# Territorial Dialogue on Energy in the Pays du Grand Briançonnais

Mathilde Boissier, Nils Ferrand, Emmanuel Krieger, Marine Valette, Jean Paul Boulos, Côme Chanteloup, Matthieu Planchot, Théo Valex, Violaine Combe, Peter Sturm, et al.

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Mathilde Boissier, Nils Ferrand, Emmanuel Krieger, Marine Valette, Jean Paul Boulos, et al. Territorial Dialogue on Energy in the Pays du Grand Briançonnais. FSD8 2025 - 8th International Farming System Design Conference, Aug 2025, Palaiseau, France. pp.1-6. hal-05273745

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Submitted on 23 Sep 2025

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# Territorial Dialogue on Energy in the Pays du Grand Briançonnais

Mathilde Boissier*, Nils Ferrand†, Emmanuel Krieger*, Marine Valette‡, Jean Paul Boulos§, Côme Chanteloup*, Matthieu Planchot*, Théo Valex§, Violaine Combe¶, Peter Sturm*, Wajma El Khaouda||, Pierre Leroy||, Daphné Khalifa||

## 1 Context

Located in the north-east of the french Hautes Alpes department, the Pôle d'Équilibre Territorial et Rural du Briançonnais, du Pays des Écrins, du Guillestrois et du Queyras (PETR) brings together 36 municipalities (3 communautés de communes) and has a population of 36,000. This area, at the head of the Durance river basin, is at the heart of a number of issues (biodiversity reserve, energy production, tourism, particularly winter tourism, etc.). Reconciling the expectations of the various actors in the area (energy producers, environmentalists, local authorities) with regard to these issues presents difficulties. This is why the chairman of the PETR has asked the Inria STEEP and INRAE G-EAU teams to accompany an intervention-research to support the actors, through a concertation. Its objective is to define the region's energy policy, combining the consideration of resource management and environmental impacts [7]. The aim is to involve stakeholders throughout the process: in the construction of a participation plan and in its implementation, including participatory modelling and the creation of an action plan to be implemented in the future. This collaboration involves a number of challenges, such as a joint search for funding, the mobilisation of citizens and the decision-making nature of the process, as well as the scientific output (on the mobilisation of biophysical accounting in the regions) associated with the project.

## 2 Objectives

In the current context of energy crisis and tensions over the installation of new micro-hydropower stations in the area, the PETR wishes to initiate a collective reflection on its energy policy. Biodiversity and landscapes, the real assets of the Briançonnais, Écrins, Guillestrois and Queyras areas, are also particularly fragile. In this context, how can we reconcile energy autonomy with the preservation of sensitive ecosystems? With this in mind, its Chairman, Pierre Leroy, has called for collaboration with research teams in order to

<footnote>* Équipe STEEP, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, INRIA, Grenoble INP, LJK, Grenoble, France</footnote>

<footnote>† Direction de l'Appui aux Politiques Publiques, INRAE, France</footnote>

<footnote>‡ Contributed to this work during her internship at STEEP in 2024</footnote>

<footnote>§ Contributed to this work through a student project during the TEET Master at ENSE3, Grenoble, France</footnote>

<footnote>¶ Contributed to this work as a contractual service provider</footnote>

<footnote>|| Pôle d'Équilibre Territorial et Rural du Briançonnais, des Écrins, du Guillestrois et du Queyras</footnote>
* make this project an intervention-research to address and facilitate the conditions for decision-making participation upstream of actions affecting the intersecting issues of water, rivers, climate, energy, biodiversity and landscapes,

* mobilise the complementary expertise of the research teams, in decision-making participation engineering (CoOPLAGE [6]) and territorial metabolism modelling [4], to propose new participatory methodologies.

The aim of the co-constructed approach is to support stakeholders in developing local policies and actions that integrate the management of energy consumption (sobriety, energy efficiency of buildings, mobility, etc.) and a collective reflection on the paths to follow in order to envisage energy production adapted to the challenges and constraints of the region, in line with the PCAET (Plan climat-air-énergie territorial – Territorial Climate-Air-Energy Plan) in place in the region. This experimental approach and the tools developed could then be transferred to other issues and regions (for example, coastal regions whose economy also depends on tourism, while at the same time being subject to severe environmental constraints). As well as providing support for the area, this approach also involves scientific research (intervention-research) to produce and test knowledge and methods for supporting territories in transition.

