A forward-thinking metropolitan area
In 2022, Grenoble Alpes Metropolitan Area embarked on an ambitious initiative to involve its residents as key players in its climate transition. The metropolitan area, composed of 49 towns and villages and home to 450,000 inhabitants, has a strong tradition of citizen participation in public life.
Grenoble Alpes Métropole, committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and compensating for remaining emissions through carbon sequestration, organised a citizen convention that brought together 100 residents from diverse backgrounds to tackle two crucial questions: The reduction of emissions by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050.
The convention aimed at proposing actions for greenhouse gas emission reduction throughout all sectors and including lifestyle and consumption patterns. At the end of the process, the convention outlined a concrete pathway for the metropolitan area to reach its carbon neutrality goal by 2050.
A robust set-up and process
The Citizen Convention for Climate aimed to enhance the metropolitan area's commitment to climate action through complementing the existing measures in its Climate, Air, and Energy Plan.
The 100 citizens of the climate convention were selected through a lottery system which factored in geographical representation from all 49 localities and diversity in opinions and awareness on environmental issues.
Between March and October 2022, the participants attended five main working sessions managed by an independent operational committee made up of academics from several disciplines, and numerous additional meetings. A total of 100 working hours were devoted to developing the climate vision for the territory.
Through the involvement of a diverse mix of stakeholders such as scientific experts, economic operators, NGOs, and public officials in the sessions, the participants gained a multi-faceted perspective which spurred rich discussions.
The convention produced 350 proposals, which were presented to the Metropolitan Council for evaluation, which took on 80% for implementation. Beyond the list of proposals, the convention sparked a local movement for climate action. Many citizens who participated in the convention continued to promote the initiatives put forward within their communities, engaging fellow residents.
What were the key drivers supporting implementation?
Several factors supported the success of the climate convention:
- Stakeholder Engagement: A strong culture and history of citizen engagement already present in the Grenoble Alpes Metropolitan Area.
- Political: Strong political will from the President and Council of the Metropolitan Government.
- Finance: The availability of funds from the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME) made it possible to carry out the participatory process.
And what were the challenges and key takeaways?
The process faced several challenges:
- Lack of proper planning: The workload required from the different departments and municipalities within the metropolitan area could have been better anticipated, especially for the implementation phase.
- Financial constraints: Despite the success of the process, and while Grenoble Alpes Metropolitan Area was able to finance the convention partly through funding from the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME), the activity turned out to be excessively expensive. To facilitate the citizens’ participation, the metropolitan area covered commuting, and childcare costs and provided a €350 stipend per person. Additional expenses included compensations for the operational committee and communications agency.
- Coordination and governance: Coordination of public authorities and participants could be improved by including various metropolitan departments during citizen sessions, which could have translated into more realistic and concrete proposals aligned with the administration’s work. Additionally, combining the climate convention's focus on climate mitigation with the administration’s efforts on adaptation could have enhanced impact and resource use.
- Flexibility: Grenoble Alpes Metropolitan Area recommends considering other citizen engagement formats which would allow more flexibility for citizens to work closer with the technical departments.
Replication potential
The success of the Grenoble Alpes Metropolitan Area’s citizen convention inspired other municipalities. In fact, some local communes sought the Metropolitan Government’s support to implement similar processes, like a citizen youth assembly on climate. Bordeaux and Clermont-Ferrand have also approached Grenoble for advice on citizen assemblies. This demonstrates that the replication potential of this activity is quite high.
Some transferable aspects include:
- Leveraging other initiatives: Integrating deliberative processes into major city events and/or initiatives can help capitalise on their momentum, as well as provide financial resources. For example, Grenoble Alpes Metropolitan Area used its European Green Capital Award in 2022 to create a powerful citizens’ forum within the context of that initiative.
- Increasing awareness: Citizen assemblies could also be a powerful tool to boost climate change awareness amongst citizens. Grenoble Alpes ran a questionnaire before, during and after the convention. A notable increase in participants' awareness was observed after the convention.
- Enhancing legitimacy and visibility: Citizens' climate conventions can help obtain input on a city’s climate plan as well as the desired legitimacy and acceptability. A replicable outcome is that such processes can provide more visibility to what the city is already doing and its plans to combat climate change.
- Internal organisation/ governance: The convention’s proposals sparked extensive discussions and even led to the organisation of hackathons where departments jointly analysed and refined the proposals. This inter-departmental cooperation enabled transversality which, from a replication perspective, could also be achieved through an internal convention for a city’s departments, enabling different departments to develop integrated solutions for complex, cross-cutting challenges.
- Adapting the format: To enhance replicability, it is important to tailor climate conventions to the specific contexts and resources. Grenoble Alpes opted for a more traditional approach for its assembly, which proved to be expensive and work intensive. Streamlining the approach in terms of setup and structure, narrowing the scope or focusing on fewer sectors could enhance replicability. There is also a significant potential in combining climate adaptation topics with mitigation efforts, which is especially relevant for cities and metropolitan areas like Grenoble Alpes, already experiencing tangible climate impacts.
- Ensuring implementation: This is a crucial aspect of replicating successful citizen assemblies, exemplified by Grenoble Alpes Metropolitan Area’s experience. This citizen convention had the political commitment and will to follow through on the proposals put forward. This is important to retain and strengthen citizens' trust, which Grenoble Alpes ensured by formally adopting and voting on the proposals. Additionally, having a monitoring committee overseeing the implementation process incentivised departmental accountability.