Philippe Dumas
email: dumas@univ-tln.fr

IS REGION THE MOST APPROPRIATE SPACE TO THINK SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT? A FRAMEWORK FOR RESEARCH AND IMPLEMENTATION

Keywords: Information, Communication, Culture, Governance, European Union, Regions, Territorial intelligence, Subsidiarity

Is region the most appropriate space to think sustainable development? A framework for research and implementation.

Résumé

Région, régionalisation, régionalisme sont des formes lexicales variées dont la floraison témoigne de l'importance que prend actuellement le territoire dans l'espace public européen. Le développement durable est un concept émergent depuis que la mondialisation a fait percevoir aux responsables politiques comme aux citoyens le danger et l'inanité d'une croissance débridée des activités humaines sur la planète Terre. L'intelligence territoriale est une notion introduite par les penseurs de toutes les disciplines des sciences humaines pour donner une cohérence conceptuelle aux tentatives de comprendre la complexité et encourager le développement territorial. L'objet de cette communication est de fournir aux participants à la conférence européenne de Caenti à Alba Lulia (Roumanie, 20-23 sept 2006) des fondements théoriques et des axes de recherche mettant en relation les concepts de région et de développement durable avec celui d'intelligence territoriale. Dans un monde que les technologies de l'information communication font rétrécir tout en faisant voir à la planète entière les désastres de l'impérialisme d'état et de la concurrence effrénée, le développement des régions en Europe est une chance pour voir émerger une autre gouvernance publique. Les régions considérées comme des foyers culturels et économiques rayonnants peuvent établir leur identité et régler leurs relations sur des logiques autres que les antagonismes à somme nulle, constitutifs de la pensée politique héritée des siècles précédents. Mais les régions sont-elles le meilleur échelon de cette mise en oeuvre du développement durable à l'Européenne ? L'histoire et la raison nous conduisent à répondre : Oui, mais en coopération avec les autres échelons comme les départements, les pays, les villes.

Mots Clés

Information, Communication, Culture, Gouvernance, Union Européenne, Régions, Intelligence Territoriale, Subsidiarité, Mondialité,

IS REGION THE MOST APPROPRIATE SPACE TO THINK SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT? A FRAMEWORK FOR RESEARCH AND IMPLEMENTATION

INTRODUCTION

When one looks at a political map of Europe, one is puzzled by the complexity and intricacy of borders between more than 30 states on an appendix of the Asian continent 1 .

Alba 060921.doc When zooming at the level of European regions2 , more than 200 coloured spots make it pointillist and quasi-unreadable.

Whatever the challenge is for a rational observer, European regions and Regionalism have become common concerns in Europe for the last thirty years in the realm of European Union, not to speak of centuries in some European states. That the Caenti program questions the notion of region seems relevant. Sustainable development is another controversial notion although it is largely used and has been introduced since the late eighties in European glossary.

In the line of the Caenti Alba Iulia conference program, the aim of this communication is to relate together those two concepts -region and sustainable development-with that of territorial intelligence. After having put those concepts in perspective, we shall question their pertinence and suggest a tentative framework to think the appropriate territorial level of research and action for sustainable development in Europe.

EUROPE, REGION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE VIEW OF TERRITORIAL INTELLIGENCE

All these concepts have been explored and discussed for decades. Rather than to (re)define them, we wish to retain their significance as related to territorial intelligence, a term that we use as a motto.

Territorial intelligence

The expression territorial intelligence has emerged in the literature in the nineties and has become mundane and over exploited. Some confusion exists with the related expressions of economic intelligence or competitive intelligence. The two latter being from North American origin bear the connotation of information and competition, while territorial intelligence, of Latin origin, rather bears the connotation of understanding and comprehension.

