« Nature in priority neighbourhoods »: what participants have to say
January 2024
Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires (ANCT)
In September 2022, the Foresight Factory ‘Nature in priority neighbourhoods: what levers for the ecological transition, employment, social cohesion and territorial cohesion?’ set out to identify and analyse the extent to which the development of nature in priority neighbourhoods can provide innovative responses to the challenges facing these areas. The 2024 report gives the floor to the participants, offering a relevant diversity of points of view.
To download : fp_qpv_nature_complet_29_janvier_0.pdf (11 MiB)
Nizar Baraket, Deputy Director of Neighbourhood Life, Equality and Citizenship, City of Echirolles (38)
The Fabrique Prospective enabled us to develop the operational implementation of the priorities of the future city contract around the transition to solidarity (by linking urban agriculture and food), employment (for example, by encouraging school projects to focus on green space jobs) and the positive use of space (for example, with the participatory orchard). The approach has also enabled us to structure projects that bring people together, beyond the primary concerns of each individual, and create links between them.
Isabelle Martin, deputy mayor in charge of mobility, Sandrine Loembe, deputy mayor in charge of the environment, and Carmen Murano, director of urban policy and social cohesion, Ville de Vernouillet (78)
We would like to thank the ANCT for inviting Vernouillet, a town with a population of 10,000 in the Yvelines department, to take part in the Fabrique Prospective on nature in the Cité du Parc priority neighbourhood. It was an opportunity to mobilise more than 40 partners and residents around a subject that is close to the heart of the municipal team. The Fabrique provided an opportunity to meet the Ellyx and Oxalis teams, who were dynamic, caring and experts in the field. Reflections, possibilities and projections were shared throughout the year. The urban regeneration programme currently underway in the district will be able to incorporate some of these ideas to improve the quality of life of local residents and take greater account of environmental issues in future development. It was particularly interesting to ask all these questions collectively: municipal services, elected representatives, government and local authority services, associations and residents.
Valérie Têtu, Social and Solidarity Economy Officer, Pays de Grasse Urban Community (06)
The Fabrique Prospective enabled us to test our ability to work across departments in the city and the conurbation, in a collective dynamic linked to the measures in place in the area: NPNRU, Action cœur de ville, territorial food project, city contract and local development plan for the social economy. By asking questions that led us to take a step to the side, the Fabrique Prospective enabled us to take another look at the issues surrounding nature in the town centre. The process gave us time to get to know each other better and gain confidence in our ability to work together. The Fabrique Prospective enabled us to share a plan of action for the short, medium and long term, which has not remained a pious hope, since some actions are already underway: the discovery of green spaces to invest in an environment described as totally mineral, the creation of a citizen’s garden in the heart of the urban district, the greening of the city with projects to plant planters by residents and shopkeepers in close partnership with the city’s green spaces and heritage departments in particular.
Colombe Mille, Ecological Transition Officer, Agence nationale pour la rénovation urbaine (National Agency for Urban Renewal)
Urban renewal provides an opportunity to rethink the place of nature in the city, in that it is both a factor of well-being and social cohesion for residents, and a lever for adapting to climate change. Through its programmes, and in particular the ‘Quartier Fertiles’ call for projects, the ANRU supports urban agriculture projects that enhance the role of living things in urban neighbourhoods. The Fabrique Prospective has shed new light on the ANRU’s reflections on the place of nature and biodiversity in urban renewal projects: feedback from the territories has shed light on the obstacles (problems of managing nature areas, negative perceptions of nature in the city) and levers (co-benefits of nature areas on mobility and the living environment) to the implementation of projects promoting nature in the inner city. Discussions with the Fabrique’s partners enabled an inventory to be drawn up of the measures available to local authorities to support them in their projects to improve the way in which biodiversity is taken into account. For the ANRU, the discussions at the Foresight Factory are a continuation of the Resilient Neighbourhoods approach, which seeks to re-examine urban renewal projects in terms of their resilience in the face of the consequences of climate change. Rethinking the place of living things in urban neighbourhoods will help to improve the quality of life for residents and the ability of areas to adapt.
