[DOSSIER N°4] Territories, crisis management & resilience | COVID19

SUMMARY

"When the wind of change blows, some build walls, others windmills".

Due to the new outbreak of coronavirus in Europe and around the world, a second lockdown has been introduced in France to avoid saturating our health services. This health crisis, with its corollary of other crises (economic, social, political), calls into question our society, our development models and our modes of governance. It is accelerating already perceptible trends, which are a source of both dangers and opportunities. Political responses oscillate between a health imperative and an economic imperative, which sometimes allow participatory democratic practices to emerge in order to meet the challenges accentuated by this crisis.

While a vaccine suggests a recovery in activity and travel by 2021, will the "2nd world after" be any different? Will the French change their lifestyles and consumption patterns? Will they have more confidence in their institutions and elected representatives? While measures to support our economy have cushioned the blow for the majority of French wage earners, what will happen to the most vulnerable among us? For companies in the sectors most severely impacted, particularly tourism, events and culture? Will the recovery be "green" or "gray"? These are all challenges that can only be met collectively.

In the face of the global pandemic and the ensuing crises, responses are indeed collective - as demonstrated by the European recovery plan and European cooperation to combat the pandemic. The crisis has also had positive effects: encouraging collaboration between different territorial levels, stimulating innovation (social, technological and organizational), highlighting the agility of the local level to overcome difficulties, reaffirming the importance of our healthcare system, education, solidarity and collective intelligence in finding appropriate solutions.

Local authorities, their agencies and their networks have thus been able to orchestrate their recovery strategies while supporting local and citizen initiatives. In these times of crisis, they are indispensable relays for meeting the health, social and economic needs of residents, retailers, businesses and visitors alike.

Following on from the three dossiers written during the first containment period, this fourth special dossier offers a (non-exhaustive) panorama of the initiatives undertaken during the second containment period in the various fields of attractiveness.

At the end of the dossier, you'll find useful links for information and tools, as well as some ideas for further reflection.