Transformont – A platform for social innovations in the mountains

The Transformont project is a continuation of previous work carried out by Labex. Combining research and action, it places itself at the heart of transition issues in mountain territories, and seeks to answer three questions:

• How can we characterize the specific features of social innovations in the mountains?
• What role do these innovations play in the dynamics of marginal areas?
• How can we assess and reinforce the impact of these innovations on territorial transition in the mountains?

The project aims to :

Collect data on social innovations in the mountains; set up a network of players and researchers; organize workshops for the co-construction of knowledge on transformative social innovations and run a collaborative platform listing the various initiatives underway in the territories.

The collaborative platform raises the profile of existing initiatives, facilitates networking between those involved in these innovations, promotes participatory action-research methods, and makes the results of research and collaborative workshops visible.

Research into the transformative capacities of mountain territories has been launched with three initial partners, all of which support social innovation: Adrets, Cap Rural and Crefad. The aim of these partnerships is to build up a solid core of researchers and local players to develop collaborative working methods on the dynamics of transformation towards sustainable territories.

The project is fully in line with the theme of mountains as “demonstrators” of transitions.Connections with existing platforms in other mountain regions are to be established, particularly on the scale of the Alpine arc.

As part of the Transformont project, Carine Pachoud (Pacte) is carrying out a post-doctorate focusing on the dynamics of networks in the agro-ecological transition in the Bauges region.

Researchers associated with the Transformont project :

Karine Basset (Larhra), Cristina Del Biaggio (Pacte), Marjolaine Gros-Balthazard (Pacte), Maud Hirzak (Lest), Pierre-Antoine Landel (Pacte), Véronique Peyrache-Gadaud (Edytem), Nicolas Senil (Pacte).