The latest attempts to circumscribe territorial intelligence can be found in a state of the art review by [START_REF] Girardot | State-of-the-art of territorial intelligence[END_REF] published on the "official" European site for territorial intelligence, from which we excerpt the following definition:

"Traditionally Territorial Intelligence has been fed by economics, geography, Information and Communication Sciences and Technologies (ICST) and knowledge management. The links with economical intelligence and the ICST are often quoted in the current definitions of territorial intelligence. The systems of territorial intelligence require the use of traditional processes of information broadcasting and of information technologies and communication by the means of Intranet or Internet sites, documentation, geographical information systems and data analysis.

On-going research activities in Territorial Intelligence are mainly led by Jean-Jacques Girardot (http://mti.univfcomte.fr) as well as Philippe Dumas and Yann Bertacchini (http://i3m.univ-tln.fr/). Their definitions follow the same dynamics and assert that territorial intelligence:

! is linked to "all the multi-field knowledge that improve the understanding of the structure and dynamics of territories" [Girardot 2002]

! moves closer "the intelligence as a cognitive process and a process of information organization, and the territory as a space of significant relations" [Dumas 2004] ! or still "can be likened to the territoriality which results from the phenomenon of appropriation of the territory resources then in the skills transfers between categories of local actors of different culture" [START_REF] Bertacchini | Entre information et processus de communication, l'intelligence territoriale[END_REF]]."

Another trait of territorial intelligence is the reference to territory. This also may bear confusion esp. with the geographer since here "territorial" refers to both physical and symbolic dimensions of the territory [START_REF] Rasse | Les identités locales, face aux processus de mondialisation. Unité-diversité. Les identités culturelles dans le jeu de la mondialisation[END_REF][START_REF] Herbaux | L'Intelligence Territoriale: d'une représentation générale à un concept de finalité[END_REF].

The territorial intelligence movement is rooted in two major epistemologies of the late century: the socio-systems approach such as practiced by Morin (1991 for example) and the constructivism summarized by [START_REF] Gastil | An appraisal and revision of the constructivist research program[END_REF] or LeMoigne (2002). Keeping those premises in mind, one of the major characteristics of the territorial intelligence is that it is an endless process, which deals with complexity, openness, multifactor reasoning and fuzzy boundaries. It can't be reduced to simplistic or one-dimensional arguments. A tentative vintage definition that respects those principles of systems, complexity and constructivism could be: Territorial intelligence is the process of dynamically understanding the territory that makes up the territory.

Regions in the EU

Sustainable development in and out of Europe

Quoting the Caenti conference program, "Since the European Council of Göteborg in June 2001, the sustainable development approach has been recognized as one of the main priorities of the European Union for the years to come. Now, it constitutes the basic framework from which the principles of good governance are defined. The community policies have to conform to them by respecting:

The participation of the citizens.

The global approach of territories and communities, characterized by an adequate balance between the economical, social, environmental and cultural dimensions. Official documents of EU mainly address the issue of sustainable development from the Brussels viewpoint. For example, the above mentioned Renewed EU sustainable development strategy cite the term "region" only once in page 25 to offer a prize to "regional and local authorities". It mostly deals with "the Commission and the Member States". Henceforth, a sustainable development strategy has to be assessed from the regional viewpoint too. Such an effort has been made by Feder program and "member states", like that report by [START_REF] Prager | Le management stratégique des régions en Europe, Adit[END_REF] on Le management stratégique des régions en Europe, which offers a classical analysis in terms of competitive intelligence. A more comprehensive approach is needed and does not seem to be performed outside the sphere of territorial intelligence [START_REF] Herbaux | L'Intelligence Territoriale: d'une représentation générale à un concept de finalité[END_REF]. Sustainable development is also supported by national groups -les Verts-and intellectuals that question the issue of uncontrolled liberalism as well as unlimited expansion [START_REF] Reeves | Mal de terre[END_REF]Lovelock, 2006;Hulot, 2006) Three views of the sustainable development by the regions can be identified:

Sustainable development of a European region

How regional policies and practices favour a well being state of citizens within regional area; how they take into consideration the future generations of its populations; how they implement citizens' participation.

