From social innovation clusters to technological innovation clusters in the South Region.
The fourth study visit of the +Resilient project was organised by the University of Aix-Marseille and the LEST (Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail). The visit took place in Marseille on 12 and 13 March. More than 20 representatives from 6 European countries and nearly 20 local actors participated in the event.
The first day took place at the Friche de la Belle de Mai. La Friche, as it is more commonly known in Marseille, is a former tobacco factory that now lives thanks to a Société Coopérative d'Intérêt Collectif (SCIC) whose mission is to develop arts and culture in the Belle de Mai district. During the morning, local actors involved in social innovation presented their activities from five different fields: digital humanities (against digital exclusion), fab-labs and makers spaces, urban spaces occupied and managed by citizens, personal services and incubators for social innovation.
These exchanges were followed by a visit to the Jardin Levat, a former convent and its gardens that now belong to the City of Marseille. Le Jardin Levat is accessible to all. It is a space that brings together different groups of collective actors, including artists and gardeners, and from which the inhabitants of the Belle de Mai district can freely benefit.
This first day ended with a pitch and speed-networking session between local and European actors, which was a great opportunity to exchange on initiatives undertaken across Europe.
The second day of the study visit started at The Camp, a cluster of private companies with social responsibility (in partnership with public institutions). This group of companies invests to support technological innovations in order to meet the main societal challenges for the future of the planet: energy, food and mobility. This visit allowed participants to learn about another type of cluster and different methods used to promote the link between social/societal innovation and technological innovation. The visit to The Camp was the perfect transition for the afternoon session held at the South Region offices, which focused on the use of open data. Several local actors presented their structures and initiatives that have successfully used open data for social innovation.
For more information on the project, visit its website here: https://plus-resilient.interreg-med.eu/