Keynotes & panels
The Organizing committee is pleased to present the keynotes and panelists for the 7th CRISES International Conference.
Keynote | April 15
Innovation Policy in the Era of Multiple Crises - Shaping Societal Futures with Social Innovation
Social Innovation has increasingly been attracting attention in recent years. As a novel approach to address complex problems in global health, social care, education, energy, and environmental policies, social innovation has been embraced by stakeholders and communities on the local, regional, and national level. The dynamics of this development and the widespread uptake of social innovation in the international discourse on innovation policy and innovation research are also reflected in the increasing number of (public) programs that initiate, support and analyse social innovation. Interest in social innovation in different policy arenas has grown, particularly since the global financial crisis in the mid-2000s.
Against this background, the presentation focuses on the role of social innovation in times of multiple and deepening crises which increasingly affect all areas of social life. At the heart of the reorientation of innovation policy in the European Union lies the assumption that social innovations can significantly contribute to overcoming major societal challenges. This also involves the contribution of social innovations to strengthening the resilience of the social order.
This is linked to a second perspective on social innovation: its role in shaping social change and societal transformation. This perspective becomes more important when it becomes clear that the established practices and institutions are no longer able to solve the problems but, in the contrary, create and reinforce them.
Thus, social innovation has become the focal point of a new understanding of innovation that opens up to society and is supported by the interaction of diverse actors from civil society, business, politics and science, who work on the development of new social practices and institutions - from different sectoral perspectives and with diverging objectives, but often in a co-creative way. In this sense, social innovation can be seen as a new mode of social change and social transformation that is becoming increasingly important in view of the failure of the market and politics.
What may appear to be a major transformation is ultimately and in retrospect always the result of the interplay of numerous small changes. Such interlinked micro- changes, seeds of experimental search and learning processes, cannot be planned politically or administratively. They occur and mature as diverging pathways for a possibly different development in society. Transformation describes a comprehensive unleashing of this potential in which a multitude of practices are changed, combined, further developed and finally institutionalised against all retention, impediments and resistance. In this sense, social change and societal transformation are a multidimensional, complex and contingent process in which a large number of actors are co-creatively involved.
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Howaldt is the director of Social Research Centre Dortmund, TU Dortmund University (Germany), and professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences. He is an internationally renowned expert in the field of social innovation and co-founder and chair of the European School of Social Innovation.
In recent years, he has provided important impetus for the development of social innovation research and the formation of a scientific research community. He has lectured at numerous international conferences and published a number of books and scientific articles. Jürgen Howaldt has co-edited the Encyclopedia of Social Innovation , the Research Agenda for Social Innovation and the Atlas of Social Innovation .
He has been involved in a number of European research projects on this topic in various roles. He was the scientific coordinator of the global research project SI-DRIVE. At the same time, he has made important contributions to the integration of social innovation into a comprehensive innovation policy in Europe and beyond. He is currently working with a team of academics and practitioners to establish a national platform to promote social innovation in Germany.
Keynote | April 16
Participation, deliberation, citizenship: for an inclusive democracy
Participation and deliberation are two distinct ideas that can enter into tension, one centered on the sharing of decision-making power, the other on public debate. However, they are often confused because they complement each other in the quest for a more inclusive democracy. This quest is not without risk of reproducing social inequalities and epistemic injustices, when participatory democracy is summed up as a participatory injunction: a top-down institutional offer that seeks neither to identify possible malfunctions in public action, nor to combat inequalities in citizenship. As a result, it proves counter-productive in curbing the democratic crisis, marked by mistrust of representatives. Yet citizen participation can be a lever for regenerating democracy, which is still a work in progress. Under certain conditions, it can transform public policies, stimulate the questioning of institutions and the emancipation of individuals and groups, particularly the most precarious and those far removed from public discourse. Attention to the relational dimension of citizenship, particularly from the “margins” or minority position in society, is central to this process, as it raises the question of the visibility of plural forms of contribution to the common good and expression of feelings of injustice. Acknowledging this ordinary citizenship, rooted in the daily lives of individuals and groups, does not mean, however, that we should lock ourselves into micro-localism or populism. Among the avenues open to inclusive democracy, the cross-fertilization of knowledge and practices between the worlds of associations, universities and professionals is proving fruitful. Democratic innovations are crucial in the dark context of polarized societies, informational disorder and restricted freedoms in times of crisis.
Marion Carrel is University Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institut des Sciences Sociales (University of Lille, CeRIES). She coordinates the “Democratic production of knowledge” axis of the Groupement d'Intérêt Scientifique Démocratie et Participation, and is associated with the Centre d'étude des mouvements sociaux (Ehess).
Her work focuses on citizenship, discrimination and participatory research in working-class neighborhoods. Her publications include Faire participer les habitants? Pauvreté, citoyenneté et pouvoir d'agir dans les quartiers populaires, Lyon, ENS Editions, 2013 and Talpin J. et al, L'épreuve de la discrimination. Enquête dans les quartiers populaires, Paris, PUF, 2021. She recently published Discreet Mobilizations Against Discrimination. Informal Participation in French Deprived Neighborhoods, International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, 2022; Pluralité des savoirs et puissance des injustices épistémiques. L'enjeu du pilotage et de la validation des démarches participatives, SociologieS, [On line], 2024 and coordinated the dossier Carrel M., Godrie B., Juan M. (dir.), Recherches participatives et épistémologies radicales, Participations, 2022.1.
