Master's project grant

Mapping of citizens'water-related mobilisations in the Lake Geneva region

Objective: To produce a map of citizen mobilisations concerning water in the Lake Geneva region

Partner: Association ID-eau 

Threats to freshwater are numerous and the urgency is growing. Faced with a situation that is getting worse by the day, the id·eau association has been set up to focus energy and encourage action to find ways of changing our daily lives to protect this essential and vital resource: the water.

The primary objective of the id·eau association is to contribute to citizen ownership of water governance and the active participation of local residents in this area. This objective will be facilitated by the promotion of citizens' initiatives on water wherever it is an issue (in terms of the rights of nature and planetary limits). The first step is therefore to draw up a map of citizens' initiatives and mobilisations relating to water, whether in the fields of agriculture, energy/dams, water quality, etc. The regional area (French-speaking part of Switzerland) is the focus of this first stage.

This mapping work should make it possible to report on citizens' experiences of mobilising for water (the trajectory and the experience) in order to enhance successful initiatives and experiments, understand what is sticking, what is working, create links between initiatives (federate and equip the action), etc.

id.eau has already identified various areas and groups of interest for this study.

Employability of illiterate adult migrants in Lausanne and the Canton of Vaud

Objective envisaged: Recognise and enhance the skills of illiterate adult migrants to promote their access to employment

Partner: Association Opre Rrom

Founded in 2011, the Association Lausannoise d’action et de solidarité avec les Roms, Opre Rrom (« Debout Rom »), organises its action in two complementary directions : On the one hand, direct humanitarian aid and, on the other, information and advocacy work and the fight against anti-gypsyism.

Illiteracy is a common situation among migrant communities who have had little or no schooling in their countries of origin, and European Roma are particularly hard hit by it. However, this particularly stigmatised community also seeks employment and finds an insurmountable barrier along the way: in Switzerland, employment is largely dependent on a qualification certified by educational or extracurricular institutions. This impasse makes it impossible to make the most of the skills and know-how developed by people who do not have these qualifications or the basic school skills (reading and writing) needed to enter the career path currently set out by integration schemes. The latter presuppose a sequence that European Roma are unable to follow: taking a French language course, then a training course leading to a qualification and, finally, finding a job. For illiterate adults, the only solution is to learn to read and write, and to do so in a new language. An adult who is illiterate can only marginally catch up on a full command of the language and systems of reasoning. Late literacy is a real test, the outcome of which is more than uncertain. The integration paradigm is showing strong limits here, which work on the employability of illiterate Roma will make it possible to shed new light on.

Potential areas of research:

1. How can we recognise and value the skills of illiterate populations outside of a forced march towards the criterion?
2. How to evolve the conception of competences outside the usual certifications ?
3. How to identify the professional fields in which European Roma could fit in ?

L’innovation sociale en Suisse romande : enjeux et perspective 

Objective envisaged: Examine the different realities of social innovation in French-speaking Switzerland and understand the different operational concepts involved.

Partner: Fondation Esp’Asse 

The Fondation Esp’Asse was set up in 2001 with the mission of acquiring, renovating and renting out spaces for people who are at risk of poverty, in connection with precarious living conditions, or who are active in the arts, education or the economy. Its mission is to acquire, renovate and rent out spaces for so-called disadvantaged groups, those involved in the arts, training and the community-based economy. It is based in Nyon on the site of the former Stellram plastics factory, and now houses around 25 artists, 20 social and professional associations working to support social inclusion, and 5 housing units.

As part of the development of its Maison des innovations sociales et des solidarités (MISS) project, which will see the construction and renovation of spaces of around 3300 m² by 2028, thus becoming the lung of social innovation in the Nyon region, the Esp’Asse Foundation is seeking support on the very notion of social innovation, its players, its current challenges as well as the prospects it outlines. 

Social innovation is a particularly dynamic field, raising hopes and expectations and whose contours are expanding. Several categories of players, both public and private, are seizing on it to drive forward or label initiatives in sectors that may sometimes seem very different (social work, health, culture or innovation aimed at bringing a product or service to market). This multifaceted reality can be difficult to grasp. A survey of the players and roles involved in social innovation in French-speaking Switzerland would help the Fondation to situate its Maison de l’innovation sociale et des solidarités project in the context of the issues of today and tomorrow.

