mauritius, Reunion, Island Seychelles, The Comoro Islands, Madagascar, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, India, Vietnam, Australia.
  Internation organisation guests :
the UNESCO, the Indian Ocean Rim - the Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the European Union (EU), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Bank, the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), the African Development Bank, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Inter-governmental French-speaking Agency (AIF), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the French Development Agency (AFD), the Indo French Center for the Promotion of Advanced Research (CEFIPRA), the French Academic Speaking Agency (AUF), the Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing System (IOGOOS),the COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southtern Africa), among others.
The public concerned
  Scientific researchers, engineers, directors of laboratories and research organisations, academic teachers and researchers, company managers as well as development decision-markers.