Addressing complex topics like air quality or Zero Net Land Take (ZAN in French) is no easy task, especially when it comes to orchestrating dialogue among a territory’s stakeholders! GEM Labs, the innovation campus of Grenoble Ecole de Management, has been experimenting with an innovative approach called the "Catalyst" for the past three years.
How do you define a "thorny" issue at the territorial level?
It disrupts established situations and power dynamics, creating opposing camps with diverging interests, rejections, and polarized opinions. For example, ZAN, which by 2050 will ban construction on undeveloped land unless an equivalent area is restored to nature. This will completely reorganize French land-use law!
Furthermore, thorny issues involve many stakeholders. For ZAN, we worked with local authorities, notaries, real estate agents, developers, the construction sector, urban planning agencies, biodiversity actors, and more. Bringing such a diverse group together quarterly for exploratory workshops was a real challenge.
What approach do you suggest to overcome these challenges?
First, focus on forward-looking topics rather than current issues that spark heated debate. For example, we didn’t create a Catalyst on Low Emission Zones (ZFE in French)*, which are already partially implemented, but rather on raising citizen awareness about air quality.
The second pitfall is rushing into solutions; each stakeholder tends to push their own while rejecting others due to a lack of prior dialogue or incompatibility with their organization. Our approach alternates between divergence and convergence: first, a broad, shared overview of problems and solutions (divergence); then, prioritizing key issues and identifying solutions that reach consensus (convergence).
How does a "Catalyst" work in practice?
We facilitate four one-day workshops over the course of a year with 15 to 20 participants from key stakeholder groups. The first two workshops focus on the problem: How do we frame and break it down? Who is impacted and how? The last two workshops focus on solutions: What can we propose? How should we evaluate ideas? What will we retain and test?
The participants lead the reflection process using design thinking and collective intelligence tools. Academic insights and innovative concepts are always integrated.
What outcomes have you achieved?
The process works, with attendance rates at the four workshops around 90%. For air quality, we found that leveraging "influencers"—engaged citizens willing to change behaviors and inspire others—is key. For ZAN, solutions like shared infrastructure or temporary property rights already exist, but much remains to be done to scale, adopt, and implement them.
What’s the next theme for the 2025 Catalyst?
We’re letting territorial stakeholders approach us with their “thorny issues.” We’ll decide the next topic based on their input. For now, we’re focused on consolidating and capitalizing on what we’ve learned.
*Low Emission Zones where the most polluting vehicles are banned.
They participated in the Catalyst
- Algoé
- Cluster montagne
- Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels Isère (CEN)
- Département de l’Isère
- EPFL du Dauphiné
- Grenoble Alpes Metropole
- Groupe Cheval
- LPO Auvergne Rhône Alpes
- Samse
- SCoT Grande région de Grenoble
- The Shifters
Inclusive Sustainability Chair
The multi-partner Inclusive Sustainability Chair aims to generate knowledge to analyze, envision, and experiment with new frameworks that support territorial transformations for social and environmental sustainability.
GEM Programs for Transition
▶MSc Management for Sustainability Transitions
▶MSc Energy Business & Climate Strategy
▶Advanced Master in Technology Management and Responsible Innovation
Further readings on ZAN
- Research
- Territory
