The challenges - which focus on everything from Antarctic research, marine science and ecology to nutrition, healthy ageing and technological innovation - combine the brightest minds from the country's universities, research institutes and other agencies.
One of the last challenges to be launched, aimed at reducing the burden of New Zealand's major health problems, is set to go live early next month.
Dr Bournigal said France has adopted a similar approach.
"We have just moved to a new strategy on research and we are very near to the same subjects," he said.
"We need to have a systematic approach of research based on societal challenges, instead of wanting to make progress in one academic system or another."
He felt that tackling core issues, especially environmental ones, wasn't just nationally, but globally important.
"We can be competitors on exports and things like that, but the one space where we need to rapidly reach a certain level of knowledge - to solve the main environmental issues - I think the scientific community doesn't have any frontiers."
Just as the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre was developing promising ways to slash methane emissions from ruminant stock like sheep and cows, France was undertaking its own research to reduce impact on climate change from its farming systems.
Dr Bournigal said this was part of a wider transition in his country to make agriculture less environmentally harmful.
Other efforts included minimising the use of harmful pesticides and chemicals, and restoring the quality of soils to increase their capacity for containing carbon dioxide.
There was also a big focus in France, and across Europe, on improving freshwater quality.
"We have intensive agriculture nearly everywhere in Europe and we are struggling to keep [water quality] thresholds very low - I'll not say that it's easy, but things are getting better, even if pressure is very heavy."
Interestingly, there had been a shift from a monitoring system based around thresholds of chemicals, like nitrogen, to one that encompassed the wider picture of ecosystem health, taking into account fish life and plant life.
"We have been working on biological indicators and we now have a system where we can launch restoration projects."
Dr Bournigal expected that in this area, and in many others spanning from hydrology to forestry ecology, further collaboration between France and New Zealand would continue to benefit both countries.
"We have a very high impression about the [standard of] capability and research, because we are producing very good science at a world level today."