## 3 Construction and animation of a participatory decision process for the territory

Following the CoOPLAGE methodology [6], the involvement of stakeholders in the field began very early in the project, with interviews and workshops that enabled them to construct the principles and stages of participation themselves (PrePar diagram [6]). These stages, summarised in an action plan, include training, a territorial diagnosis, the construction of a model of the territory transformed into a serious game to enable it to be appropriated by the stakeholders, a mid-term re-assessment of the territory's issues before the definition of an action plan. Beyond the methodological aspects, the timeframe is also largely dependent on funding. Initially made possible by a research project from the CNRS's Mission Interdisciplinaire (MITI) (2022 and 2023), the area then obtained funding from the Banque des Territoires, enabling the project leader Wajma El Khaouda to be hired, and thus providing an essential boost to the project (see Figure 1). The two research teams involved have also received additional funding under the PEPR Agroecology and Digital Research Programme (LINDDA project).

There are many activities on the ground. They began with a series of individual interviews in 2022, followed by an initial plenary meeting for everyone in the area (Agora du Grand Briançonnais, see Figure 2). This was followed by preparatory workshops. Since the beginning of 2024, time spent in the field has been divided between public meetings, project management meetings (Steering Committee, Scientific Council, Citizen's Panel), training workshops (participation, water, energy), webinars, a conference in Briançon, a field visit and animations of the EnerKey serious game. The year 2025 has so far been the subject of a reflection on the territory's priority orientations as well as the construction of an action plan (COOPLAN methodology [6]), the restitution of which closes the dialogue formally opened to the whole territory. Finally, the aim was to support the launch of the policy council, so that it could take over from the dialogue. Each year we have taken part in the Conference of Mayors, the PETR's annual progress report for all the region's elected representatives, in order to raise the profile of the project.

Open to all the people in the area, a governance scheme ensures that the dialogue runs smoothly (Figure 2). In this project, a panel of 25 citizens has been appointed (18 drawn by lot,
<figure><img src="image_2.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1: *Projet schedule*.</figcaption></figure>

7 through an application process). They were invited to become strongly involved, with sessions specifically designed for them. In a short space of time and with limited resources, the panel's commitment ensures that the process is representative of the public. The steering committee is made up of around fifteen local stakeholders. Finally, the scientific advisory board brings together 14 researchers from a wide range of disciplines (meteorology, biodiversity, sociology, design, energy modelling, economics, participatory research, etc.).

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /><figcaption>Figure 2: *Project governance.*</figcaption></figure>

4 Scientific issues associated with territorial problems

Although this project has a large operational component to support the area in its reflection, it is also about scientific research, involving various research questions. At the interface between participation engineering and biophysical accounting (quantitative analysis of biophysical, non-monetary flows in an area), these questions are as follows, each of which being the subject of experiments as well as monitoring-evaluation throughout the process:

1. What use can be made of biophysical accounting models [4], in particular energy flow analyses, to facilitate the dialogue at stake here? This research question is based on the observation that, although essential in many scientific works, biophysical accounting and
the systemic understanding it enables are little used in the territories [5]. Initial workshops were held in November 2022 (figure 3), involving rough analyses of energy flows. Subsequent work was carried out as part of Emmanuel Krieger's PhD thesis, in order to quantify these flows precisely in the PETR (see figure 4 for an example). Various models were built in response to points of interest expressed by local stakeholders. These new models were again discussed in workshops in the region at the end of 2024, and further workshops are planned during the stages of refocusing priorities and building the action plan.

