The event is organised by the Development and Urbanism Agency of Lille Métropole and the Urbanism and Development Agency of the Flandre-Dunkerque Region (AGUR).
Today more than ever, our society is changing and undergoing profound disturbances. Climate change, economic mutation, social tensions, digital revolution, citizens’ expectations, democratic developments… institutions and territorial key players have to manage multiple phenomena which interact, and operate at different levels and on different scales. Old models are worn out and requirements are increasingly rigourous. Similarly to the territories where they intervene, engineers have to brace themselves to be resilient and integrate new subjects and new modes of action.
Territories and all the key players have to be innovative in order to exist, to re-invent themselves in order to provide a future and to stand apart looking objectively and further, beyond administrative limits, to co-operate in order to include the multiplicity of key players, to reach ever increasingly complex objectives and to address new challenges.
No territory can today avoid reconsidering its development models, policies and projects. Touches of modernity are not sufficient, there are profound changes that have to be made: such is the injunction issued to territories, in order to sustainably preserve their attractiveness and the quality of life and services that they offer their inhabitants.
How can we reinvent ourselves, through our philosophical approaches and our modes of action to face the multiple changes underway and to offer opportunities for a territorial renewal?
By committing to a process of creating urban and territorial public policies and projects with a DESIGN approach which once again gives first priority to the uses and users being taken into consideration, while leaving room for creativity and experimentation.
By INNOVATING, not only to stand out in a competitive world but also - and above all- to imagine new solutions which address specific local situations.
By being AUDACIOUS, going beyond models which, up until now, have been the rule and to dare to take risks to enable municipalities to embark upon and open up new avenues.
To create, to innovate, is to dare! This audacity can take different forms and find a path through an ambitious and sustainable philosophy and modes of action, reflected through design and innovation.