Regions for the sustainable development of Europe

How the region contributes to general objectives of EU.

Regions for the sustainable development of the planet

How the region participates to meeting the global challenges of the planet.

THE BASES OF A FRAMEWORK TO THINK REGIONAL GOVERNANCE

Theoretical: the permanence and modernity of regions

The concept of region has spread over history as well as continents. It has a profound popular anchorage, whatever the actual form any region has taken. Several typologies have been proposed to categorize the regions, none being entirely satisfactory. However it is a useful guidance to recall the major ones in order to better assess the legitimacy of region as a node for territorial intelligence.

3.1.1. HISTORY Historical empires whether Chinese, Roman, Islamic, Hispanic, British or French for instances have always been divided into regions. Region is pervasive in History, although not always emphasized. In the modern times, region has become a renewed concept not only linked to the imperialistic necessity of administering manageable parts of large empires. Paradoxically at first glance, the emergence of regions is contemporary of that of globalization. This is an occurrence of one essential principle of "glocalization": the more the individual is exposed to global winds, the more he/she has to anchor his/her identity on a local ground.

The participants in the Colloque Territoire-acteur et mondialisation (2003), which was held in Chambéry in October 2003, highlighted this dynamics between territory and globalization. They see the territory "like a space and a concept to be redefined. This globalization thus creates paradoxically possibilities for the local level". Claude Courlet notes that "the economists rediscover the geography, with assertion of the new centrality of the local economies". "The territory, escaping a simply administrative designation is defined by that of which it is able: a social place of proximity building itself to conceive horizons and projects […] Consequently appear fundamental dimensions which one finds on the two levels of the local and the global: history, culture, collective psychology. And thus the territory, far from being a field of retreat, has to be a space of relations and openness instituting its own coherence and its bond with the world. The effect of proximity which characterizes the territory helps to create confidence and contributes to the visibility of the stakes, the initiatives and their carriers […] Locus of human resources, it thus becomes a privileged site of constitution of the formal capital. By there, it will be the base of the governance of tomorrow."

Even if we simplify a little too much, we can say that the European region is a world specificity. It corresponds to a history and a cultural configuration with null other similar. It must answer a unique ambition, that which emerges from the new world relationship since September 11. It was illustrated by the last Iraqi conflict, and the clash between European public opinions and the North American one. It aims at promoting a multiple culture, complex and Hegelian, in the sense that a higher authority is emerging from the confrontation of diversity. The European region, being based on the principle of subsidiarity, is the level which gets the best visibility for its various cultures and richness; it is allowing European Community, relying on each one of its citizens, to continue differently on the world scene.

Recent examples (Irak, Lebanon, Iran, …), although still very frustrating, show the way to practice the research of peace by the consensus rather than by the force, the "shock and awe" set forth by MM. Bush and Rumsfeld. Although significant at world level, the European region does not obey a single model. The regions of the countries that we quoted in section 2.2 (Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, etc.) have different stories, which led some of them to be constituted almost like sub-nations; others have developed strong city-sates since the Middle Ages [START_REF] Bagnasco | Le nouveau pouvoir des villes[END_REF], especially along the axis Northern Italy -Baltic Hansas. The French regionalization that has been done in front of us for fifty years will be a new "French exception". Regional nationalism is not its major dimension and should not become it. The French Catalan will not feel "Catalan" in the same way as the Spanish Catalan. From a certain point of view, French regionalization is more rational; it comes from the feeling that the transformations of our relations to space under the impact of technologies, to the authority under the influence of the ways of life, to the effectiveness of the public action, pushes us towards another organization of the nation to which we keep a now secular attachment. It has apparently inspired a way to regionalism in former centralized states of Eastern Europe. The development of the modern European idea follows the chaotic way of a permanent hesitation between the feeling of a national identity inherited from the theorists and politicians of the XIX° century and that of a membership to a common culture and geography, much older and more modern at the same time. This physical and mythical attachment with the ground, the territoriality, appears in the revival of the regional feeling and allows us to conclude that the two feelings are at the same time alive and complementary. Our forecast is that they will continue to act in the years which come and within the new Europe which is institutionally building itself to reach twenty five states today and more than thirty, tomorrow. The central idea of this construction must remain that of the precursors, such as J. Monnet who had posed in his time that the "project of European Union is not to link the states but to link the people".

