Gilbert Durand was the co-founder — with Léon Cellier and Paul Deschamps in 1966, — and the director, of the Centre de recherche sur l'imaginaire[3] and a member of Eranos.

[6][7] In 1984, Gilbert Durand supervised the thesis by Michel Gaucher on L'Intuition astrologique dans l'imaginaire (Université Grenoble II).

In 1991 a special colloquium organized by Michel Maffesoli was held in his honour at the prestigious Centre culturel international de Cerisy-la-Salle.

On 14 March 2007, in Chambéry, Durand was raised to the title of Commander of the Légion d'honneur, which was bestowed on him by a personality of his choice, in this case Raymond Aubrac on behalf of the President (as is customary).

[2] the scholar of symbolic anthropology Gilbert Durandgenèse réciproque qui oscille du geste pulsionnel à l'environnement matériel et social, et vice versa..there is a reciprocal genesis which alternates between the drive-motivated gesture and the material and social environment, and vice versaLe « trajet anthropologique » peut être suivi dans le sens : physiologie -> société, ou au contraire : société -> physiologie.