Description

The city of Chambéry, historical capital of the Savoy States, is located in the heart of the Bauges and Chartreuse pre-Alpine massifs in France. Halfway between Grenoble and Annecy, it is a real "natural European crossroads" with privileged access to Italy and Switzerland. This geographical position makes Chambéry a city committed to international relations and cooperation with neighboring European cities.

Its location in the Alps also makes Chambéry one of the cities that interact most closely with their natural environment. The challenges of tourism and ecological transition play an important role in local public policies and in the development prospects of the region.

In 2020, the city will see the arrival of a new executive resulting from an alliance between two left-wing union lists, including a citizens' list. The new municipal team has joined forces around a governance pact laying down principles of collegiality, collective intelligence and transparency in the work and decision-making processes. One of the four transversal and structuring axes of its program is to reinforce the power of action of the inhabitants and the co-construction of public policies. The first step in implementing this policy was therefore to organize a General Debate to rebuild local democracy.

The City of Chambéry launched the General States of Local Democracy (EGDL) in early 2021, an ambitious approach rolled out gradually throughout the year in order to breathe new life into civic engagement. The objective was to establish a dialogue between the various stakeholders (elected officials, community agents, citizens and associations) to rebuild local democracy together.

A first step took place from January to April 2021 in the form of a collaborative investigation concluded with a highlight on April 28, bringing together 115 people by videoconference (Covid period). Concretely, about sixty "scouts" (from different stakeholders) went to meet about a hundred people involved in the democratic life of Chambéry. These crossings of points of view around 7 existing participatory systems have made it possible to bring out five observations:

• "Real consultation, everyone wants it, no one does it"
• "It's always the same people who participate in public meetings"
• "Sometimes the distance is so great that we can't understand each other"
• "In local democracy, everyone has trouble finding their place"
• "And in the end we all say to ourselves: 'All that for that? "

The second stage from April to July 2021 made it possible to experiment and test with Chambéry residents the solutions devised to improve exchanges and cooperation between the City, its partners and its inhabitants and to respond to five challenges (in response to the 5 findings ):

• Agree on the purpose of the process
• Go to those who express themselves the least
• Identify the right intermediaries to better understand each other
• Understand the constraints and room for maneuver of each
• Show what the consultations produce in the end

On July 20, workshops-meetings took place in the different districts of the city in order to exchange and experiment using interactive tools (forum theater, card game, frescoes, tricycle, urban walks, etc.) , with as many inhabitants as possible.

Finally, a third and final stage took place from September to December 2021. At the end of the entire experimentation phase came the time for implementation, in particular through:

• The refoundation of the city's 7 Citizen Neighborhood Councils.
• The co-construction and adoption of 5 common commitments for a renewed local democracy around outreach to remote audiences, transparency, confrontation of ideas, experimentation and the importance of restitution.
• The launch of the POP label (Projects Open to the Public) to identify participatory projects carried out by the City (nature week in the city, youth forum, cultural exploration, etc.).
• The City's adherence to the Territoire d'Engagement program, proposed by the ANCT, to meet the needs for training, support or development of the governance of the community identified during the EGDL to better take into account the citizens in the construction of public policies

A final highlight, on December 4 at the Hôtel de Ville, enabled Chambéry residents to discover an exhibition retracing the entire process and to contribute concretely by participating in 6 participatory workshops on various themes.

Innovation 

This experience made it possible to take stock, with the actors involved, of past participation approaches and to experiment directly with concrete solutions to the problems identified. It also made it possible, through a training-action approach, to encourage a change in the governance of projects carried out internally by the local authority by more systematically integrating a citizen participation stage (POP label in particular).

The most emblematic aspect of the approach was the construction and adoption with all the participants (elected officials, agents, citizens and associations) of five common commitments that now serve as the foundations for making local democracy live in Chambéry (a sort of mini specifications for any new participatory approach). The work with all the actors has made it possible to express and hear the reality experienced by each person for a better understanding and appropriation of the issues. 

The approach thus made it possible to establish the new rules of the game of participation.

Inclusion

One of the objectives was to have the widest possible panel of participants, so as not to be satisfied with those who are used to this type of approach and to hear from those who do not participate in order to understand the reasons for this. The process was built around a "snowball" logic, bringing in new people and expanding the circle of participants at each stage. Very quickly, it was realized that the public meeting was not the most suitable format for everyone's participation and that it was necessary to diversify the methods used to reach out to citizens. Initially, in a complicated health context (face-to-face meetings were prohibited), the City relied on involved citizens to invite people who were far away. Then, different tools were tested on concrete projects in order to reach out to the inhabitants, especially those who would not normally come to this type of process.

Sources (In French)

• Fiche de candidature (PDF)
• Site des États Généraux
• Synthèse de la soirée du 28 avril 2021 (PDF)
• Les enseignements de l'enquête collaborative (PDF)
• Les cinc engagements adoptés (PDF)
• Présentation des temps fort 2 (PDF)
• Retour d'expérience sur les Etats Généraux de la Démocratie Locale (PDF)