So, the Fondation would like to see the results of a survey of the players and roles involved in social innovation in French-speaking Switzerland.

Potential areas of research:

1. What are the realities of social innovation in French-speaking Switzerland?
2. How can we learn about the deployment of this concept in French-speaking Switzerland?
3. What are the operational definitions of social innovation active in French-speaking Switzerland  and how can we understand their differences?

Training healthcare assistants: audiences and issues

Objective envisaged: Establish the socio-demographic profile of learners and analyze certification issues

Partner: Croix-Rouge vaudoise

Since its creation in 1890, the activities of the Vaud Red Cross (VRC) have been based on three main principles: protecting life, promoting health and safeguarding human dignity. The Vaud Red Cross provides support and comfort to the population of our canton through its activities in the fields of health, family, education, social and voluntary services; This is achieved through the services it offers to parents and their children, to young people and to people who are ill, isolated or weakened by illness or disability.

Currently, there is a lack of knowledge about the audiences for training as healthcare assistants. We know some basic facts (gender and age) and the full socio-demographic profile could be obtained by a survey of this population. The aim is to tailor communication and content to the target audience.

In the background, there is a structural shortage of care assistants, particularly in EMS. Not so long ago, this profession was one of the training courses offered by the ORP as a preferred career option for people with few qualifications. The current situation of full employment has largely weakened this recruitment channel. There is therefore a need to promote training to the target audience with a view to recruiting and renewing recruitment channels.

Potential areas of research

Further down the line, the issue of certification is also at stake, and this refers directly to the valorisation of the health auxiliary profession. Today, new players are entering the healthcare assistant training sector because certification is not protected. This raises a number of questions, including: What is a profession that does not have genuinely protected certification? What should be done to facilitate the advancement of certification for healthcare assistants? What potential does such certification have for enhancing the value of the profession (recruitment, salary, etc.)? What can we learn from those who have followed a similar path?

Analysis of the Parents-Rescousse parenting support scheme

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Objective:To produce an assessment and proposals for improving the Parents-Rescousse scheme

Partner: Croix-Rouge vaudoise 

Since it was founded in 1890, the activities of the Vaud Red Cross (VRC) have been based on three main principles: protecting life, promoting health and safeguarding human dignity. The Vaud Red Cross provides support and comfort to the population of our canton through its activities in the fields of health, family, education, social and voluntary services; This is achieved through the services it offers to parents and their children, to young people and to people who are ill, isolated or weakened by illness or disability.

The Parents-Rescousse scheme was set up to meet the emergency needs of parents who are ill, temporarily unavailable or experiencing personal difficulties and who do not know who to entrust with looking after their children. Every year, several hundred families benefit from this scheme. The scheme is an integral part of the socio-educational prevention programme implemented in the canton, and is designed as a primary and/or secondary prevention measure against the risk of social exclusion;vention primary and/or secondary to the risk of parental depletion, complementing other parenting support services offered by various cantonal bodies.

An evaluation of the scheme would make it possible to measure its effectiveness, adjust the services to the needs of the beneficiaries, identify potential for development, highlight training needs and strengthen the advocacy required to support this fast-growing scheme.

Motivations and benefits of volunteering

Objective envisaged: Document the non-altruistic motivations of people engaging in volunteering and measure the perceived benefits

Partner: Croix-Rouge vaudoise

Since its creation in 1890, the activities of the Vaud Red Cross (VRC) have been based on three main principles: protecting life, promoting health and safeguarding human dignity. The Vaud Red Cross provides support and comfort to the population of our canton through its activities in the fields of health, family, education, social and voluntary services. This is achieved through the services it offers to parents and their children, to young people and to people who are ill, isolated or weakened by illness or disability.

