Local and regional economic development
Why
To improve social and economic situations of a given area, maximise well-being of its residents and workers, mitigate possible activity losses. To locally embed value addition, innovation capacities, skills. To take advantage of aligning with the green-digital transition while contributing to the related techno-economic transformations. Places are not equal in geography, economic structure, history, but all have assets and potentials. Local economic development, necessarily stemming from local features and capacities, is the most concrete, efficient and durable way to deploy them.
Our contribution
We deliver place-based economic development strategies building on existing capacities, for both immediate (economic activity hence jobs and income) and long-term outcomes. To ensure the latter, we stimulate value addition, its local rooting and its drivers: cooperations, thriving ecosystems, skills and their diffusion, innovation capacities.
We prepare diagnostics, mappings, prefigurations, roadmaps. We initiate and ensure execution, working hand in hand with private companies and securing their involvement based on tangible interests, the critical condition of their lasting engagement.
We build circular strategies and develop recycling or reusing loops, including the subsequent value chains and economic activity.
To date, we have supported the creation of (average per project/cumulative):
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172/1 380 jobs
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4.1/32.8M€ net salaries
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4.7/37.8 M€ sales revenue
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8.2/65.4 M€ added value
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1.8/12.6 M€ national tax
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1.7/13.6M€ local tax
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And the rejuvenation of 21 500 m2 on industrial sites by 16 SMEs for 0.9M€ annual new rent
Methodology
We always build on existing capacities: prefabricated or disconnected approaches cannot work. We analyse local capacities, assets, history, map industries and firms through clear and appealing visualisations.
We examine innovation regimes, determined by openness levels or nature and intensity of local interactions. We do that in close cooperation with economic stakeholders: SMEs, startups, large groups, public organisations and agencies, local authorities, universities, research centres, innovation networks, professional networks, accelerators, etc.
We identify in-demand markets generating short-term income, define industries or activities to be supported or incepted, as well as ways to do so (rent support, land/real estate lending, calls for proposals or expression of interest, etc.). We suggest new products or services meant to respond to a given need, or new sectors stemming from recombined capabilities. We organise and structure existing, emerging or future value chains.
For long-term gains, we multiply interactions and cooperation opportunities focusing on their quality and intensity. We spur synergies and cooperations around concrete projects or productions, for example by suggesting value adding innovations, upgrades or processes. We bridge and align industries including remote ones, foster creative or unexpected interactions, meant to develop unique and sought-after know-how: circular players or industries (materials providers and users) often collaborate for the very first time.
We identify innovation and knowledge sources then foster their largest diffusion. Conversion to green-digital economy is one very efficient way, yielding increased competences and innovation capacities.
We combine several approaches (e.g. related variety, modular innovation) and establish the best balance between diversification and specialisation.
For example
For the GREEN AND CIRCULAR REJUVENATION project (Greater Lille Authority), we have delivered a local economic development strategy on four brownfield sites in Roubaix and Tourcoing. Starting from a strong building industry and a promising beginning in reusing, we fostered construction waste reusing as well as circular and collaborative economy (e.g. second hand shop, refurbishment-repairing, organic waste management, building tools hire), while extending to thermal insulation or urban agriculture.
We secured 16 ready-to-move ventures or SMEs accounting for EUR 0.9 M annual rent on 21 500m2, EUR 6.2 M sales revenue and 711 direct and indirect jobs. The consistency, pertinence and quality of these four future ‘micro-ecosystems’ were the main drivers of their decisions. This critical mass was in turn paramount for the project’s execution and unfolding.
For the SEDINNOVE project, we identified the most promising innovation relays for the input material at hand (marine sediment, through which quarries could explore several applications). We also suggested ways to maximise value addition within the area, prioritising local SMEs over subsidiaries of national or international groups, which would not necessarily keep all the gains locally.
For the SEDISEINE project, we optimised the creation of immediate income, value addition and innovation, by suggesting river sediment reuse towards the farming option, for powerful and promising local economic outcomes: beyond a mere reduction in input costs (the civil engineering option), this is a major and long-term innovation, which raises farm yields by 20 to 30%.
