caENTI second scientific periodic report (March 2007 - February 2008)

The WP6 “Tools for actors” carries out the caENTI objective. Upstream, on the one hand, it is fed by the WP4 “Fundamental methods” that gives it technological solutions that come from research generic tools and, on the other hand, by the WP5 “Governance principles” that evaluates these solutions acceptability by referring to sustainable development.

The caENTI also aims at making data sets that are applicable for multi-disciplinary research activities and for territorial development.

In this period, the WP6 TOOLS aimed at integrating the CATALYSE tools and facilitating their access on Internet.

The WP4 METHODS objective was to draft states of the art about five topics: territorial information, methods to analyze it, concept of territory, indicators of territories competitiveness, and territorial intelligence projects.

The WP5 PRINCIPLES intended to draft a “CAENTI Quality Letter on Action-Research Favouring Territorial Governance of Sustainable Development”

The WP3 PORTAL designed the general restructuring of the territorial intelligence portal, in a dynamic and communicational version, with new services.

The WP2 CONFERENCE planned the conference of HUELVA “Territorial Intelligence and Governance” on October 2007

The WP1 MANAGEMENT aims at getting an efficient and equitable distribution of means.

The WP6 TOOLS essentially aims at giving a European dimension to research actions on technical tools for the actors and on territorial data sets that are widely started at a local level or even at a national scale. It strongly contributes to the caENTI global objective.

According to the EU policies, the WP6 aims at designing and coordinating the implementation and the documentation of friendly tools, so as to help the actors of territorial sustainable development elaborating, managing, observing, evaluating and transfering participative projects in multi-sector partnerships.

In 2006, the WP6 defined the specifications of a CATALYSE Toolkit, on the basis of the CATALYSE method. CATALYSE has been used for several years since 1989 by most of the caENTI participants in multi-sector observatories. The latter ones use similar tools but gather and process different information contents. The toolkit gathers an harmonized guide for diagnosis and evaluation, a service repertory and a selection of territorial indicators with tools for quantitative, qualitative and spatial analysis.

In 2007, in order to integrate the CATALYSE tools and facilitating their access on Internet the WP6 drafted:

• The specifications of the file, an online “Inclusion Itinerary Accompaniment File”
• The specifications for the processing and editorial chain from territorial data to results
• It also enlarged its research activities towards:
• The coordination of the CATALYSE Toolkit execution
• A more global survey and experimentations about the uses of territorial tools in development partnerships

After the design of the CATALYSE Toolkit, the WP6 drafted the specifications of the integration of these tools at a upper level, online, in a Territorial Intelligence Community Systeme (TICS) designed from the actors needs and uses. The specifications are those of the TICS, the data processing ones and the ICS ones. The prototype tools are epragma, the CMS CATALYSE and mapping online solutions. The research actions on the TICS modelling concerned:

1. The integration of the statistical and spatial analysis functions
2. The analysis protocols modeling
3. The specifications of the documentary and editorial chain
4. The integration of the social uses of the development partnerships

As the technical specifications for the tools of the CATALYSE Toolkit were given, and there were already tools:

• PRAGMA key-in version used by ACCEM Experimentation
• Complete PRAGMA version for quantitative data analysis,
• ANACONDA and NUAGE for qualitative analysis.

The WP6 began here, to develop the specifications for more friendly, free, multi-platform and multi-language versions, for the CATALYSE Toolkit:

• jPRAGMA, java version of PRAGMA
• Integration of the software ANACONDA and NUAGE, in a new version of ANACONDA.

Then, the Wp6d also focused on the online versions in the prospects of the TICS:

• epragma: online version of PRAGMA, to link to jPRAGMA
• eanaconda: online version of java version of ANACONDA and NUAGE
• CATALYSE CMS: web site pattern, including the Territorial Indicators System (see deliverable 56), the repertory (see deliverable 52), a library, and the access to the CATALYSE toolkit.

As a consequence, the CATALYSE Toolkit will offer a complete set of statistical and spatial analysis tools that will be accessible online when the present prototype will be tested; this experimentation is in particular done by ACCEM.