In 2022, the Vaud Red Cross managed 662 volunteers involved in combating social isolation and making it easier for people to stay at home. They run errands, go for walks, visit people or accompany them on their travels. The Vaud Red Cross would like to find out more about the benefits of volunteer work, and to focus more on the beneficiaries. The aim would be to document the non-altruistic motivations of people involved in volunteer work and to measure the benefits received by volunteers, whether in terms of facilitating social integration or any other social benefits, the typology of which will be co-constructed.

Mapping the players in the social economy in the Nyon region

Objective:To identify organisations that reflect the values of the SSE, to describe their activities, to assess their economic impact and their contribution to employment in the region

Partner: Après-VD

The Chambre de l'économie sociale et solidaire APRÈS-VD represents more than 100 Vaud-based organisations committed to an inclusive and ecological economy. These organisations adhere to the 7 values of the SSE and implement measures for distributed profitability and democratic governance. We develop and promote SSE in the canton of Vaud through events, training and conferences to demonstrate the strength of SSE and its positive impact on people and the biosphere. We are also working on political advocacy in collaboration with APRÈS -GE and APRÈS -BEJUNE for the French-speaking part of Switzerland and Sens Suisse for the national level.

There are many organisations that contribute to collective interests, either directly or indirectly, through their field of activity or the choice of their clients. These may be basic needs (housing, education, food, professional integration, social inclusion, participative development and collective intelligence, etc.). It can also involve reducing the ecological footprint and accelerating the transition to sustainability (renewable energies and ecological materials, safeguarding biodiversity, agroecology, permaculture, soft mobility, etc.). These organisations implement 7 key values in their operations: social well-being, citizenship, ecology, autonomy, solidarity, diversity and coherence, as well as measures for the redistribution of wealth and democratic governance.

In order to help it in its action, APRÈS-VD is requesting a mapping of the social and solidarity economy (SSE) in the Nyon region. This analysis will make it possible to identify organisations that reflect the values of the SSE, describe their activities, estimate their economic impact and their contribution to employment in the region. The primary objective will be to identify these organisations in the Nyon region, which is particularly dynamic in this area, while remaining on a measurable scale.

Appearing in the 2000s, the notion of a social and solidarity-based economy is closely related to other terms that are now driving positive change: sustainability, transition, circular economy, social innovation and shared governance are just some of them. The analysis, based on a mapping of players, will document the interactions between these concepts, in particular by producing a study of the representations attached to these concepts within the organisations surveyed.

While the advocacy dimension is obvious, this study will also make it possible to address a forward-looking dimension, and it will be able to do so by questioning SSE players about the issues and challenges that are emerging today in order to support and develop this field.

Potential areas of research:

• What is the economic impact of organisations working in the social and solidarity economy in the Nyon region?
• What interactions can be observed in practice between the notion of social and solidarity-based economy and the corollary notions of sustainability, transition, circular economy, social innovation, shared governance?
• What are the main challenges perceived by players on the ground for the development of the SSE ?

Census of patois speakers in the Canton of Vaud

Objective envisaged: To survey and etablish the sociodemographic profile of patois speakers in the Canton of Vaud

Partner: Service des affaires culturelles de l’État de Vaud – Unité patrimoine

The Service des affaires culturelles du Canton de Vaud (SERAC) is responsible for developing and implementing the Canton's cultural policy on behalf of the Conseil d’État. It is attached to the Department of Culture, Infrastructure and Human Resources (DCIRH). Entered into force on 1^er May 2015, the Loi sur le patrimoine mobilier et immatériel (LPMI)  makes it possible to protect and/or enhance objects that are important to the history of the canton of Vaud (movable heritage ) as well as its traditions and many craft and heritage skills (immaterial heritage ). SERAC's Heritage Unit manages 2 inventories: the Cantonal Inventory of Immovable Heritage and the Cantonal Inventory of Movable Heritage in Private Hands.

In order to support its work, the Heritage Unit is proposing a project to compile a list of dialect speakers in the Canton of Vaud. A dialect of Franco-Provençal, Vaudois patois has been spoken in the canton of Vaud since the Middle Ages. It was a common language until the nineteenth century, when it was banned from schools, and was still widely used until the early twentieth century. Since then, its use has declined sharply, although there are still local variations throughout the canton (Vallée de Joux, Broye, Gros-de-Vaud, Jorat, Riviera).

