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In a context of systemic, ecological and socio-economic crisis, the Chair considers the local level as a key scale for action towards sustainability. Environmental and social disruptions manifest themselves concretely in local areas, but it is also at this level that new models can be imagined and tested to respond to these challenges.

The Chair pays particular attention to sentinel territories, i.e. areas on the frontline of transition processes, such as mountain regions or places undergoing deep urban, socio-economic and environmental transformation.

The Local Sustainability Transition and Well-being Chair at GEM aims to produce knowledge that helps analyse, imagine, experiment with and disseminate new mechanisms to support socio-ecological transitions in local and regional contexts. These insights are made available to diverse audiences, combining pedagogical, academic and practice-oriented objectives, and contributing to the decision-making processes of socio-economic actors.

Video in French

To fulfil its mission, the Local Sustainability Transition and Well-being Chair mobilises multidisciplinary research and a wide range of methodologies (experimentation, quantitative and qualitative surveys, collective intelligence workshops, etc.). Its ambition is to shed light both on the goals of socio-ecological transition (good living, sustainability, well-being) and on the means to achieve them (sobriety, efficiency, regeneration).

Main objectives:

• Observe and understand local transition dynamics to better grasp environmental, economic and social challenges at the local level.
• Monitor and experiment with innovative arrangements that foster the sustainability of local ecosystems.
• Support and showcase initiatives led by actors engaged in transition processes, by transforming research outputs into decision-support tools and levers for sustainable action.
• Develop new tools for assessing local well-being.

The Chair is built on an open and collaborative governance model, bringing together researchers, businesses and institutional partners around shared projects. It is co-directed by:

• Thibault Daudigeos, Professor of Management, Associate Dean for Research at GEM, and member of the research team “Alternative Forms of Markets and Organizations”. His work examines the growing role of companies in society and how these responsibilities reshape their strategies, organisational forms and governance, particularly from a local and regional perspective.

• Fiona Ottaviani, Economist, Associate Professor in Economics at GEM, member of the same research team. Her research focuses on the transformation of rationalisation, action and evaluation logics in public policies and organisations, with a particular interest in the design and use of well-being indicators.

1. Sustainable lifestyles and socio-ecological practices

This research theme examines uses, aspirations and tensions between lifestyles, economic models and social and environmental sustainability. It is based on recurring surveys conducted with a research panel comprising several thousand residents of the Grenoble metropolitan area.

2. New models of local organisation for transition

This structuring research theme is organised around three complementary strands:

• the analysis of local platforms, with a particular focus on social and industrial infrastructures (shared spaces, brownfields, etc.);
• the assessment of local impacts and well-being to better understand the effects of ongoing transformations
• the study of local attractiveness and ecosystems, in order to identify the levers that strengthen resilience in the face of systemic crises.

3. Experiential approaches and transition support tools

This theme aims to design and test collective intelligence tools and design fiction methods to enhance collaboration among local stakeholders facing complex sustainability challenges. It relies on games, immersive formats and innovation catalysts that facilitate engagement and co-construction.This work is carried out in close collaboration with GEM Labs, notably the Tim Lab and the Playground.

4. Ecological and economic transition of mountain regions

This theme focuses on supporting the transformation of regional business models in mountain regions. It examines how resorts reinvent themselves, the emergence of major development projects, and the evolution of place-based governance arrangements. Workshops are also conducted with mountain areas to co-design a “transition compass” to guide strategic choices.

In 2024, GEM launched its new strategic plan, EAGLE 2030, structured around three pillars:

• Journey, rethinking learning through immersive experiences;
• Science, positioning GEM as a key player in innovation and technological transitions;
• Transitions, engaging the School and its stakeholders in the sustainable transformation of organisations and society.

The Local Sustainability Transition and Well-being Chair contributes to all three pillars through its research activities and links with teaching programmes, notably the MSc Management for Sustainability Transitions. It also contributes to the development of training modules such as ST101 – Sustainability Transition in international business, pedagogical projects with ecosystem partners, serious games, master’s theses and case studies.

• Frédéric Bally, Professor of Management, External Research Associate to the Chair
• Thomas Bolognesi, Professor of Economics
• Thibault Daudigeos, Professor of Management
• Delphine Gatti, Head of Innovation Programmes, GEM LABS
• Albane Grandazzi, Professor of Management
• Eléonore Lavoine, PhD in Management, External Research Associate to the Chair
• Claire Le Breton, Professor of Sustainability and Sociology of Work
• Lola Mercier Valero, Research Assistant
• Hélène Michel, Professor of Management and Creativity
• Fiona Ottaviani, Professor of Economics
• Hélène Picard, Professor of Management
• Olivier Trendel, Professor of Marketing
• Vincent Vindevoghel, PhD in Management, External Research Associate to the Chair

The Chair operates through three partner groups: one bringing together local and regional public authorities, one composed of companies, and a third group made up of actors from the social and solidarity economy (SSE). The third group includes partners with whom the Chair engages in shared expertise and knowledge exchange.

Public Authorities Group

Corporate Partners Group

Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) Group

Expertise and Knowledge-Sharing Partners