In order to reach the WP4 METHODS objective of drafting states of the art, the coordination group Wp4t Territory started a European comparative survey of the research activities concerning territory and its conceptual approaches. The Wp4m Methods worked on the interpolation methodology, on interactive cartography and focused on observation as a meta-method. Wp4i Information continued its comparative inventory of territorial information available on Internet and sources in Europe and on national statistics websites. Starting from the “Pyramid model” Wp4c defined an indicators system which consists in 30 indicators of the territories competitiveness. Wp4p established, on the one hand, that there are no relevant information for territorial intelligence in the GDs in addition to those that are published on the EU official websites and, on the other hand, that all the relevant projects funded by the GDs can also be found on CORDIS.

The coordination group Wp4m Methods kept making research activities on the generic methods of territories analysis. After data analysis, spatial modeling and a first approach of GIS, which constitute the fundamental basis, we paid attention to two appended but indispensable techniques. Each of them is located at a boundary of the information processing chain: interpolation of spatial data that is particularly useful for the environmental data management, and dynamic cartography that is efficient in the phase of results presentation of an analysis, a diagnosis or an evaluation. Lastly, an important work started concerning the territories observation, which is considered as a meta-method. We planned to work again about the GIS during the second semester of 2008 (deliverable 28).

The coordination group Wp4i Information was involved in the seeking for indicators on national European and international statistical websites compatible with the CATALYSE file. It updated and extended the selection established for the guide in the previous period. It analyzed in which conditions they are available at the local level and established a correspondence between available indicators on statistical websites and the questions of CATALYSE guide at the lowest spatial level. As an example Wp4i selected 20 indicators suitable for INTEGRA Plus (Belgium) diagnosis (deliverable 29).

The group Wp4p Projects tried to identify projects which object corresponds to the questionings of territorial intelligence among the projects that were supported by EC, and the relevant information for territorial intelligence the GDs of the EC have, in addition to those that are published on the official websites. He tried to answer a suggestion of the caENTI project evaluators. It firstly made a project selection by using Internet, and then asked the GDs of the EC about such projects and information. They generally advised us to consult CORDIS (deliverable 30).

Then, it drafted an interdisciplinary definition of the territory concept, the Wp4t “Territory” started elaborating an European state-of-the-art about territory based on a multidisciplinary approach. Wp4t group also initiated with OPTIMA (Belgique) an approach of the appropriation of the territory concept by territorial actors. It looked for an operative definition of the territory concept.

The coordination group Wp4c Competitiveness gathered the notion of territorial competitiveness. After a comparative research action it defined the situation of territorial competitiveness within wp4 and caENTI. Starting from the pyramid model, we defined an indicators system, which consists in 30 data, Wp4c typed the graduations of competitiveness of Hungarian micro-regions. Later, Wp4c will compare this system with the European level. Wp4c also started research actions within territorial intelligence as a comparative research of human resource and labour market problems of small villages (deliverable 32).

Within WP4, the groups Wp6i and Wp6c that both work on territorial information made several joint meetings in order to contribute to the Wp6i. They prepared their integration in the portal of territorial information. In the same way, Wp6t and Wp6m worked together in the prospect of the Territorial Intelligence Community System.

The main general objective of caENTI WP5, Analysis of the application of the governance principles of sustainable development to territorial research-action, consists in deliberating on ethical and methodological principles that should be respected by research protocols of social sciences and humanities, so that the research results favour territorial governance and the territories sustainable development.

The starting point of the WP5 during this period was the document Application of the governance principles of sustainable development to territorial research-action (Deliverable 40) as the result of the WP5 performance during the first year of the caENTI Project (from March 2006 to February 2007). Based on the conclusions of this initial work, during the period March 2007 to February 2008 the debate entered in greater depth and the drafting of the action-research protocols inspired by these principles was undertaken.