Today, the number of patois speakers in the Canton of Vaud is estimated at around 140 speakers and no regular speakers. However, this estimate is not based on a rigorous survey that would enable the population to be accurately quantified, and its socio-demographic profile and geographical distribution to be established. Such a survey will require considerable methodological creativity.

Potential lines of research:

• Who are the speakers and neospeakers of the Vaudois patois ? Where do we find them ?
• What are their uses of the language ?
• How did they enter into the practice of patois ?

Design of a participatory system for inventorying the liturgical tableware of the Waldensian Free Church

Objectif envisaged : Design a participatory device to identify and inventory the liturgical tableware of the Waldensian Free Church (1847-1965)

Partner: SERAC – Unité Patrimoine mobilier et immatériel 

The Service des affaires culturelles du Canton de Vaud (SERAC) is responsible for developing and implementing the Canton's cultural policy on behalf of the Conseil d’ÉEtat. It is attached to the Department of Culture, Infrastructure and Human Resources (DCIRH). Entered into force on 1^er May 2015, the Loi sur le patrimoine mobilier et immatériel (LPMI)   makes it possible to protect and/or enhance objects that are important to the history of the canton of Vaud (movable heritage ) as well as its traditions and many craft and heritage skills (immaterial heritage). SERAC's Heritage Unit manages 2 inventories: the Cantonal Inventory of Immovable Heritage and the Cantonal Inventory of Movable Heritage in Private Hands.

In order to support its work, the Heritage Unit is proposing a topic on the development of a participatory inventory of the liturgical crockery of the Free Church in the Canton of Vaud. The liturgical crockery of the Free Church of Vaud (1847-1965) has not attracted much attention in the history of art, with the result that there are very few studies on the subject today. Ordinary and paradoxical objects of a dissident church whose values of simplicity they embodied, even in their materiality, liturgical crockery is not always seen as having a high market value. Although important to the history of the canton, many objects have been forgotten and are awaiting rediscovery and documentation. The situation is precarious and requires a collective effort, particularly from parishes but also from private individuals who may have inherited objects over time. The purpose of this study will be to design a participatory system for uncovering and making an inventory of the liturgical crockery of the Waldensian Free Church. It will be based on close collaboration with the Service des affaires culturelles of the Canton of Vaud and will have to identify the driving forces behind a broad collective mobilisation, primarily of the parishes of Vaud.

Potential areas of research:

• Are there other participatory inventory schemes for movable heritage ? What lessons can be learned ?
• How to mobilise Vaud parishes in an inventory of liturgical crockery ?
• How to overcome the lack of academic knowledge available on these objects ?

Strategies for opening up participation

Objective envisaged: Based on examples from international experiences, to understand what are the drivers for opening up participation à all publics or à preferential or minority groups.

Partner: Unité sustainability; and participation of the City of Lausanne

The Sustainability and Participation Unit supports and steers the City of Lausanne's sustainability and participation strategies. It acts as a cross-disciplinary centre of expertise and resources for departments and the general public. It develops and supports a range of projects and initiatives to mobilise people and raise awareness of the ecological and social transition.

Participation is booming. A number of public authorities now have teams dedicated to organising participatory marches on a variety of subjects and at different scales. This is the case, for example, in Lausanne, Geneva, Zürich and Lucerne, to name but a few of the major Swiss cities, which have also developed online participation platforms using 100% open source Decidim software (such as Lausanne Participe: participer.lausanne.ch).

One of the major challenges of participation is to reach the target audiences, even though some of them are often not involved in these processes. Digital tools have been credited with opening up to different audiences, but the enthusiasm of the late 2000s has now given way to questions. Digital technologies are introducing inequalities, particularly with regard to skills of use or even equipment, and this is accompanied by a twofold movement, opening up potential and, at the same time, producing exclusions.

More fundamentally, the audiences for participation tend to be similar. Participatory projects struggle to recruit beyond the upper strata of society. As a result, projects wishing to reach out to these audiences, and in particular to young, older or minority groups, come up against this challenge of mobilisation. However, this research project will take the gamble that, by comparing experiences of participatory approaches, in all their diversity, it is possible to identify solutions that can be transposed, at least in part, to mobilise these excluded groups and get them involved in local projects and public policies.

