Transition Management in Montreuil: Towards Perspectives of Hybridisation Between ‘Top-Down’ and ‘Bottom-Up’ Transitions

Abstract

The French government addressed the question of sustainability transitions by organizing a national debate on energy transition at the end of 2012, driven by the Ministry of Ecology. The transition motif has also been taken up by local and grassroots actors and initiatives trying to converge in a cohesive society project. These two strands of transitions, one institutional, directed in a ‘top-down’ manner, and another, a grassroots or ‘bottom-up’ sort, question the potential for a dialogue to emerge between these two dynamics and their respective actors.

This chapter draws on the case of Montreuil, the fourth most populous suburb of Paris, involved in a transition management process from 2011 to 2014 as part of the elaboration of its Local Climate Plan. Based on a 2-years’ participant observation within the project team, the aim is to describe the adaptation of transition management to the French political context and to explore the possibility of ‘hybridisations’ between ‘regime’ and ‘niche’ actors—between their roles, relations, and cultures.