The next IRGO interdisciplinary research seminar will take place in Room C107:
Thursday, May 7, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
We are honored to welcome Olivier COUSSI (Associate Professor with HDR at the University of Poitiers), who will speak on the following topic:
“Territories and Innovation: DIY, Effectuation, and Territorial Intelligence”
Faced with mounting crises—from regional mergers to pandemic shocks—our old management frameworks are breaking down. New Public Management, with its obsession with cold efficiency and siloed management, is no longer sufficient to grasp the complexity of a changing world. To breathe new life into public action and territorial management, we must shift our perspective.
Three major themes will be addressed during the presentation, following the trajectory of the HDR recently defended by Olivier Coussi, which focused on “Pathways of Reflexive Research in Public Management for Territorial Intelligence”:
- A conscious stance as a “practitioner turned researcher”: before becoming a researcher, Olivier Coussi was a practitioner in economic development and innovation. This experience informs an epistemological approach based on reflexivity, field experience, and abduction (the back-and-forth between theory and practice), for research that aims to be “situated,” useful for public action, and oriented toward the transformation of territories, while maintaining the scientific rigor necessary to avoid activism.
- A redefinition of Territorial Intelligence (TI) using conceptual tools from Management Sciences. A significant part of the research involves emancipating Territorial Intelligence from its predecessor, Economic Intelligence (EI): whereas EI followed a top-down, defensive logic (economic warfare, secrecy) centered on competitiveness, TI is conceived as a bottom-up, systemic, and collaborative approach. It thus aims for sustainable development, resilience, and citizen participation. To explain how territories adapt and innovate in the face of crises (such as the COVID-19 crisis), Olivier Coussi draws on original concepts such as “territorial bricolage” and “territorial effectuation” (acting with whatever means are at hand and co-constructing amid uncertainty). He also emphasizes that local cooperation is based not only on strategic interests but also on identity-based rationality and an emotional attachment to the territory.
- Territorial Intelligence in the Service of Public Management: Olivier Coussi critiques the siloed approaches inherited from New Public Management (NPM) and positions TI within the post-NPM era. For him, TI is not an isolated management tool, but a cross-cutting “meta-function” that must permeate all traditional local government functions (strategy, human resources, finance, communication). The ultimate goal of this collective intelligence is the creation of “territorial public value.”
In short, territorial intelligence is not just another tool in the public manager’s toolkit. It is a mindset. To meet the challenges of our century, decision-makers must stop being mere flow managers and become “bridge-builders” between worlds. A territory’s true resilience is not measured by its algorithms, but by its ability to let its citizens shape their shared future.
The seminar will be held IN-PERSON. To facilitate interaction with the speaker present at the PUSG and maintain the laboratory’s positive momentum, we encourage you to attend in person.
We thank you in advance for your attendance. Your presence is vital to the success of our laboratory.
Best regards,
Julien CUSIN
Juliette PASSEBOIS-DUCROS