1. Why a PEPITe Chair today?

France and its European Union partners are facing a profound transformation of their productive models and significant needs for public and private investment between now and 2050. Two major challenges will shape political agendas over the coming decades:

• The ecological transition, which requires decarbonisation and the reorganisation of value chains, the expansion of the circular economy and bioeconomy, the deployment of eco-innovations (processes, materials, efficiency/sobriety…), and the relocalisation of energy supply.

• Industrial renewal, essential for preserving economic strength (value added, research, jobs, trade balance…) and national sovereignty, in a context marked by intensifying geopolitical tensions and strategic dependencies.

These two challenges cannot be addressed separately. They must be embedded within a geographical approach, supported by strategies adapted to the diversity of regions and labour markets. Ecological planning and industrial revitalisation policies will only make sense if they rely on a clear territorialisation strategy, built on the mobilisation of local resources and redesigned territorial development policies.

The PEPITe Chair aims to make this territorial dimension the core focus of its work.

A context of urgency — and opportunity

A widely shared diagnosis has emerged: the continuous erosion of France’s productive base has weakened its economic balance. The spillover effects of industry on the rest of the economy (research, specialised services, construction…) have diminished. Trade deficits have widened. Many industrial regions have experienced pronounced decline, leading to economic stagnation, factory closures, loss of manufacturing jobs and expertise, underinvestment, and growing territorial imbalances.

At the same time, encouraging signals offer hope for a reversal of these trends. A productive revival is possible, rooted in better-organised territories, driven by entrepreneurial actors, and supported by ambitious public policies.

France benefits from strong industrial groups with global influence in energy, waste management, water, construction, and mobility, along with dense networks of companies and industrial clusters across its regions.

The ecological transition opens new opportunities: renewable energy development, innovations in materials and processes, and the relocalisation of more sustainable activities. It can become a major lever for economic and social revitalisation — provided it is strategically planned. France’s environmental footprint could greatly benefit from re-establishing certain segments of value chains domestically, leveraging low-emission technologies, short supply chains, and circular economy models.

A major territorial challenge

Given the scale of the challenges and the responses required, transitions cannot be deployed uniformly. Each region and territory has specific assets (skills, materials, infrastructures, industrial know-how, actor networks, social capital…) and specific constraints (land availability, local governance, social vulnerability…).

Ecological transition and industrial renewal therefore require differentiated spatial approaches that fully account for local strengths and weaknesses.

The need for knowledge and support

To better understand and support these transformations, it is necessary to:

• analyse past industrial trajectories to anticipate future pathways;
• identify local conditions that foster innovation and the diffusion of “green” technologies;
• assess the effectiveness of public policies and financing mechanisms;
• propose concrete solutions to public decision-makers, companies, and territorial stakeholders.

The added value of the PEPITe Chair

The PEPITe Chair aligns precisely with this collective ambition. Supported by the Institut pour la Recherche of the Caisse des Dépôts and hosted at Institut Louis Bachelier, it aims to become a space for reflection, research, and action by bringing together researchers, companies, local authorities, and institutions around a shared mission: to understand and support the ecological and industrial transformation of territories.

Its contribution is distinctive through:

• its interdisciplinary positioning, at the crossroads of industrial economics, economic geography, political science, and the social sciences more broadly;
• its partnership-based approach, bridging academia, economic actors, and both national and local public authorities;
• its operational purpose, producing tools, analyses, and expertise directly usable to guide ecological planning and territorial industrial transition strategies.

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