A consequence of that historical sketch is a middle-term trend towards the weakening of states inherited from the XIX century Europe. Our hypothesis is that the relative institutional and political void left by the weakening of traditional states may be filled by a more active role of the regions grounded in their territorial intelligence.

Celtic Europe

Celtic Europe, where Celtic languages are spoken, or where they were recently spoken and the population has kept its Celtic heritage for non-linguistic reasons. The Celtic nations are: Scotland, Wales, Cornwall (within the United Kingdom), the Isle of Man (a British Crown dependency), Ireland, and Brittany (within France). These are all nations where a Celtic language is spoken, or was spoken into modern times, and there is a degree of shared culture (see Pan Celticism).

Outside of this classification

Outside of these four main groups we can find :

Greece & Cyprus: The only countries of "Hellenic Europe". They are sometimes associated with the Latin countries, due to the geographical and cultural ties to the Mediterranean Sea, and sometimes to the Slavic-Orthodox part of Europe due to the importance of the Orthodox Church in both. Hungary, whose language is distantly related to Finnish and Estonian. Due to its geographical location Hungary is more often related to other central or Eastern European countries. Finland and Estonia, whose languages are closely related and more distantly related to Hungarian. Despite this connection, Finland is often referred to simply as a country of Nordic Europe. However, because of its language and culture, it is not a Scandinavian country. Latvia and Lithuania, two linguistically Baltic countries (as opposed to the political concept which also includes Estonia). Malta, which has close linguistic ties to the Arabic world, yet close cultural ties to Italy and Catholic Europe. Turkey, which speaks an Altaic language that is not related to other European languages.

The Basque Country, where the Basque language has continued while Indo-European languages have displaced other languages in Europe over the past 5000 years."

We drastically condense the cultural typology of regions by associating it with linguistic divisions; it is a reminder of the combined importance of language and culture (the latter including religion, music, arts, food, lodging, clothing, etc.) in defining a regional identification, although neither complete nor exclusive. Those dimensions of regional identity will be the prominent factors in our theory of radiating places (see 5.2 below).

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Following this theory4 , regions would rest on natural borders such as rivers, mountains, and seas; peninsulas would make up regions. Counter examples are found in Catalogne and Catalunya which are separated by Pyrenees; Alsace and Baden-Württemberg by the Rhine river; on the other hand, the famous Oder-Neisse border has driven politics for decades, etc.

The argument of physical borders is so weak that we are not going to elaborate on it, mentioning only the fact that it is also a factor of unity. It will reappear in the following when considering the various programs of interregional cooperation ( § 3.3.2)

ECONOMIC POLES

Following the examples of City States of the Antiquity or the Middle Ages, strictly economic factors have been the rationale for numerous regions; the prominent economic factor is the cost of communication: physical communication facilities that make up local markets, and interpersonal communications that build up the trust without which no business is possible. Modern metropolis and industrial basins around which many European regions have grown up are the heirs of that antique cause. Interestingly enough is the modern development of Ict (information and communication technology) that simultaneously reinforces the regional concept with the quest for identity and community ties and authorizes the dissemination of physical facilities, what we call "delocalization". The concept of "Industrial Districts" introduced initially by Marshall at the beginning of XX° century, highlights the importance of coordination to explain regional development. It is used nowadays to characterize the mix of socio economic conditions that builds up regional entities, especially in Northern Italy and Central Germany. They are taking shape elsewhere (Spain, France, e.g.). Those regions are generally considered highly successful, conduct dynamic strategies and have a major impact on the world scene.

