Session H.
Knowledge Territorialised by Bottom-Up Practices Drawing on Specific Local Strengths.
The Case of Social Innovation Clusters at the International Level
Co-chairs: Myriam MATRAY (EVS ISTHME) & Jean-Philippe POULNOT (Think and do task force Matière & stratégie)
Global economic trends are shifting towards multipolarity, and simultaneously, territorial analysis is increasingly incorporating issues drawn from geography, anthropology, sociology, history and other fields. Against this background, the appeal of specific territories is being emphasised, not only from a micro-economic perspective, but also in the context of the territorialisation of public policies implemented by various actors at different levels (local, national, international). The specific resources of a territory, once they have been harnessed, gradually become specific assets, which are a source of territorial differentiation and thus a catalyst for local economic development. Consequently, knowledge about territorial dynamics, as well as about mechanisms that can be used to capitalise on experimentation, means that territories can be approached as a collection of practices capable of yielding valuable lessons (dissemination, spin-offs, pooling, cooperation, innovation, etc.). Social innovation clusters bring together organisations from the same geographical area that are working on a particular social or environmental issue, both in terms of their aims and their methods –particularly with regard to governance– and enable organisation in the SSE sector to increase their impact within a given territory (Perard, 2015). The specific case of bottom-up practices typical of social innovation clusters at the international level, as part of a collaborative, co-constructed and co-production approach involving local actors and citizens, is a good example of territorial innovation that shows how “territorialised knowledge” can be used as a tool for achieving a sustainable locally-based transition. To what extent are these territorial planning tools illustrative of these changing practices, and what do these multilevel partnerships between institutions and local actors look like? Paradoxically, “The very nature of the globalised economy based on competition requires strong links with territories, with their long history of diversity, with their capacity to organise long-term processes and to promote innovation and learning” (Veltz, 2014).
Selected Bibliographical References
Campagne P., Pecqueur B., 2014, Le développement territorial. Une réponse émergente à la mondialisation, éd. Charles Léopold Mayer.
Colletis G., Pecqueur B., 1993, “Intégration des espaces et quasi-intégration des firmes : vers de nouvelles rencontres productives”, Revue d’économie régionale et urbaine, no. 3, p. 489-508.
Courlet C., 1989, “Les industrialisations endogènes”, Revue Tiers Monde, no. 118, p. 413-421.
European Commission, 2014, Stratégies nationales / régionales d’innovation pour une spécialisation intelligente (RIS3).
Gumuchian H., Pecqueur B. (eds.), 2007, La ressource territoriale. Lien entre le territoire et l’aspect social, Paris, Economica.
Labo de l’ESS, 2013, Développer les pôles territoriaux de coopération économique. Projet & plan d’action (CNCRES–COORACE–MES–RTES partnership) [www.ptce.fr].
Matray M., 2010, Le dynamisme d’évolution des pôles de compétitivité territoriaux. Approche territorialisée de l’écosystème des pôles de compétitivité en France, PhD thesis in economics, Université Lyon 3.
Matray M., Poisat J., 2014, “Les PTCE, une dynamique citoyenne et institutionnelle d’innovations sociales”, in B. Lamotte, A. Le Roy, C. Massit and E. Puissant (eds.), Innovations sociales, innovations économiques, Louvain, Presses universitaires de Louvain, p. 521-536.
Matray M., Poulnot J.-P., 2020, “Des enjeux de gouvernance multiscalaire. Le rôle de l’ESS par et pour les territoires”, Les Cahiers du CEDIMES, 15(1), “Territoires : identités, innovation, gouvernance et stratégies” dossier, p. 218-239.
Perard P., 2015, Les clusters d’innovation sociale. Analyse et bonnes pratiques européennes, Bruxelles, Pour la solidarité, “Notes d’analyse” series.
Porter M., 1998, “Clusters and the New Economics of Competition”, Harvard Business Review, 76(6), p. 77-90.
Veltz P. [1996] 2014, Mondialisation villes et territoires, Paris, PUF.
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