1.
When the French State
and local authorities
unite their efforts to invent
a new culture of public administration
French
public
transformation
lab
new program
2014 > 2017
* Public Re•actor
*

2.
Doing better with less - or doing otherwise ?
In a period of budget pressure and radical transformations a growing number of pio-
neer governments, administrations and local authorities from all over the world are
exploring ways to create and implement public policies more citizen-driven, inspired by
disciplines such as design, ethnography, social innovation and «makers» movements.
In France, a cross-regional dynamic that began in 2008
In 2008, La 27e Région started its activities as a not-for-profit “do-tank”, working in,
with and for the 26 french regional governments. Other local authorities have joined the
movement by creating their own innovation teams and labs: counties such as Val d’Oise
or Loire-Atlantique, cities such as Lyon... In Strasbourg, “la Fabrique de l’Hospitalité”, a
creative lab focused on patient-driven medical services, was created within the public
hospital administration. Lately, the French State has also launched its own innovation
program, “Futurs Publics”. All of them have been working closely with a growing com-
munity of service designers, architects and sociologists gradually engaged in design for
public policy.
Re-acteur public, a new alliance
to boost «design for PUBLIC policy»
Now it’s time to go further. After a first set of 16 tests spread all across the country
and dealing with issues such as education, health, mobility, democracy, or procure-
ment (“Territoires en Résidences”, program started in 2009), and after 4 prototypes
of “public innovation labs” embedded in regional governments (“La Transfo”, program
launched in 2011), La 27e Région enters a new phase of dissemination. In partnership
with the French State and local authorities who have decided to unite their efforts, La
27e Région has set up a new four-year programme - RE-ACTEUR PUBLIC - led by a large
consortium of different public institutions. REACTEUR PUBLIC is designed as a vehicle
to scale up the methods, processes and thinking developed during the past six years.
Re-acteur public : 4 years, 4 directions
Re-acteur public was officially launched on May 13th 2014 by the French Minister of
Reform Marylise Lebranchu, together with representatives of French public administra-
tions, both local and national. This consortium will explore 4 areas of work until 2017 :
Skills
Building design ca-
pacities among civil
servants through
training sessions
Community
Bringing together
all the practitioners
of design for public
policy
Future
Exploring possible
futures of the admi-
nistration
Publishing
Launching a collec-
tion of books, cases
and prototypes

3.
I know La 27e Région as an absolute front-runner in the field of design-led
innovation in the public sector. The organisation has built an impressive range of results and
stands as the most legitimate and well-known organisation of its kind in France. La 27e Region
is also recognised globally as a leader in driving change in government. In a time of unprede-
cented challenges for France, the moment has clearly come to strengthen and upscale La 27e
Region as a nation-wide hub for public sector innovation. Not only would this serve French
interests, it would be a tremendously valuable contribution to the growing movement of public
design globally.
La 27e Région has proven
itself to be one of the most important
organisations supporting innovation in the
public sector, and is watched with interest
by others around the world. The new pro-
gramme focused on spreading the essential
skills for innovation is very timely. Against
a background of fiscal pressures and high
expectations, public organisations will
have to innovate more effectively – but
many lack the basic skills and manage-
ment practices to do so well. The proposed
combination of futures thinking, training,
collaboration and communities of practice is
intelligently designed to draw on experience
about how to achieve lasting change.
Today, when the need for new solutions in the public sector is increasing,
La 27e Région stands out as one of the most exciting initiatives in Europe. What makes
them unique is their mixed and broad competence base where they both are well an-
chored in politics and administration as well as in innovation and new design methods.
They also combine creative and concrete interventions with a long-term learning stra-
tegy to build up a strong foundation for public sector innovation. With a professional,
humble and respectful approach they demonstrate a rare ability to navigate among and
mediate between very diverse practices, work cultures and professions, both inside and
outside public organisations.
Team & contacts
Christian Paul, president
Stéphane Vincent, director
Anne Tavernier, finance and administration
Magali Marlin, project manager
Julien Defait, designer
Laura Pandelle, designer
Anna Lochard, research
Myriam Traore, administration
Email: infos@la27eregion.fr
Twitter: la27eregion
www: la27eregion.fr
Adress: 8 passage Brulon, 75012 Paris, FRANCE
“
“
“
“
“
“
Christian Bason, Director,
MindLab (Denmark)
Per-Anders Hillgren,
Senior researcher,
Malmö University (Sweden)
Geoff Mulgan, Director,
Nesta (UK)