FOR A RICHER APPROACH: THE RESULT OF A SOCIO POLITICAL PROCESS

Taking in account that none of the previous criteria can alone explain the present division of European Union into regions, whatever the strength of the regional movement is, we have to assume that actual regions are the result of a mix of those factors in a complex process of socio political nature. Following the techniques of modelling, the process of partitioning a wider area like Europe into regions could be thought as a global optimization game. At a given time, the regional deal would minimize some constraints like intercultural conflicts, environmental challenges, costs of communication and the like, while it would maximize resources allocations, international visibility, individual well being and the like. Such a view introduces the idea that regions would be essentially contingent and the optimum permanently subject to change. That view is consistent with the notion of territorial intelligence and will be reasserted here below.

Legal: the principle of subsidiarity

For us, the principle of subsidiarity and its corollary, the principle of proportionality, are the major juridical concepts that establish the legal, administrative and cultural bases of the powers and responsibilities of European regions. It has been constitutionally laid down in the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) in the form of a Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.

Although the treaty explicitly deals with the relationship between the Commission and the Member States (as usual!), the spirit of that text should be extended to the relationship between Member States and the Regions. For example, changing the names (Commission or Community for {State}, and Member State for {Region}, one can read (http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/treaties/selected/livre345.html): § 3, "The principle of subsidiarity provides a guide as to how those powers are to be exercised at the {State} level. Subsidiarity is a dynamic concept and should be applied in the light of the objectives set out in the Treaty. It allows {State}action within the limits of its powers to be expanded where circumstances so require, and conversely, to be restricted or discontinued where it is no longer justified."

Or § 6, "The form of {State}action shall be as simple as possible, consistent with satisfactory achievement of the objective of the measure and the need for effective enforcement. The {State}shall legislate only to the extent necessary. Other things being equal, directives should be preferred to regulations and framework directives to detailed measures. Directives as provided for in Article 249 of the Treaty, while binding upon each {Region} to which they are addressed as to the result to be achieved, shall leave to the {regional} authorities the choice of form and methods."

Thus we think of the European socio political structure as a hierarchy, where subsidiarity circulates up and down between the structured and visible levels: European Community, State, Region, Department/Province (or equivalent in each national setting), City or agglomeration.

Pragmatic: what regional institutions do

Besides theoretical and legal approaches, some examples of current regional achievements will reinforce the legitimacy of our interest for the European Region.

REGIONS AS LABORATORIES FOR A RENEWED CITIZENSHIP

The extraordinary development of regional idea in XX° century Europe has proven that regions are contemporary nodes of communication, confidence, relationship, experimentation. All those achievements make up a locus of the implementation of sustainable development paradigm.

Conclusion: What a European region is

The present partition of European Union into some 200 administratively recognized regions is an undeniable fact. It has legal, historical, socio political and cultural legitimacies, albeit their levels of recognition and permanence may be diverse. As a coordinating body, we have to take present European regions as given, and deal with them. But we also have to accept a dynamic view of the mapping and a constructivist approach to regionalism. In addition, other levels of subdivision of states are also candidates for territorial recognition. We now have to address the question: is the European Region the optimal level to think sustainable development?

WHERE TO SET THE CURSOR FOR TERRITORIAL INTELLIGENCE IN ACTION

After having reviewed the theoretical and practical roots of regionalism in Europe, we are in a position to compare advantages and drawbacks of the four major levels of administrative division already existing in Europe. We hope to have demonstrated that the European region is a meaningful conceptual level for the implementation of sustainable development. This doesn't yet answer the question whether it is the "most appropriate" one. We have to compare with other possible levels of socio political action. Let four levels be considered in this paper, respectively, the state, the region and the sub-region as defined either by department, or agglomeration or city. Without entering complex and long considerations about the definitions of these four levels, we can draw the following table ( Il follows that the optimal level, from that standpoint, can be placed in the region.

