💡Inventing the society of tomorrow at the heart of our territories

The Essentials for Designing an Ambitious, Unifying and Sustainable Territorial Project

In a world undergoing profound transition, one truth stands out:

the territory is the human scale of reinvention.

It is at this level, wide enough to mobilize diverse forces, close enough to remain tangible, that new models can emerge, aligning economic performance, social progress and environmental regeneration.

Reinventing a territory begins with building a shared vision, deeply rooted in its DNA: its know-how, its resources, its cultural and geographic identity.

It also requires creating space for collective imagination, to design desirable futures, and connecting all worlds, companies, universities, research centers, public authorities, associations, social economy actors, citizens, to transform that vision into action.

At Activate Innovation, we believe that any long-lasting transformation arises from the combination of meaning, science, cooperation and experimentation.

Our mission: helping territories become living ecosystems, capable of mobilizing their stakeholders, launching structuring initiatives, and turning knowledge into concrete, durable and shared impact.

1. Crafting a vision rooted in the territory’s DNA

Diagnostics, studies and plans are essential.

But they are not enough.

A territory truly transforms when it relies on a strong, inspiring vision, capable of creating collective alignment.

A central question then arises:

“As a territory, what kind of society do we want to become?

What contribution do we want to make to the world?”

This vision must be grounded in the territory’s DNA.

A territory is not a blank page: it is made of traditions, cultures, climates, expertise, landscapes, and industrial heritage.

It is a living ecosystem that must be understood, respected… and reinterpreted.

As Bergson wrote, it is about “cultivating one’s vital impulse to persevere in one’s being.”

A territory projects itself into the future by amplifying what makes it unique.

Daring to dream to open new possibilities

Every vision requires a crucial moment: the time for dreaming.

A moment where we allow ourselves to imagine unexpected futures, to ask new questions to researchers, companies, and citizens.

This is where reinventive ideas emerge, the ones that give strength and meaning to projects.

It is also where a vision of recroissance (regrowth) is born: the creation of global value serving people, society, the environment, and shared prosperity.

A modern, open vision, welcoming technologies and global connections, yet nurturing sovereignty and resilience, two essential conditions to face crises and uncertainty.

How to articulate this vision?

· Organize territorial vision workshops gathering elected officials, researchers, businesses, associations, social economy actors, citizens.

· Reveal identity strengths and connect them with contemporary transitions: energy, digital, climate, demographics.

· Co-create a clear and mobilizing collective narrative, which will become the shared compass.

This articulation DNA + Vision + Imagination + Innovation is the foundation of any sustainable transformation.

2. The territory: the human scale of reinvention

Major ecological, technological, industrial, and social transitions will succeed only if long-separated worlds learn to cooperate:

companies, social economy actors, universities, research centers, local authorities, associations, citizens.

Such cooperation cannot be improvised.

It requires a scale where people can understand one another, meet, and engage: the territory.

Innovation at human scale

At this level, innovation is grounded in reality.

It meets the needs, uses and constraints of inhabitants and organizations.

Mutual understanding

Stakeholders perceive the concrete impacts of transformations.

This facilitates alignment and collective action.

Dialogue & trust

The territory offers a space where worlds can speak to one another, challenge their visions, and adjust their ambitions.

Critical mass

It gathers enough skills, actors and resources to enable ambitious transformations…

without becoming a structure too large to act effectively.

In this context, cooperation generates a new momentum:

the desire to build together, to combine perspectives, to unleash energy.

Public actors become orchestrators, revealing talents, facilitating interactions, nurturing dynamics.

The territory becomes the scale where reinvention becomes tangible.

3. From vision to action: building a living ecosystem

A vision only has value when it becomes a movement.

A territory does not transform through a juxtaposition of separate projects, even relevant ones.

It transforms when it becomes a living ecosystem, where ideas, skills, funding and experiments flow freely.

It is about moving beyond the “project catalogue” logic to embrace coherence,

where 1 + 1 = 3, and the meeting of worlds generates more value than their coexistence.

The levers of this ecosystem

· Build a critical mass of public, private, academic and associative actors.

· Launch collective expeditions, co-funded locally and by Europe.

· Develop research-action programs aligned with territorial priorities.

· Establish shared governance.

· Steer progress with economic, social and environmental impact indicators.

This ecosystem becomes the true engine of transformation.

4. Putting technology at the service of territorial progress

Technology is not the starting point.

It is a lever serving a human, territorial and sovereign project.

The right question is not:

“Which technology should we adopt?”

but

“How can technology improve life, strengthen connections, enhance resources, protect the territory?”

ETHNO/Techno: reconciling local practices and modern innovation

It is about restoring balance between:

· real needs of inhabitants,

· cultural and vernacular practices, often forgotten,

· and technology as an enhancement of these practices.

Local models of agriculture, water management, architecture or mobility sometimes make more sense, especially when augmented by technology.

Three categories of innovation useful to territories

1. Frugal innovation

A Wi-Fi hotspot installed on a bus connects remote Indian villages every day.

Small means. Big impact.

2. Infrastructural innovation

The Orange Eutelsat satellite constellations reduce digital inequality in Brittany and Martinique.

3. Systemic innovation

The ECOTRAIN project reactivates old railways with a light, low-tech capsule (in collaboration with IMT Mines Albi, IMT Nord Europe, Socofer France, CLEARSY, and Stratiforme Industries).

CVE and Lhyfe reinvent territorial energy models: decentralized renewable power and green hydrogen close to local uses.

These innovations show how well-oriented technology becomes a driver of sovereignty, resilience and shared prosperity.

5. A vision already in motion: The iNEST example

In Northeast Italy, the nine universities of the iNEST consortium, which ACTIVATE INNOVATION have been supporting since early 2024, are experimenting with a unique model of Research-Driven Innovation.

By bringing together researchers, companies and local authorities, the territory is generating concrete projects: smart agrifood, distributed energy, future industrial value chains, agricultural sensors for MELINDA, regenerative marine technologies, and more.

iNEST illustrates a simple idea:

a territory becomes a living laboratory when it connects its research, its companies and its institutions around a shared vision.

👉🏼 Toward a new territorial renaissance

Reinventing a territory is not about managing change.

It is about provoking it, with meaning, method and cooperation.

Territories that succeed will be those that know how to:

· formulate an inspiring vision,

· anchor themselves in their DNA,

· connect their living forces,

· build an innovation ecosystem,

· strengthen sovereignty through knowledge,

· generate truly shared prosperity.

Transforming competitiveness clusters into recroissance clusters opens a new path:

being competitive, yes, but by placing the creation of global value for residents, businesses and the environment at the heart of the model.

The future is not written elsewhere.

It is written here, in territories, collectively.

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Together.”