Florence Brun, Project Manager, Support for stakeholders and regional mobilisation, Thibault Faraüs, Project Manager, Development and promotion of the ‘Atlas de la Biodiversité Communale’ programme and Isabelle Vial, Head of foresight and evaluation of public action, French Office for Biodiversity.
At a time when environmental challenges, and in particular the erosion of biodiversity, are becoming ever more acute, these upheavals are having an unequal impact on people across the country, with the disadvantaged neighbourhoods particularly at risk. Demonstrating the value of promoting nature in the city as part of a cross-cutting approach, the Fabrique Prospective has chosen to look at nature as an opportunity for priority neighbourhoods and their residents, not only in terms of the ecological transition, but also in terms of employment and social cohesion. Access to natural spaces, environmental education, water, soft mobility, management of roads and green spaces, citizen involvement, urban agriculture… this Foresight Factory, through its multidisciplinary approach, has made it possible to tackle a wide range of themes and to bring together a diversity of players involved in urban and nature conservation policies in order to decompartmentalise these issues. This work has led to the emergence of local projects at the intersection of these issues in the four areas supported. We hope that the results of this Fabrique will spread throughout the region and be a first step towards establishing nature in the city as a key theme in priority neighbourhoods!
Cécile Vo Van, Nature in the City and Nature-based Solutions Project Manager, Territoires et ville Directorate, Cerema
With the adaptation solutions required by climate change, nature in the city has now carved out a place for itself in urban planning policies, becoming an integral part of political discourse and taking the form of specific funding. However, the private and public spaces dedicated to nature and its inhabitants are often unevenly distributed throughout the city, and their ecological quality varies. The ‘Fabrique Prospective La nature dans les QPV’ (Nature in the disadvantaged neighbourhoods) was a first opportunity to experiment with and implement measures to promote nature in the city in the disadvantaged neighbourhoods of four very different areas. In my opinion, the Fabrique Prospective tackled a blind spot in urban nature policies, which was very exciting. The methodology combined rigour and freedom. It provided the time and space to transform the complexity of the subject and the diversity of viewpoints into a space for collective innovation. The participants, from national networks, were able to support the discussions in the different regions, which enabled them to put in place operational actions in the field of nature in the city. Sharing four contrasting experiences also provides useful lessons at national level, and as an organisation that supports local authorities, it opens up avenues for contributing to innovative proposals in these areas. We look forward to following the progress of these projects.
Marianne Vebr, Eco-neighbourhood Label Project Manager, DGALN, Ministry for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion
The role of nature in the city is a crucial issue in sustainable development, in terms of adapting to climate change, regaining biodiversity, improving water management and air pollution control, as well as improving the quality of the living environment and creating spaces where people can get together, practise sport and enjoy good mental and physical health. Among urbanised areas, disadvantaged neighbourhoods are more socially and climatically vulnerable. They are particularly affected by climatic disturbances, such as heat peaks, drought and flooding, because they are often more densely built-up. During the heatwave in the summer of 2022, 62% of residents in these areas had difficulty finding a cool island, 14 points more than the French average. The Fabrique Prospective has helped to define the key issues concerning the place of nature in the QPVs, by bringing together a panel of relevant stakeholders, who have collectively identified the obstacles and levers in the design of projects to accelerate the ecological transition in these neighbourhoods. From diagnosis to implementation, the Fabrique Prospective wove a common thread through local and inter-site seminars, addressing all aspects (financial, social, landscaping, development, etc.) and developing a concrete scenario for local authorities, in a constructive and caring atmosphere.
Nadège Lecouturier, Head of the ‘Plus de nature dans mon quartier’ programme, Ligue pour la protection des oiseaux (League for the Protection of Birds)
The Fabrique Prospective enabled us to share both our observations from the field and possible solutions for involving local players and citizens. The support of Ellyx and Oxalis was an added bonus, making knowledge sharing and capitalising on experience feedback efficient and structured. For the LPO, the Fabrique Prospective has also been a veritable toolbox for knowledge of the various funding and support mechanisms in the social and urban policy fields. All in all, the Fabrique Prospective has created a ‘Nature and QPV’ dynamic, and we hope that it will continue to live on.
