Dear friends In my post last December, I referred to the collective work undertaken to provide transparent input to an election campaign that we could already see might not be up to the challenge. The two months that have passed have not reassured us on this point. This is why our collective dynamic has broadened: from a "workshop" within the Fabrique des transitions, it has become a call, "Let's dare the territories!" presented on a dedicated website. All those who share this concern are invited to sign it by going to: http://osonslesterritoires.fr/5.html Pourquoi "Let's dare the territories"? because we believe, as the appeal below underlines, that we must decentralise, get out of the confinement of the national scene on itself; that the territories, life basins, places of concrete rooting of the society, spaces of cooperation between its various actors, are called to play a major role in the conduct of the systemic transition which is imposed on us; and that it is therefore fruitful to think about the world from the point of view of the territories, because each territory, even if it is apparently marginalized, is affected by all the changes in the world and constitutes a privileged space for thinking together about our future; for thinking about it with a view to acting both locally and globally.

This collective approach has resulted in a "book of proposals" which you will find attached. Ouest France published an article on the subject, attached, in its February 1st edition. I also conducted an interview with a journalist from Ouest France which helps to understand the process. A long extract will be published on the Ouest France website. I enclose the full text. This is the first stage in the media coverage of our approach. Our aim, as you have understood, is not to promote this or that candidate but to take advantage of this very special moment of the presidential election to put on the public stage perspectives which, today, seem to us to be cruelly missing in the democratic debate.

Here is the text of the appeal:

2022: presidential and legislative elections in France; French presidency of the European Union; thirtieth anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit. France, Europe, the world. Three important deadlines. Are the perspectives proposed today to the French people by the various presidential candidates up to the task? Unfortunately not, for two reasons: the national political scene, by polarising attention, imposes blinkers on us; the temporal horizon of the presidential and legislative mandates makes us short-sighted, by obscuring the need to include immediate actions in a long-term transition. A misconception that is fraught with danger for democracy: at a time when states are struggling to cope with challenges that are beyond them, blinkeredness and short-sightedness reinforce doubts about the ability of democracies to effectively meet long-term challenges. The evolution of societies of course calls for collective responses at the national level: the globalisation of trade has increased social inequalities; the ageing of the population is unbalancing our health policy and our pension schemes; changes in the composition of the national community, particularly in the younger generations, are calling into question our traditional model of integration; economic, political and climatic refugees are rushing to the borders of Europe; climate disruption is making it urgent for national, European and global policies to be commensurate with the challenges. But, as Albert Einstein observed, we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. It is this illusion that we find in the current debates, whereas it is the entire system of thought on the economy, governance, law and relations between societies that needs to be transformed, by breaking with the logic of domination that structures our social relations and our relationship with nature; it is the entire system of actors inherited from the previous century, starting with the functioning of the State, that needs to be rethought. This is the effort that our collective has undertaken.

Firstly, by renewing the perspective, by linking the current crises to a deeper crisis, that of relationships. This crisis can be seen in many areas: the relationship between humanity and the biosphere, with 'nature' reduced to the status of a resource to be exploited; the economy, with actors each pursuing their own particular interests; society, with a loss of social cohesion that redistributive policies are unable to re-establish, and with relationships of domination that are perpetuated between the sexes, between ages, between social positions; education, science and governance, where the specialisation of disciplines and policies makes us lose sight of the deeply interconnected nature of the problems; relations between societies, dominated by power relations between states, incapable of creating a community of destiny and managing common goods. This change of perspective provides us with a compass, to create or repair relationships: by supporting the actors best able to organise relationships within them, territories and sectors; by developing cooperation between levels of governance; by thoroughly renewing our education system; by redefining the social contract, the expression of the balance between rights and responsibilities; by placing cooperation at the heart of economic life and public policies. Secondly, by decentralising, by getting out of the confinement of the national scene to itself. We are convinced that the territories, life basins, places where society is concretely rooted, spaces of cooperation between its different actors, are called upon to play a major role in the conduct of the systemic transition that is imposed on us. We need to think about the world from the point of view of the territories, because each territory, even a marginalized one, is affected by all the changes in the world and constitutes a privileged space for thinking together about our future. Thinking about it in order to act both locally and globally. Because the initiatives that are flourishing in all the territories, through which many people are rediscovering a taste for commitment, will come up against a glass ceiling if transformations at national, European and global level are not simultaneously conceived and carried out. Putting things into perspective and decentring them leads us to a set of proposals, inspired by a compass, capable of mobilising energies and the different generations around a federating long-term project and organised in two parts: the conditions to be met to make the territories major players in the transition; - the reform of French and European policies in the service of the common good We call on all those who share our concern about the current poverty of the debates to go beyond the partisan divisions that currently sterilise reflection and dialogue and to enrich and carry these proposals submitted to the Presidential candidates.