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /><figcaption>Figure 3: Probation workshop on flow analysis, November 2022.</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>Figure 4: Energy used for the arrival of tourists on the territory (GWh), diagram produced by Emmanuel Krieger.</figcaption></figure>

2. How can these biophysical analysis tools, which emphasise a systemic understanding of resource management, be coupled with the tools used in participatory engineering (and in particular serious games)? The currents of participatory engineering involving participatory modelling (for example, companion modelling [3] or CoOPLAGE [6]) make extensive use of serious games, which are also participatory simulations [1]: built from a model of the territory shared by its inhabitants, they enable this model to be tested and modifications to be experimented with. The debriefing of such game sessions then allows a return to reality, to anchor the learning and reconsider the strategies tested during the game time as potential transformations. This project experimented with the involvement of biophysical accounting in the design of the territory game. This was done in different stages: first of all, the creation of a game that was decorrelated from the territory, Transkey [2], which enabled us to introduce biophysical accounting into a playful framework. Then we developed the EnerKey game (see figures 5, 6 and 7), which is more faithful to the situation to be discussed in the PETR region. Both games are still being developed and evaluated (including laboratory experiments in 2023). Justine Peneau and Annie Gentès (CY Cergy Paris Université) are conducting a reflexive study of the construction of these games, which will make it possible to mobilise the discipline of design to document this research.
<figure><img src="image_6.png" /><figcaption>Figure 5: Conceptual diagram of the EnerKey game.</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_7.png" /><figcaption>Figure 6: Photo of the EnerKey game, autumn 2024.</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_8.png" /><figcaption>Figure 7: TransKey, summer 2024.</figcaption></figure>

3. More generally, what should be taken into account when considering energy policy at local level? What are the interdependencies between issues, and how can models and indicators be combined to facilitate concertation? What decision-making procedure should be implemented between the various players at all levels to enable the “project” to achieve its objectives? Each intervention-research project has its own specificities and requires major adaptations on the part of the scientists involved. Impossible to tackle without an interdisciplinary approach, these projects require reflexive work. In fact, as well as devising new tools, it is already a question of adapting the old ones to a new context (different territory, resources involved, societal context, times, etc.). A monitoring and evaluation system has been set up and an overall analysis of the project will be proposed at the end.
# 5 Conclusion

This intervention-research project in partnership with the PETR is an opportunity to work on the relationship between science and society, in order to support territorial transitions in a democratic way. It enables the knowledge produced by academic research to be compared with the needs of citizens involved in a democratic decision-making process to transform their region. As the project is still in progress, it is not yet possible to propose clear prospects for it. Nevertheless, initial observations on the mobilisation and linking of different types of knowledge and knowledge needs, as well as on the introduction of biophysical accounting, will undoubtedly open up new projects in the future. Finally, aside from the research issues, which are nonetheless essential, the question of funding for this type of project has already been identified as crucial. In fact, it is essential to fund the positions needed to facilitate the creation of links, thus making the involvement of local scientists and citizens all the more relevant.

# Acknowledgements.

This work has been supported throughout its duration by Banque des Territoires – Caisse des Dépôts, BANQUE DES TERRITOIRES. The preparatory phase was supported by the SysPart project, funded in 2022 and 2023 by the MITI programme of CNRS. The work is also supported by the LINDDA project, funded within the Agroecology and Digital programme (project number ANR-22-PEAE-0004).

# References

[1] N. Becu. *Les courants d'influence et la pratique de la simulation participative : contours, design et contributions aux changements sociétaux et organisationnels dans les territoires*. Habilitation thesis, La Rochelle Université, 2020.

[2] M. Boissier, N. Ferrand, E. Krieger, J.Y. Courtonne, and P. Sturm. Playing with flows in transition territories. In *Proceedings of the 54th edition of ISAGA, International Simulation and Gaming for Social and Environmental Transitions*, 2023.

[3] Collectif ComMod. La modélisation comme outil d'accompagnement. *Natures sciences sociétés*, 13(2):165-168, 2005.

[4] J.Y. Courtonne. *Evaluation environnementale de territoires à travers l'analyse de filières : la comptabilité biophysique pour l'aide à la décision délibérative*. Phd thesis, Université Grenoble Alpes, 2016.

[5] S. Harchaoui, M. Grillot, J.Y. Courtonne, and S. Madelrieux. A review of socio-metabolic research on circularity in agri-food systems and pathways to action. *Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems*, (129):535—556, 2024.

[6] E. Hassenforder and N. Ferrand. *Transformative participation for socio-ecological sustainability: Around the CoOPLAGE pathways*. Éditions Quæ, 2024.

[7] PETR. Website of the PETR, tab Concertation politique énergétique (visited on July 4, 2025), 2025. URL: https://www.paysgrandbrianconnais.fr/concertation-politique-energetique/informations-et-ressources.