She is a member of the editorial board of Participations, co-editor-in-chief of Mouvements and a member of the editorial board of the European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology.
Panel 1 | April 14
In the face of multiple crises, how can we act together to bring about social transformation?
The current combination of economic, social, ecological, political and democratic crises is generating both collective inhibition and individual powerlessness. How can we overcome this to collectively bring about social transformations that match what is at stake? The current context represents a critical moment for testing our ability to act together, beyond our respective spheres. As initiatives emerge here and elsewhere to recreate ties and solidarity, reintroduce democracy into confiscated spaces, and deepen commitments to the sustainability transitions, this panel gives a voice to key players in Quebec civil society to nourish our desire to take action.
The panel will be moderated by Professor Sylvain A. Lefèvre (UQAM).
Béatrice Alain is General Director of Chantier de l'économie sociale, an organization dedicated to bringing together players and partners in the social economy to promote and develop collective entrepreneurship. With a background in economics and political science, Ms. Alain held various positions in national and international organizations from 2001 to 2010. A member of Le Chantier's permanent team since 2010, her responsibilities have included regional and international partnerships, and she has been the organization's general manager since 2018. Over the years, Ms. Alain has contributed to the Chantier's positioning as a crossroads for the social economy in Quebec and internationally, notably through the organization of the International Forum on the Social Economy in 2011 and the Global Social Economy Forum in 2016. In addition to her duties at the Chantier, she is President of TIESS, a liaison and transfer organization for innovations in the social economy, President of the Fiducie du Chantier de l'économie sociale, a patient capital fund for collective enterprises, and a member of the Conseil de l'innovation du Québec.
President of the Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain-CSN (CCMM-CSN) since June 2013, Dominique Daigneault has been a socially committed activist for almost 40 years. She first became involved in the student movement, feminist groups and grassroots organizations. With a bachelor's degree in social work, she joined the faculty at Cégep du Vieux Montréal in 1993, where she teaches in the Techniques de travail social department. It was at this point that her commitment extended to the union world, as she became involved in various ways with the Syndicat des professeur-es du cégep du Vieux Montréal-CSN. She also became involved with the CSN, notably the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et enseignants du Québec, then the CCMM-CSN, where she was elected to the executive committee for the first time in June 2007.
Bertrand Fouss is a founding member of Multitudes, a recent movement that brings together people from different backgrounds around a political project rooted in democracy. Bertrand is also general co-coordinator of Transition en Commun (TeC), an alliance for socio-ecological transition in Montreal. TeC brings together players from a wide range of backgrounds (organizations, institutions, citizen groups) with the aim of popularizing a shared vision of transition in Montreal, co-constructing new levers to implement it and mobilizing towards action. Bertrand is also co-founder of Solon, an organization that supports the development of local collective transition projects in Montreal, and was at the heart of the development of Coop Carbone, a cooperative dedicated to reducing greenhouse gases in Quebec.
Claudia Fiore-Leduc graduated from UQAM with a degree in Human and Organizational Communication in 2009, and has been working primarily in the autonomous community action (ACA) movement for nearly 20 years. Her main fields of interest are the animation of collective processes, mobilization and citizen engagement as a vector of social transformation. Through her various jobs and activist and volunteer involvement, she has acquired solid experience in autonomous popular education, training and the coordination of collective actions. From 2017 to 2023, her work with the Regroupement des organismes communautaires de l'Estrie greatly enriched her knowledge of the inner workings of the movement, and led her to gain a finer reading of its history and evolution within the current socio-political context. Since joining the Réseau québécois de l'action communautaire autonome, she has sought to highlight the crucial role played by autonomous community organizations in social progress and struggles, while defending and promoting the work and commitment of the thousands of people who work every day in ACA organizations.
Panel 2 | April 15
Sustainability transitions and experiments in social innovation
Faced with the worsening climate and environmental crisis, the inaction of political decision-makers and the pressure of industrial lobbies, a number of civil society initiatives are being implemented to take local action and contribute to the sustainability transitions. These initiatives are part of a new relationship with the territory and nature, and enable experimentation with practices that bring about social innovation. The panel will discuss examples of these initiatives with three people actively involved in such experiments or who have conducted action-research projects on them.
The panel will be moderated by Professor Sophie L. Van Neste (INRS).
