• SDG13,
  • SDG14,
  • SDG15,

Biodiversity on the Centrale Nantes campus

Published on October 11, 2021 – Updated on March 11, 2025
Centrale Nantes has a 40-acre (16 hectares) campus with large lawns and wooded areas on the banks of the Erdre River and an offshore test site (SEM-REV off the coast from Le Croisic), managed by the Open-C Foundation.The green spaces on campus are managed by a public contract, supervised by the Facilities Department.

Our commitments

In 2024, Centrale Nantes signed the Charte biodiversité de l'enseignement supérieur (Higher Education Biodiversity Charter) and, in line with the Stratégie Nationale pour la Biodiversité (National Biodiversity Strategy), is committed to questioning its dependence on and impact on biodiversity, whether direct or indirect, and is investing in ecological and human capital as part of its teaching and research role and in the environmental management of the campus. This commitment is reflected in 4 strategic objectives:

  1. Sustainable integration of biodiversity into the school's policy
  2. Raising awareness, providing information and supporting action by the school's stakeholders
  3. Integrating biodiversity into research and teaching
  4. Setting an example and experimenting within the institution


Why act for biodiversity?

The Office Français de la Biodiversité (French Biodiversity Office) provides the keys to understanding biodiversity issues and why a player in higher education and research is committed to biodiversity.

Integrating biodiversity into research and teaching

The SEM-REV offshore test site

The test site is used to test and optimize offshore renewable energy recovery systems. It is managed by the Open C Foundation. See the environmental impact assessment.

PIAFF&CO: A project to monitor birds and bats around offshore wind farms

Offshore wind environmental monitoring and impact studies are an important component of the research conducted at the SEM-REV offshore test site. The PIAFF&CO project will improve knowledge of flying fauna - birds and bats - in the vicinity of offshore wind farms. The project is run by Centrale Nantes in conjunction with the Centre d'Écologie et des Sciences de la Conservation du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, the St Nazaire offshore wind farm and BW Ideol.

BIOAcousticAI - Research linked to biodiversity

Centrale Nantes is a partner in BioAcoustic AI, a PhD network bringing together 23 researchers from eight European countries, five companies, 3 NGOs and a government agency. The aim is to train ten PhD students in the fields of AI, audio signal processing, animal behaviour and population ecology. Centrale Nantes is contributing its expertise in the eco-design of autonomous acoustic sensors. The preferred applications are monitoring biodiversity in the high seas and mountains.

Raising stakeholder awareness

Centrale Nantes trains its staff in socio-environmental issues and regularly organises workshops such as the Biodiversity Fresk, for example on 22 May to mark the United Nations International Day for Biological Diversity.

Biodiversity and management of the campus environment

In 2020, the green spaces only offset 0.12% of the school's GHG emissions, i.e. a negative Carbon Balance of -9.1tCO2eq. The sheep have an impact of 1.3tCO2eq, but these emissions are negligible compared to mechanical mowing.

Flora and fauna on campus

In addition to the distinctive Ouessant sheep that arrived in 2016, the campus is home to a variety of birds (crows, woodpeckers, etc.), small mammals (squirrels, etc.) and insects, although no precise census has been taken to date.

Beehives

4 beehives were installed on the campus in 2021 by the student association Bee with me.

Flora and vegetable gardens

An urban vegetable garden has been installed on the initiative of Centrale Vert students, attracting new insects.

Experiments with unmown lawns have been carried out and fruit trees have been planted on the campus.

Spotted an animal on campus? Let us know!!

A wide variety of animals have been spotted on campus: squirrels, birds, badgers, frogs, etc. If you see an animal and, even better, manage to take a photo of it, do let us know in the Sustainable Development Department or via one of the Sustainable Development representatives: developpement.durable13e78ab7-fa4f-4727-a93a-ad12e7d7eadd@ec-nantes.fr


Published on October 11, 2021 Updated on March 11, 2025