PhD – Adélaïde Subts – Mission-driven territories

In the face of climate disruption, biodiversity loss and disrupted biogeochemical cycles, the territorial level is decisive for the ecological transition. Yet local governance remains fragmented into sectoral silos (water, energy, agriculture, transport), which hinders collective action and innovation. The challenge is to design credible and mobilising long-term transformation pathways.

The thesis studies transformative governance as a lever for the resilience of socio-ecosystems. It first characterises the arrangements that foster collective exploration among public, private, non-profit and citizen actors, and assesses existing ones, notably through the case of the Mellois-en-Poitou community of municipalities. It then experiments with new forms of local governance, drawing on design theory and recent work on mission-oriented governance, through intervention research combining design workshops, participant observation and interviews.