Anne Blanchart is co-founder of SOL & CO, along with a number of other scientists, including several from the Laboratoire Sols et Environnement (LSE). A laboratory she therefore knows well, especially as she completed her thesis there from 2015 to 2018, along with Quentin Vincent, the start-up's scientific co-director, theses whose titles put into perspective the expertise, work and path accomplished since then (respectively : "Vers une prise en compte des potentialités des sols dans l'urbanisme opérationnel et la planification territoriale" and "Étude des paramètres abiotiques, biotiques et fonctionnels, et de leurs interactions dans des sols délaissés" – or respectively “Taking soil potential into account in operational and regional planning” and “Study of abiotic, biotic and functional parameters and their interactions in neglected soils”.

The SOL &CO start-up project has been incubated by the Pôle "entrepreneuriat étudiants de Lorraine" (Peel) and the Incubateur Lorrain, which are a kind of public support and promotion structure for entrepreneurial innovation. Its aim is to improve knowledge of soils and their biodiversity, so as to encourage their consideration in urban development and/or landscape projects. Its action aims to optimize the benefits that the various systems studied are able to provide as a response to the challenges of ecological transition and global change.

To this end, SOL &CO carries out diagnostic and consultancy missions, professional training and project support, particularly for educational purposes. It was co-founded by five PhDs representing a wide range of disciplines: agronomy, soil science, ecology, ecotoxicology, geology, land use and urban planning.

Initiated by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the Prix Pépite supports innovative and creative business start-ups by students and young graduates with student-entrepreneur status. It encourages the creation of innovative businesses

The prize was presented by Julien Villalongue, Director of LEONARD, whose mission is to federate a community of players to build the cities and territories of tomorrow, and who was Anne Blanchart's sponsor for this year's class.

start- up website link : https://sol-et-co.com/

Video (French) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlx1Fb9n-cU&feature=youtu.be.