Territorial potential density of interaction global vision

City Region State

Alba 060921.doc 5. CONCLUSION

Region and a new world governance based on the regions

In the face of vanishing states in Europe, the role of lower territorial levels is going to shape new modes of governance and relationship between public administration and the citizens. The European Region, the Department/Province, the City/Agglomeration are all possible candidates for that role. After weighing the pros and cons of each of them, we think that the major node for XXI° century governance, prone to develop sustainable development approach, is the European Region. This judgement must be accompanied by two strong political conditions: (1) regions shall not behave as mini-states with all their prejudices; (2) regional policy is grounded in an ethics that is stemming from the concern for sustainable development.

A new paradigm of public governance: mundiality and ethics

In a world that continuously witnesses the disasters of state imperialism and aggressive competition, territorial intelligence dictates that regions should not behave and/or be considered as mini-states, i.e. territorial or sociocultural entities that establish their legitimacy on zero sum antagonisms. It is our view that the permanence of regions in the history and around the world is a proof that (a) region has a profound popular meaning, and (b) that a fresh conception of regional governance is a chance for the implementation of sustainable development.

After several authors, we propose the term of "mundiality" to qualify a new paradigm of public governance. Mundiality is a sense of actively pertaining to the world in a community in constant becoming [START_REF] Dumas | Territoire et mondialité[END_REF]. It is consistent with our definition of territorial intelligence (see § 2.15 ). It is obviously different form "mundialism" or "globalization".

In that view, a territory is not defined by its limits, but by the proximities it generates.

Frontiers are no longer the horizon. [START_REF] Ricoeur | Cultures, du deuil à la traduction[END_REF] explains how the world map can be transformed from a juxtaposition of physically bounded pieces of land into a network of radiating nodes (Figure 4). Those nodes, than we can equate with our regions, interact through reciprocal illuminations. In that context, identities are not eternal characteristics, but rather living, evolving and narrative clues that are rooted in history and project themselves in a promise, attached to a horizon. A horizon that is never touched, but is made of successive plans, from the closest very mobile, to the farthest very stable. This model of radiating territories implies two corollaries: the need of translation between cultures, and the acceptation of one's lost in the relation with other. Translation (not only linguistic) can be supported by Ict, acceptation of lost supposes an ethics of government relationship. Examples of radiating factors are the cultural activities such as alimentation, cooking (recipes), music (folklore), clothing (fashion), and the like. Interesting enough is that those activities do not necessitate linguistic translation, but only cultural translation. The other prerequisite for renewed regional governance aiming at sustainable development is an ethics. This has been clearly identified by the Caenti project and does not need to be elaborated here beyond stressing its importance. Sketch of ethical rules for regional governance:

! Behave with other regions on the basis of mutual respect, exchange and radiation of cultures rather than domination.

! Behave with Departments and Cities (i.e. subdivisions of the region) according to subsidiarity principle.

! Act for what you think is fair, i.e. is useful for your regional community, and especially the poorest of them. Don't act in function of your immediate interest.

Proposals

In this paper, we have raised many questions. Some of them have had firm answers; some are still open to debate and controversy. As a provisional conclusion to these reflections, we wish to suggest some guidelines of action for a group of benevolent people looking to implement a friendlier world on the basis of a regional leverage. Quoting Prince Wilhelm of Orange-Nassau, "There is no need to have much hope to start some endeavour, nor to succeed to persevere".

Some guidelines for action at the regional level

… as an opening for further discussions and a program of research.

• How to build up an interregional network organization • Contagion as a mode of expansion and dissemination of regional ideas • Organization and measurement of EU support

Figure 3 :

 3 Figure 3 : Looking for an optimal level of action in territorial intelligence

Figure 4 :

 4 Figure 4: From closed boundaries to illuminations through porous frontiers

  Regions are formally recognized by the UE and its bodies among which the European Commission. However it must be reminded that the quasi totality of European machinery is directed towards the state level, or in Brussels jargon, the "Member States".

