The "Training and Research in Archaeology and Development Strategies in Tunisia" project is developing a Franco-Tunisian training and research program in archaeology. Tunisia and France have a long tradition of scientific cooperation in the field of archaeology and cultural heritage, notably with the Aix-Marseille academic site. Today, partners on both sides of the Mediterranean share similar requirements when it comes to training their students and staff, such as the need to update skills, knowledge and resources, and to further integrate training, research and valorization.

Aix-Marseille Université, the Universities of Sfax and Sousse and the National Heritage Institute of Tunis signed a letter of intent on October 5, 2017, during the first meeting of the High Council for Franco-Tunisian Cooperation, displaying the ambition to build a Franco-Tunisian archaeological field school. The letter lists a number of common objectives, including the organization of training and research in the field of field documentation in Tunisia, the development of joint scientific programs for the training of Tunisian and French players (managers, operators, etc.), and the reinforcement of cooperation to enhance the value of Tunisian archaeological sites.

Through TRIADS-Tunisia, the four institutions, which include two Earth Sciences and Engineering laboratories (Cerege at AMU and Enis at the University of Sfax), are creating an innovative training project prefiguring the Tunisian-French archaeological field school, with a joint team of Tunisian and French students and professionals.

Training is structured around a set of predefined research tasks on the archaeology and environment of the ancient Maghreb. All disciplines of archaeology and the environment are included in the project, but TRIADS-Tunisia specifically covers four key disciplines to begin with: urban archaeology, funerary archaeology, ceramology and petrographic and geochemical characterization of materials. These four disciplines were chosen by the three Tunisian institutions in response to the very specific and urgent challenges facing research, training and valorization initiatives in the Sfax and Sousse regions.