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Sharing Experience Europe - Policy Innovation Design
Library of case studies
Territoires en Residences
France
This case study has a slightly different format to the others in the SEE Library, as it is drawn from the second SEE Policy Booklet - Realising Sustainability and Innovation through Design: Making it Happen in Communities, Industry, Public Sector & Policy-Making (May 2010).
Converging economic, political and social exigencies have created an imperative for modernising the policy-making process. These refer not only to the uncertainties of the current economic climate, but to the increasing complexities of an inter-connected world and more demanding electorates. Of course, this imperative is not a new notion. In fact, over a decade ago the UK Cabinet Office recognised the need to involve and communicate effectively with those affected by policies and to produce innovative ways of consulting and involving a wider audience in the policy-making process. However, even now, the challenge remains. If governments want to make policy-making more inclusive, more evidence based and more innovative, this is an opportunity to take advantage of design, an engaging, creative and user-centred approach.
Policy-making needs to reflect the changing roles and increasing influence of innovation and sustainability. The process by which policy is formulated can play a crucial role in influencing the behaviour of individuals, industry and the public sector. In this context, design methods can be applied to facilitate broader engagement by involving more actors and stakeholders in the development of creative solutions. In doing so, it is possible to achieve more inclusive policy-making, which has the potential to increase public confidence due to a more transparent process, as well as better impact, as a result of innovative solutions developed by a collective and creative approach.
Territoires en Résidences is a series of social innovation initiatives in France. A multidisciplinary team is integrated into a college, health centre, community hub, railway station or regional administrative body for four months, with at least three entire weeks spent living with local people. The aim is to co-design with local stakeholders a future vision articulated in a set of long-term scenarios and a programme of concrete, medium-term actions for implementing the vision. Co-designing social innovation encourages capacity-building and ‘rapid prototyping’ within public services. Since the beginning of 2009, Territoires en Résidences has launched 15 different programmes. Each programme costs around 30,000 Euros, co-financed by local authorities and the European Commission. To date, eight projects have been successfully completed. The teams involved in delivering the projects are made up of a combination of designers, researchers, students, architects, sociologists, social entrepreneurs and foreign stakeholders, who share a design-thinking mindset and use ethnographic observation and inclusive design techniques to define, explore, implement, simulate, experiment and find solutions to complex societal challenges. At the end of each programme, the goal is to turn the scenarios and projects into strategic and political decisions at regional and trans-regional levels.
Territoires en Residences workshop using magic cards, Revin 2009
In a project in Rennes, Brittany, more than 1600 citizens are members of a local social digital network called La Ruche. La Ruche means the hive and members are composed of bees – single participants – and hives – local participating NGOs and institutions. The future vision for this project is ‘an augmented citizenship’ using the local network to engage inhabitants in social initiatives, but more importantly local change. Communities and organisations can explore local concerns and engage in a process to transform regional experiences through inclusive design tools. As the project progressed, the function of the network expanded to enhance local governance. Local authorities have been observing these grassroots initiatives as a means to identify social innovation priorities in the region and have been able to catalyse certain projects to tackle public innovation issues. Design for social innovation is a governance tool to facilitate the creativity of communities and promote interconnectivity with the electorate.
Territoires en Residences workshop, Bordeaux Rive Droite 2009
In January 2010, during the seventh Challenges for Design Promotion conference in Paris, Stéphane Vincent, 27e Région Project Director, stated that there are greater opportunities for the application of design methods and creative thinking within regional and local authorities for addressing social innovation issues, as design is still primarily seen narrowly at national level as a tool for economic development. Research conducted as part of Territoires en Résidences will also feed into the European Commission’s work for the innovation policy to be released in autumn 2010.
For more information visit: territoiresenresidences.wordpress.com