This democratic concern to open up participation to all of the publics affected by public procurement is widely shared by promoters and facilitators of participation throughout the world. Nevertheless, initiatives are emerging that are proving successful, and it would be useful to analyse the reasons for this. The urban space is also the focus of a number of innovative participatory initiatives mobilising people in the street, partly as a result of the dynamic of "new urbanism".

Thus, in order to help the Sustainability and Participation Unit in its efforts to support the departments of the City of Lausanne in strengthening participation, this study will identify good examples à the Swiss and international scale and draw conclusions on the framework conditions to encourage the’openness of participation. It will document the audiences reached and the resources deployed, and will pay particular attention to the ways in which digital technologies can be used to support participation.

It will also examine the role of the European Commission in the development of the information society.

Potential areas of research:

• What are the good examples from initiatives in Switzerland and/or elsewhere that succeed in opening up participation to young, precarious or minority groups?
• To what extent is the use of digital technologies helping to reopen up participation in these emblematic projects?
• What lessons can be learned from these experiences ? What about good practice?

The challenges of translating the results of participation into urban projects

Objective envisaged: To identify and analyse the mechanisms for translating the contributions of participatory processes into the management of urban projects. To suggest ways of improving the mechanisms for translating the results of participatory approaches.

Partner: Service du territoire de la Ville de Nyon

In order to build the town of tomorrow, the municipality of Nyon wishes to move forward in close collaboration with the local population. The participatory processes, which can take a variety of forms, are as much an opportunity for the city's users to bring their ideas to life as they are a real tool for tackling the climate crisis through urban redevelopment that encourages changes in behaviour. They aim to imagine a new way of designing the city, with and for the population. The City’s objective is both to make decisions as close as possible to the users and users, but also to allow them to take part in the improvements that will shape the city over the long term.

Urban projects based on participatory processes are on the increase, and are finding favour with the public, who are eager to take advantage of the opportunity to contribute to the development of their city. These participatory processes are becoming increasingly integrated into public action and, as they develop, fundamental questions are being raised. The extent to which participatory processes are involved can vary greatly from one project to another. Sometimes a simple consultation, other times co-construction, the integration of the results of participation requires translation work with the various players, starting with the project managers;This means working with different players, starting with the project managers (the planning professionals with the technical competence to carry out the project) and the project owners (the client, the municipality in the case of urban development projects). It is not self-evident how participatory approaches work with the contracting authority and the project owner.

To help it in its action, the Town of Nyon Planning Department is proposing an analysis of this process of translating the results of participation with a view to improving current practices. The aim of this analysis will be to document the transposition, interpretation, translation and métabolisation of the material produced by participatory processes into the technical and political arena. An important aspect will be to explore the distance that can exist between the deliverables resulting from participatory processes, which are sometimes dense, creative and not very standardised, and the technical and administrative reference frameworks of planning professionals. Particular attention will be paid to the role of facilitating and formatting citizens' contributions. Equally important attention will be paid to the ways in which technicians and other professionals give meaning to the results of participation and translate them into their practices, particularly by dealing with the technicalities of public action and administrative mechanics.

As this is an action research project, the analysis will be conducted in the decision-making context and will aim to improve existing conditions and processes. The analysis will be based on an immersion in current projects in the town of Nyon (Nyon lakeside project) and possibly in other towns such as Lausanne, analysis should put forward recommendations for improving the understanding, communication and incorporation of the results of participatory processes into the implementation of development projects.

Potential areas of research:

• How are the results of participatory marches formatted so that they can be passed on to planning professionals?
• How do these professionals operate to translate these materials, which are sometimes fixed on a variety of media (photos, testimonies, narratives, non-standardised plans, sets of post-it notes, mindmaps, etc.) and return them to the participants ?
• How to translate the input from the participatory surveys into project form, in space and in different planning horizons, give back the options taken to the participants and present the overall assessment of the redevelopment carried out?