Round Table n°2 - Transparency in public action: A democratic guarantee?
TRANSPARENCY IN PUBLIC ACTION:
A DEMOCRATIC GUARANTEE?
Thematic round table n°2
PRESENTATION
The public health crisis has highlighted the different ways of approaching crisis management, both in authoritarian states and democracies. The transparency of action taken at the highest level symbolizes the red line.
However, public opinion can be destabilized by this transparency. The health crisis has shown us how, faced with a phenomenon that is unknown to scientists and therefore very difficult to anticipate, this transparency adopted by authorities, through the message that “we are learning and adapting every day”, has been perceived by some as a lack of control and anticipation of the pandemic from our governments.
The confusion caused has not always enabled us to properly understand the directions taken by governments. As a result, citizens have different and multiple interpretations of the message given, creating ambiguity and, at times, a sense of having been swindled. And yet, as Frédérick Lemarchand reminds us, “the right to knowledge has become a fundamental value in our societies” – but is this right absolute?
Moreover, can a designer provide the tools and support for this “path to truth”? Should public policy design ensure total transparency, from the making of the political design to the implementation of the public action? Can design embody a guarantee to citizens of a transparent democratic process?
The video in French is available by clicking on FR in the banner at the top of the page.
Luther QUENUM
PUBLIC POLICY DESIGNER
OF THE EUROPEAN METROPOLIS OF LILLE
Luther Quenum is a public policy designer for Lille Metropole. He is also curator of the Public Action Maison POC and runs the Lille Metropole laboratory. After his studies, he co-founded the agency Unqui designers, before joining one of the innovation hubs at La Poste Group. He spent some time in the consulting world before returning to freelance work.
He has worked with SMEs, associations and craftspeople. Navigating between these different fields helps give him a broader perspective on the environments in which design evolves. His work and analysis is focused mainly on use forms and experience. He views design as a global creative approach.
Yoan OLLIVIER
DESIGNER
CO-FOUNDER OF THE AGENCY VRAIMENT VRAIMENT
A partner in the agency Vraiment Vraiment, where he is responsible for innovation training and future trends, Yoan Ollivier graduated from ENSCI, the French national institute for advanced studies in industrial design. At the core of his work is his interest in the development of administrative practices and the day-to-day responsibilities of local authority agents.
A huge fan of science fiction and anticipation, he has been an active member of Lyon Metropolis’s future trends network since 2014, where he enjoys exploring public administration practices and topics related to the smart city. Currently, he is working with the 27e Région association on its public reflex programme that is taking a collaborative and design-led approach to promoting an exchange of takeaways from the COVID pandemic between a group of 15 local authorities.
Geoffrey DORNE
INDEPENDENT DESIGNER
Geoffrey Dorne is an independent designer in digital and printed technology, a teacher, lecturer and design researcher. Geoffrey works towards resistant, resilient, independent design. He is the founder of Design & Human and the environmental design lab
Frédérick LEMARCHAND
PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY OF CAEN UNIVERSITY
Frédérick Lemarchand is Professor of Sociology at the University of Caen Normandie, where he co-directs the Centre for Research into Risks and Vulnerabilities (Cerrev) and the Risk section of the Human Sciences Research Centre (CNRS). He is also a lecturer at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM).
His work mainly relates to the relationships between technoscience and society, through an understanding of risks and vulnerabilities of anthropic origin. An analyst of pandemics and technological disasters (Chernobyl, Fukushima), but also focusing on new forms of social innovation in ecological transition systems, he has tirelessly questioned the possibility of bringing forms of authentic democracy into technoscientific societies.
He is currently coordinating two projects (ANR and RIN) dedicated to the democracy of energy transition in relation to third places.
