La 27e Région

We are a non profit organisation gathering local governments as well as other public stakeholders

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La 27e Région ?

We are The 27e Région, a nonprofit organisation gathering local governments as well as other public stakeholders. Our permanent team has about ten people with various profiles: sociology, design, management, political science, cultural policies, etc.


Our vision : in order to face ecological, social and democratic challenges, we must invent a new model of society, capable of reducing social inequalities while taking care of natural resources and other living beings. We are accompanying the transformation of public policies in this direction.

We help public actors to connect to reality, to question in depth the aims they pursue, and to transform their way of designing and implementing public policies.

Disseminating an experimental culture

With our community of members, practitioners and researchers, we have been developing for almost twenty years a culture of public action based on experimentation and on the possibility of trying and making mistakes to learn and progress. We are designing and implementing tests to explore the future of public services. For this, we use a variety of methods: design, humanities and social sciences, popular education, etc. Our approach is based on existing achievements in France and internationally.

Our members participate through companionship activities, participatory investigations, and multi-annual research, training and action programs.

Some of the things we are good at

Building capacity within public administrations. We know how to develop the skills, capabilities, and resources needed to transform public organizations. 

Creating multi-stakeholder and inter-territorial coalitions. We are accustomed to creating and facilitating long-term groups that bring together local governments, private actors, and researchers from different territories to work together on public issues. We always ensure that the international dimension is taken into account to provide inspiration and perspective.  

Articulating research and action. We have learned to mobilize groups of stakeholders that combine various disciplines and articulate research and action in order to address increasingly complex issues and produce operational knowledge. In total, more than twenty different disciplines have been associated with our programs—design, sociology, management, urban planning, political science, geography, economics, performing arts, video, and more.

A long-term investigation

The idea for La 27th Region was born during a conversation in January 2007 between the presidents of the regional councils at the time. After five years of experimentation, it became an association in 2012. It now has around 30 members, local governments and public organizations, and a community of professionals, practitioners, and researchers in France and around the world.

April 2007

The idea of the 27th Region is mentioned for the first time in a book published by Autrement editions.

January 2008

Incubation of the “27th Region” project within the FING, a foundation dedicated to preparing the next generation of the internet.

May 2008

First steering committee meeting of the 27th Region, launch of the Territoires en Résidences program.

April 2010

Publication of the book Design des politiques publiques (Public Policy Design) by La Documentation Française editions.

June 2011

Launch of the La Transfo program, dedicated to creating public innovation labs in 10 local governments. 

October 2011

La Transfo receives two awards in France and Europe (Victoires des acteurs publics, Design Management Award)

December 2011

Creation of « La 27e Région » as a nonprofit

May 2013

Study trip to the MindLab (Copenhagen) with Marylise Lebranchu, Minister of Public Services.

May 2014

Opening of Superpublic, the first third place dedicated to public innovation. Launch of the Ré-acteur public program, a partnership program between the State administration and local governments.

June 2014

La 27e Région is listed as one of the world's most inspiring initiatives in public innovation by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Foundation and the British agency Nesta.

January 2015

Modification of the association's governance, publication of the “Chantier ouvert au public” (Open to the Public) book by La Documentation française editions.

March 2015

Launch of the Les Éclaireurs program dedicated to the future of administrative practices

October 2017

The American foundation Bloomberg Philanthropies announces its support for La 27e Région as part of La Transfo.

November 2017

Launch of the international community “States of Change” at Superpublic. Launch of Les Halles Civiques, a network of two third places dedicated to public, democratic, and civic transformation, with organisations such as Démocratie Ouverte, Indivisible, Kawaa, and the Institut for citizen participation. 

August 2018

The 27th Region celebrates its 10th anniversary.

January 2019

Launch of the Enacting the Commons program to explore how the commons are transforming public action in Europe.

January 2020

Launch of the Capacités Publiques program, dedicated to the post-COVID resilience of administrations.

April 2020

Launch of Déformation(s), dedicated to training elected officials on transition issues. 

October 2020

Launch of Juristes Embarqués, dedicated to legal creativity in third places. 

November 2020

Launch of Nouvelles Mesures, dedicated to ecological accounting in administrations. 

November 2021

Launch of Lieux Communs, dedicated to methods of collective organization and management of public facilities, services, and spaces.

January 2022

Launch of The Labonautes, dedicated to the future of public innovation laboratories.

September 2022

Launch of Nouveaux Accords, dedicated to the future of urban inclusion policies. Launch of Rebonds, dedicated to new models of local economic development.

June 2024

Launch of Tronc Commun, dedicated to collective forest management.

Joining us in our effort for public transformation

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