The notions of place and attractiveness have become central to our societies. At an institutional level, places are economically, socially and culturally homogenous entities that transcend political boundaries.

On a more economic level, places are increasingly competing with each other. Not only in terms of tourism and business, but also in terms of residential development. The COVID, for example, has played an important role in terms of residential attractiveness.

The management of these places poses an increasing number of problems to be solved. Firstly, at the political and governance level. New bodies, often involving public and private players, are needed to steer these structures, and public policies must be highly coordinated. For example, issues of mobility and spatial planning (public policies with a spatial impact) must be coordinated to ensure the sustainable development of a region. The same applies to fiscal and energy policies.

Secondly, in terms of strategy, these places must prioritisze the expected developments, whether in terms of maintaining and attracting companies to provide jobs, increasing or controlling tourist activity (overtourism in certain regions) or enhancing residential attractiveness (promoting the place to new residents, strengthening services for the population, etc.).

Finally, depending on the needs and priorities defined by these locations, branding and marketing measures need to be developed and implemented.

The face-to-face part will take place from 10 to 14 February 2025:

The physical component takes place in the middle of the course and aims to integrate the knowledge acquired previously (distance learning part) in two ways:

• On the one hand, through the different types of attractiveness (economic, residential, tourist, etc.) and with presentations and discussions, to show the possibilities of integrating the tools seen previously (stakeholder analysis, attractiveness instruments, etc.);
• On the other hand, to meet actors working on territorial attractiveness in different countries and critically question the strategies developed and the measures taken.

The programme of the physical component of the course merged as follows:

• Monday :

- morning: Introduction of the physical session / The development of place attractiveness strategies

- afternoon: The example of a metropolis: Ghent or Aix-Marseille Provence

• Tuesday:

- morning: Place and economic integration strategies (the cluster approach)

- afternoon: Lausanne and sport / Presentation of the Vaud/Lausanne strategy / Visit to an international sports organization (UEFA Nyon)

• Wednesday:

- morning: Place and regional integration strategies

- afternoon: PDO/IGP presentation and analysis / Visit to the Maison du Gruyère

• Thursday:

- morning: Place and residential integration strategies

- afternoon: Presentation of a concrete example: Auvergne

• Friday:

- morning: Place and sustainable integration strategies (application of the fresco of the ecological renaissance)

- afternoon: Tour of Lausanne and meeting with Lausanne Tourisme

The virtual component will be conducted from 10 October 2024 - 31 March 2025. 

The first part of the virtual sessions will take place on Thursdays in the late afternoon (in principle from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm, Paris time - exact times to be announced).

• 10.10.24 - Session 1: Public Policy and Place (all partners)
• 17.10.24 - Session 2: Place and its characteristics (Solange Hernandez)
• 24.10.24 - Session 4: Local governance and stakeholders’ analysis (Vincent Mabillard)
• 31.10.24 - Session 3: Attractiveness and competitiveness (Renaud Vuignier)
• 07.11.24 - Session 5: Types of territorial attractiveness: successes and failures (Laura Carmouze)
• 14.11.24 - Session 6: Principles, phases and targets of place marketing (Christophe Alaux)
• 21.11.24 - Session 7: Tools for diagnosing and implementing attractiveness strategies (Martial Pasquier)
• 28.11.24 - Session 8: Assessing the impact of attractiveness strategies (Sarah Serval)

The second part of the virtual component, which will take place after the mobility part, will be devoted to personalised support for students working on a cross-disciplinary project mobilising all the knowledge acquired and illustrated during the mobility part. This support will take the form of regular monitoring of students via videoconferencing and group presentations.