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Context and objectives

The global changes we are facing are increasingly challenging the development, production and organizational models implemented over the last few decades. While these questions concern all sectors of the economy, they are particularly important in the fields of agriculture and livestock breeding, especially given the high sensitivity of these activities to the biophysical and (geo)political conditions in which they take place.
In a context full of uncertainties linked to climate, energy, political and social crises, the capacity of agricultural systems to cope with disturbances is a concern that is increasingly shared. The concepts of hardiness, robustness, resilience, adaptation ... are, therefore, more and more frequently called upon in the strategic reflections and research programs deployed to prepare "the sustainable livestock of tomorrow". The notion of hardiness is also widely used by various professional organizations to qualify certain populations (breeds) or production systems. It is even integrated in certain regulations that are very structuring for livestock farming, such as the RZUE.
Although definitions have been regularly proposed, their analysis shows a certain diversity in their formulation and certain overlaps (or interlocking) between the different concepts (robustness, rusticity, resilience, adaptation). These concepts are applied at different scales (the animal, herd, population or the territory), and take on meanings that can be contrasted, notably according to the community that uses them (researchers in the social sciences, in the biological sciences - geneticists, physiologists, health specialists, etc. - or in the physical sciences, livestock professionals and legislators). A great diversity of approaches has also been proposed to evaluate the robustness, resilience or hardiness of animals or systems, some even going so far as to question the relevance of this desire for objectification.
In this context, and given the scientific, professional and regulatory issues associated with the notion of hardiness, and more broadly with the concepts of robustness, resilience and adaptation, it seems relevant and useful to us to take the time to reflect on and exchange views on these different concepts, and to cross the views in a resolutely multidisciplinary and "trans-community" spirit.

March 20 and 21, 2023, FIAP Paris

• registration mandatory (limited number of participants)