Rethinking Rural Development at the Village Level “The Villages of the Future” in France (Bourgogne Franche-Comté Region)

Abstract

This article relates a transdisciplinary (participatory and interdisciplinary) research experiment conducted in the Territorial Living Lab for Ecological Transition (Burgundy Franche-Comté Region) that has led to constituting transdisciplinary epistemic communities. This research focuses on nine villages in this French region that have been selected to experiment with new designs for sustainable territorial development. It is part of an experimental scheme called “Villages of the Future” led by the Regional Council. These villages are less-than-2000-inhabitant municipalities, located in rural areas that are not under urban influence. The starting point is that development models based mainly on consumerism and the accumulation of wealth have shown their limits in a context of social and ecological transition. The implementation of these disciplinary epistemic communities leads to three main results: the passage from the villages’ storytelling to concrete projects, the enlargement of the local sphere of action and finally the impacts in terms of training this community’s stakeholders.

Exploring Justice in the Process of Redesigning Local Development Strategies for LEADER: Representation, Distribution, and Recognition

“…In Germany, the federal organization of the state resulted in every federal state having its own deal with the European Commission, which for example concerned agreements related to co-financing either provided by the respective federal state or by the municipalities and districts [3] (p. 381). Scientists have evaluated the method and its impacts at the regional and national level (for Germany, e.g., [3,4]), from internationally comparative perspectives [5][6][7][8] and more recently also at the village level [9]. Scholars in the fields of geography, planning and European policy have investigated questions related to democratic principles [10], to multi-level governance [11], to social innovation [8,12] or the 'smartness' of regions [13].…”

Pour une approche sociale, écologique et économique des transitions territoriales : expériences transdisciplinaires au sein d’un Living lab

“…Au-delà de l'implication des chercheurs aux différentes phases de terrain, ce programme questionne la fabrique des politiques publiques, ouvrant ainsi le raisonnement scientifique et ses potentialités réflexives aux acteurs institutionnels. À partir de la création d'une CET qui associe habitants, élus, techniciens de la Région, consultants, chercheurs et étudiants(Berriet-Solliec et al, 2022), les dix expérimentations villageoises construisent un récit établi grâce à l'écoute, le recueil puis la traduction des attentes des habitants en termes d'habitabilité de leurs villages. La démarche s'organise principalement en trois temps de résidences dans les villages qui correspondent à des phases successives d'immersion, projection, enfin concrétisation des projets.…”

Diversity and Opportunities for Rural Development: Reflecting Awareness, Understanding and Activities in Rural Areas

“…Terms such as "balance" and "convergence", used in policy statements, were always at risk of being reduced to buzzwords for legitimation purposes. Ironically, although for some decades after the Second World War substantial regional convergence was observed, from the 1980s onwards "geographical inequalities in economic prosperity and social conditions have widened" [1] (p. 5).…”