After two coordination meetings (in Madrid in April and in Huelva in September) a proposal of Quality Letter was drafted by a sub-group of the WP5 and it was debated during the International Conference of Huelva in October 24th to 27th by researchers and territorial actors, either member or not of caENTI.

After the Conference six work-groups led by the six European universities involved in WP5 worked, in collaboration with the territorial actors they usually work with, on evaluating their research-actions process (mainly those included in the 2006 Catalogue) considering the criteria and principles included in the Quality Letter. They wrote in their reports (D41 to 46) the conclusion about this evaluation process.

The result of this participative debate was the caENTI Quality Letter on Action-Research Favouring Territorial Governance of Sustainable Development (deliverable 47).

The proposal of Quality Letter was complemented by an e-tool to assess the quality letter of a particular project. A first version was presented during the Conference. The work teams were asked to review and complete this instrument. The objective of this tool is to be filled in by the participant of the action-research group in an auto-assessment process. It is available for visitors on the caENTI Portal on Internet (http://www.territorial-intelligence.eu/caenti/quality/) (deliverables 41 to 47).

As a dissemination activity, the WP3 PORTAL strategy is to create a dynamics of intellectual cooperation between people, in creating internal cooperation between teams, entities. This permanent objective is fulfilled with the extranet (Intra-consortium and CooSpace).

During the first six month (March 2007-August 2007) of the concerned period, the general restructuring of the Territorial Intelligence portal implied an important and deep work. A new version of the portal, accompanied by many services, was put online for the scientific community and the general public at the end of September 2007 and was presented during the International Conference of Territorial Intelligence, Huelva 2007 in October 2007.

During this conference, the steering committee decided that the WP3 will also be in charge of the consortium external communication and of edition.

Activities of the last period will exploit the results of the survey WP3 led (Use study and needs analysis) and cover in live Besançon 2008 through the conference blog.

The WP2 CONFERENCE organized the annual International Conference of Territorial Intelligence Territorial Intelligence and Governance, Participative research-action applied to territorial developpement” in HUELVA, on October 2007. Final attendance was 132 participants from 11 countries and 55 communications were submitted. The WP2 also edits the acts (deliverable 14)

It also published the advertisement and call for papers of the next conference in BESANÇON on October 2008 (deliverable 15). This conference will pay a special attention to the tools, the generic scientific methods that inspire them, and to the links between scientific research activity and territorial action. The call for papers suggested three themes:

1. The Territorial Intelligence tools for and by the sustainable development actors
2. The scientific methods and generic tools of analysis of the spatial and territorial information
3. The evolution of the Territorial Intelligence concept

WP1 drafted the financial and scientific periodic report (deliverables 4 and 5) and a first IDM report (deliverables 3 and 6)

General prospects for 2008 and last period are:

In 2008, WP6 TOOLS planned to design a portal on European Territorial Indicators that are useful for the end actors, and to draft the specifications of the TICS according to the uses of end actors. A new coordination group Wp6u will have to organize the inventory of all the territorial intelligence development partnerships and their databases in Europe and to coordinate experimentations.

Main objective of WP5 GOVERNANCE is the integration of the present thinking state and of the results as useful principles for actors. It will focused in the elaboration of:

• A catalogue of participation research-action methodologies, especially those suitable to be applied to territorial intelligence development projects.
• Elaboration of a catalogue of technological tools
• Elaboration of a Video: “Research is at territories intelligence service.”

WP4 METHODS will complete the states of the art and make a synthesis about the territory concept, the territorial information including competitiveness indicators, and the scientific methods and generic tools of territorial information analysis that can be adapted as tools for actors.

WP3 main effort will consist in covering in live Besançon 2008 through the blog of the conference, communicating on caENTI scientific results and in launching a network around formation in the field of Territorial Intelligence.

WP2 will organize the conference in BESANÇON, on October, 16th and 17th, 2008.

WP1 will provide an efficient scientific, financial and IDM management.

See also
caENTI first scientific periodic report (March 2006 - February 2007). By Jean-Jacques GIRARDOT (caENTI Scientific coordinator, University of Franche-Comté)