Problem addressed

Many French territories face pressing social and environmental challenges — social isolation, lack of local services, ecological transition — yet struggle to mobilise citizens and local actors around collective solutions.

At the same time, research shows that 94% of French citizens want to contribute to solving societal issues, but only 20% have done so concretely (Ticket for Change & Occurrence, 2016). This gap between civic willingness and actual engagement reflects a lack of accessible, structured frameworks for collective action at the local level.

Additionally, locally-rooted entrepreneurial projects often lack the community support, visibility, and accompaniment needed to emerge and grow. Existing incubation models tend to focus on individual entrepreneurs rather than collective, citizen-led initiatives that respond to shared territorial needs.

Innovative solution

Start-Up de Territoire introduces a pioneering model of citizen-led territorial innovation combining community organising, collective intelligence, and social entrepreneurship support.

The approach is innovative in several ways:

1. A structured 4-step territorial methodology:
Step 0: Building a core team and shared vision
Step 1: Collecting dreams, ideas, and needs from inhabitants and local actors
Step 2: Co-designing solutions during large-scale open creativity events (from 30 to 1,492 participants)
Step 3: Selecting projects and forming collective teams
Step 4: Accompanying project development within the local ecosystem

2. Joyful collective intelligence : The approach deliberately combines rigour and celebration, making participation accessible and attractive to a wide diversity of citizens.

3. A replicable model with local adaptation: Each territory adapts the methodology to its specific context, culture, and resources, while benefiting from a shared toolkit, peer mentoring, and a national learning network.

4. Inclusive by design: The model creates space for all — including people experiencing social exclusion, unemployment, or marginalisation — to contribute and take action in their community.

Key results and benefits

Start-Up de Territoire operates through a network model designed for replication, adaptation, and scaling:
- Replicated: The core 4-step methodology has been transferred to 29 independent local teams across France and Luxembourg, maintaining its fundamental approach.
- Adapted: Each territory customises the model to its specific context (urban, rural, overseas...)
- Scaled-up: From 6 pilot territories in 2018 to 29 territories today, with 3 successive cohorts trained and a 4th launching in autumn 2026.

Quantitative results:
20,750 citizens mobilised to share their dreams and ideas
638 projects supported and accompanied
832 non-relocatable local jobs created
24 territories officially labelled, 5 in the launch phase
3 cohorts of new territories trained (Promotion 1, 2, and 3)

Qualitative benefits:
Strengthened social cohesion and inter-actor cooperation within territories
Increased civic engagement and empowerment of citizens, including those usually excluded from decision-making
Development of local entrepreneurship ecosystems combining social economy, public authorities, and civil society
Transfer of facilitation skills to local teams, enabling them to independently animate future creativity events
Creation of a national learning network fostering inter-territorial solidarity and knowledge sharing

Potential for mainstreaming

Start-Up de Territoire demonstrates strong potential for transfer and scaling across Europe, for several reasons:
- A documented, replicable methodology: The 4-step approach is formalized in a shared toolkit accessible to all network members. It has already been successfully adapted to diverse territorial contexts — urban, rural, and overseas — across France.
- Adaptability to different cultural and institutional contexts: The model is designed to accommodate local specificities while maintaining its core principles. 
- The approach directly addresses active inclusion, social integration, access to employment, and community-based social innovation.
- Several local Start-Up de Territoire teams have successfully accessed EU funds (ESF+, ERDF...) to support their territorial activities, demonstrating the methodology's compatibility with European funding frameworks and its potential for broader EU-supported replication.
- A training and mentoring model ready for transfer: The 6-month accompaniment programme (including seminars, online thematic modules, and peer mentoring) can be delivered in a large variety of contexts.
- Growing interest from European territories: The methodology has already been successfully transferred to Luxembourg (Boost Lokal Lëtzebuerg), demonstrating its replicability across different national and cultural contexts within Europe.