CTE-Trans – Mountain and Ecological Transition Contracts

Created by the law of December 2017, CTEs are set up on the scale of one or more inter-municipalities, with a view to supporting territories in all aspects of a desired ecological transition that generates economic activities and social opportunities.

The project aims to characterize the type of ecological transition brought about by ETCs, by questioning the instrument’s ability to “innovate” in relation to more traditional approaches to territorial development. What type of transition is actualized and concretized by ETCs, between a radical citizen movement to overhaul ways of life in society and a program “mastered” by the dominant actors of transition through technology? The project will develop two aspects:

• A component rooted in political sociology, aimed at understanding the way in which the ETCs give rise to the expression and confrontation of various visions and definitions of what transition should be. The aim is to identify the definitional struggles surrounding transition, and what is at stake in terms of the (re)positioning of actors and institutions.
• A component rooted in geography, which will aim to characterize the transition trajectories being invented on a territorial scale as the CTE is implemented, and to explore more general avenues for understanding the role and challenges of transition policies in mountain areas.

A sociological study of three mountain areas will be developed, with the idea that they represent a relevant laboratory for approaching the realization of the ecological transition: the Pôle d’équilibre territoriale et rural du Briançonnais, des Ecrins, du Guillestrois et du Queyras; the community of communes of Royans-Vercors and the community of communes of Trièves associated with Grenoble Métropole.