Researcher, Rāhui Center (French Polynesia)
Tamatoa Bambridge is a scientist specializing in legal anthropology and a research director at the CNRS. Since 2007, he has worked in a marine biology laboratory in Moorea. With over twenty years of experience in field research in several archipelagos of French Polynesia, his work focuses mainly on land and marine resource management, as well as legal pluralism in lagoon governance. He currently focuses on land and sea governance, analyzing impacts on community adaptation and resilience, using anthropological methods in the field. Dr. Bambridge is also a professor at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, the University of French Polynesia and the University of New Caledonia, and chairs the scientific committee of the UNESCO-listed Fakarava Biosphere Reserve. His current research focuses on the intersection of biodiversity, cultures and languages, and hybrid governance in marine ecosystems.
President, Observatoire international des droits de la nature (Canada)
Yenny Vega Cárdenas, lawyer and doctor in law, is the president and co-founder of the International Observatory of the Rights of Nature. She is also a member of the expert network for the United Nations "Harmony with Nature" chapter. A lawyer in both Canada and Colombia, she holds a master's degree in business law and a PhD in North American water law from a Canadian university. Highly engaged in the protection of nature and water, she played a key role in the recognition of the rights and legal personality of the Magpie River, a historic first in Canada. She is currently leading a campaign to have the Saint Lawrence River in Canada recognized as a legal entity through the International Observatory of the Rights of Nature.
She recently co-directed a collective work on the recognition of Nature and rivers as legal subjects titled ‘’ Une personnalité juridique pour le Fleuve Saint-Laurent et les Fleuves du monde ‘’. Her most recent work, Méthodologie et épistémologie du droit comparé, published by LexisNexis Canada, represents a further advancement in the innovation of law.
Professor, Chaire de recherche sur la transition écologique (Canada)
Environmental sociologist René Audet is a professor in ESG's Department of Strategy, Social and Environmental Responsibility and holder of the UQAM Research Chair on Sustainability Transitions. He is an expert in the analysis of environmental discourse, action research and the epistemology of environmental sciences. His research focuses on the emergence of the theme of sustainability transitions in the discourses and practices of actors, and on methods of collaboration between researchers and socio-economic actors that enable transitions to take place locally.
Panel 3 | April 16
Supporting centers of resistance and transformation through research: a conversation based on the CRISES experience
In recent years, academia and research have become prime targets for attack by conservative and authoritarian movements. Depicting institutions of higher education as propaganda sites for the left, these movements have scored major victories in public debate that have undermined the academic community. The rise to power of the far-right in the United States now shows the extent of the dangers facing academic institutions and the research community. In this pivotal moment, what can research do? What can it create and build, how can it resist and stand its ground?
For the closing panel of its 7th international conference, CRISES brings together its former directors and its new director to discuss the ways in which the Centre has been a creator of breaches and interstices and, at times, a hub of resistance in the field of research and social transformation. The panel will also be an opportunity to explore the ways in which the conditions of creation and the trajectory of CRISES can inspire the future of research on social innovation and transformation in a context that surpasses, in intensity and depth, anything the Centre has experienced in the way of crises.
The panel will be moderated by Professor Nolywé Delannon (ULaval).
Co-founder of CRISES and director | 1986-2003
Benoît Lévesque is an emeritus professor at UQAM. He was co-founder and director of the Centre de recherche sur les innovations sociales from 1986 to 2003. He served as president of CIRIEC-Canada from 1996 to 2000 and president of the Scientific Council of CIRIEC International from 2002 to 2010. He has published extensively, primarily in the fields of economic sociology, the Quebec model, social innovation, social economy, governance, and ecosystems.
Director of CRISES | 2009-2018
Juan-Luis Klein is a professor in the Department of Geography at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and has also been the director of CRISES (Centre for Research on Social Innovations), frome 2009 to 2018.
His current research projects include studying proximity culture in Montreal, exploring the contribution of cultural initiatives to improving living environments and supporting societal and ecological transitions, particularly through territorial cultural commons and the concept of "Buen Vivir." He is also working on new models of action in territorial development, aimed at transforming institutional environments and promoting social and territorial justice within the framework of societal transition. Lastly, he is involved in the Ateliers des savoirs partagés (ASP) 3.0, an innovative knowledge co-construction initiative for the revitalization of rural communities and the development of socioecological transition.
Director of CRISES | 2018-2024
Sylvain A. Lefèvre is a doctor in Political Science and a professor at ESG UQAM and at the Institut des sciences de l’environnement. He directed CRISES from 2018 to 2024, of which he has been a member since 2013. His research focuses on the transformations of collective action, the role of philanthropic foundations, and the issues of social and environmental justice. He is currently co-directing the of the University Incubator for Parole d’excluEs (IUPE), with Grégoire Autin.
Director of CRISES | Since 2024
Since June 1, 2024, Sonia Tello-Rozas has been the director of CRISES. She is a professor in the Department of Organization and Human Resources at ESG UQAM and a member of the Research Group on the Management of Social and Collective Enterprises (GESC). She is also the first vice-president of the organization Innovative Territories in Social and Solidarity Economy (TIESS) and has served as co-director of the University Incubator for Parole d’excluEs (IUPE).
Sonia Tello-Rozas is interested in how social actors organize themselves to overcome certain constraints due to system failures, social innovations, and the social and solidarity economy, prioritizing collaborative research and drawing on epistemological approaches from the Global South.
