A poverty trap is any self-reinforcing mechanism which causes poverty to persist. If it persists from generation to generation, the trap starts to reinforce itself if steps are not taken to break the cycle.

1. FractaPov
Reducing Poverty by Complex Science

2. Profile

3. Leila Rebbouh, PhD in Science
●Academic Research in Materials Science ~ 6 y
●Teaching Experience ~ 7 y
●International Experience (UoM) ~ 2 y
●Corporate R&D (Toyota, Huntsman) ~ 5 y
●Entrepreneurial R&D projects ~ 2 y
Major projects : FractaTrade, Energrid, RenoWatt tender for
Nethys Energy, OffGrid California, Cover3D, Energy
Performance Contracting for Industry and small towns

4. SWOT Analysis
Strengths
- Good knowledge of subsidies
policies
- Experience in bottom-up
approach
- Expert in Physics Models
Weaknesses
- Alumni at ULg, not UCL
- No economics academical
background
Opportunities
- Large Business, Gov and
Academical network
- Involved in startups environment
(digital and big data)
Threats
- Polyvalent, not expert
- Bold temper

5. Services
Administrative Management
- Account management (management of calls, implementation and validation
of conventions, administrative and budget follow-up)
- Administrative representative in research steering committees or working
groups (i.e. NCP-FNRS, DGOx, ...)
Research coordination
- Implementation of a communicated agenda and documented actions and
deliverables
→ Frequents short-timed project meetings to keep information streaming
→ Workshops to resolve issues and address key problems
→ Congresses and mainstream events to present key advances in Research
- Reinforcement of interdisciplinarity by cross management

6. Seeking Support and Research Grants
- Developing partnerships with private sector
- Identifying need for CORE to work in collaboration with other academic
partners/industries in order to access funding (i.e. Horizon 2020, FNRS, ARC,
walloon progams,...)
- Maintaining good relationships with partners
- Implementing a portfolio of projects and proposals
- Networking
- Building research projects, writing research projects, validating research
projects
- Presenting projects at different steps of call
- Supports the project’s holder

7. Communicating on the Consortium Research
- Increasing personal branding of CORE’s members by applying techniques
of digital marketing (especially young researchers)
- Promoting research projects by applying techniques of digital marketing
- Viral distribution of results and articles via social media and open access
platforms
- Vulgarisation (podcasts, blogging)
- Finding opportunities for traditional media

8. Leveling up 9 billions humans’ welfare

9. Leveling up 9 billions humans’ welfare

10. My choices
Weak Strong
Opportunities for subsidies
Utopia
Reality
Smart Cities
(Energy, Health,
Economy, Mobility)
Basic Income
(strategy of fundings, analytical studies, impact on public
finance, comparison with reducing working hours policies)
Fractal Poverty Traps
(strategic parameters, static cartography, dynamic simulations,
impact on public investment policies)

11. FractaPov: a mesoscale study of urban poverty
traps in Wallonia
Choices/Constraints
- Choice of partners in Wallonia
- All partners are academic
- No access to scientific literature, except via open access platform

12. FractaPov: a mesoscale study of urban poverty
traps in Wallonia
CORE’s members
Isabelle Thomas
#ecomic geography, #environmental economics, #welfare economics,
#fractal models, #cartography, #public economics, #political economics,
#urban growth
François Maniquet
Thierry Bréchet

13. Introduction
57% of
unemployment.
Public Investment in
standing buildings to
attract more affluent
people.
Questions :
1) Urban poverty trap?
2) Is this public investment strategic to reduce
chronic poverty?

14. Introduction
A poverty trap is any self-reinforcing mechanism which causes poverty to persist.
If it persists from generation to generation, the trap starts to reinforce itself if steps are not
taken to break the cycle.
Multiple dynamic equilibria => S-
shape of the growth function, with
stable dynamic equilibria at high
and low levels of welfare (Wh, Wl),
=> at least one unstable dynamic
equilibrium, a critical threshold (Wc)

15. Academical Background
Fractal poverty traps have been largely studied in the extreme rural poor in sub-Saharan Africa
and this concept has been used for the UN Millennium Project Final Report.
5 structural reasons have been identified:
● high transport costs and small market size,
● low-productivity agriculture,
● very high disease burden,
● adverse Geopolitics,
● slow diffusion of technology from abroad
3 external factors have been identified:
● the form of primary commodity dependence,
● unsustainable external debt,
● the aid/debt service system
Papers have been published on urban poverty traps. None of them is based on the fractal
approach. However, Jarrett (2013) recommends to use complex science.

16. Our Goal
The goal is to deliver mesoscale study of urban poverty traps in Wallonia.
Practically, a fractal approach will be used to identify the structural and external factors leading
to urban poverty traps.
Based on complex analysis of big data, strategic proposals of sustainable public investment
policies will be evaluated.

17. Work Packages
1) Identification of structural and external parameters
leading to urban poverty traps
Skills requested: economic geography, environmental economics, welfare
economics
Identified CORE's members : Isabelle Thomas, Thierry Bréchet, François
Maniquet
→ a report on relevant parameters for Walloon urban poverty traps

18. 2) Development of a static cartography of Walloon
urban poverty traps based on fractal models
Skills requested : cartography, fractal models
Identified CORE's members: Isabelle Thomas
(External partner : Roland Billen, University of Liège)
→ a cartography of Walloon poverty traps

19. 3)Dynamic simulations of fractal poverty traps in parallel
with urban growth (and dynamic cartography of Walloon
urban poverty)
Skills requested : dynamic fractal models, cartography, urban growth
Identified CORE's members: Isabelle Thomas
External partner : Renaud Lambiotte, University of Namur – (Roland Billen, University of Liège)
→ a set of innovative and predictive models – based on a fractal approach- to
study and simulate chronic poverty

20. 4)Impact of relevant parameters on public investments
policies
Skills requested : public economics, micro-economics
Identified CORE's members: François Maniquet
5)Proposals of sustainable and strategic investments
policies
Skills requested : public economics, political economics, environmental politics, economic
geography
Identified CORE's members: François Maniquet, Thierry Bréchet, Isabelle Thomas
→ a report on suggested public investment policies

21. Merci
leila@lr-physics.com