	Regions are not
	the focus.
	Several institutions 3 in Europe are either representative of the regions (such as the Aer,
	Assembly of European Regions, or the Afccre, Association française des communes et régions
	d'Europe) or consultative for the European Commission (like the Committee of the Regions,
	instituted by the Maastricht treaty, 1992).
	According to the Aer's Declaration on the regionalism in Europe, (http://www.a-e-
	r.org/about-aer/members/1.html)
	"the region is the territorial body of public law established at the level immediately below that of the State and
	endowed with political self-government. The region shall be recognised in the national constitution or in
	legislation which guarantees its autonomy, identity, powers and organisational structures."
	Regional competences vary from one country to another and 6 types of situation can currently be distinguished:
	! Constitutional regions having the prerogatives of a State (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland...),
	! Regions with large political and administrative autonomy (Spain, Italy, certain regions or autonomous
	islands in Denmark, the United Kingdom, Portugal),
	! Regions in decentralised States (France, Holland, Poland, the Czech Republic),
	! Regions with a district, département or county-like nature (Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary,
	Greece, Lithuania, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine),
	! Regional authorities made up of county delegations (Ireland),
	! Small States whose size corresponds to that of a region (Malta).
	Some non-regionalised States remain in Europe."
	The following are a few examples of the denominations of regions in Europe: Germany,
	Austria/Land, Spain/Comunidad Autonoma, France/Region, Hungary/Megye, Italy/Provincia
	autonoma & Regione, Poland/Wojewodztwo, Sweden/Landsting, Switzerland/Canton.

  3.1.2. LANGUAGE AND CULTURELinguistic difference from a population to another is a common criterion to establish a regional border. It is however highly controversial since some region may have several languages, and one language spread over several regions. Example: in Europe, four main linguistic areas are recognized that do not delineate regions: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_of_Europe) "Germanic Europe Germanic Europe is where the Germanic languages are predominantly spoken. This area corresponds more or less to north-western Europe and some parts of central Europe. This region consist of: United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, German-speaking Switzerland, Alto-Adige and the Flemish part of Belgium.Latin EuropeLatin Europe, where the Romance languages are spoken. This area corresponds more or less to south-western Europe, with the exception of Romania and Moldova which are situated in Eastern Europe. This area consists of Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Romania, Moldova, French-speaking Belgium, and French and Italian speaking Switzerland.

Slavic Europe

Slavic Europe, where the Slavic languages are spoken. This area corresponds more or less to Eastern Europe. This area consists of: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Bulgaria.

  Difficulties of former communist states to conceive and implement regionalism. http://geoconfluences.ens-lsh.fr/doc/etpays/Europe/EurScient.htm#haut Partnership between states and recently created regions is to defined and implement. It needs time, probably at least one generation. The new regional architecture of Central European regions is probably on an evolutionary cycle similar to what has been witnessed in France and other strong states during the XX° century. Some are questioning the possibility of a European view of regional governance. http://geoconfluences.ens-lsh.fr/doc/etpays/Europe/EurScient.htm#S1

	CIPRA (Alpine regions)
	http://www.cipra.org/datenbankseiten/willkommen.asp?n_lid=3
	COTRAO (Mediterranean Alps)
	http://w3.are-regions-europe.org/INTERREGIONAL/F-COTRAO.html
	3.3.3. A COUNTER EXAMPLE OF RESISTANCE TO REGIONALISM
	3.3.2. REGIONAL INITIATIVES
	Interreg Jurassien
	http://www.arcjurassien-ctj.org/INTERREG/index.htm
	http://www.interreg3afch.org/introduction.php
	Arco Latino
	http://www.arcolatino.org/
	CRPM (Conférence des Régions Périphériques Maritimes d'Europe).
	http://www.crpm.org/fr/index.php

Table 1

 1

	) of perceived

Table 1 :

 1 The advantages and shortcomings of each possible levels of territorial governance.Another way to solve that problem of optimizing the level of territorial governance might be conceptually found in solving the twofold equation that makes up territorial potential.

	Considering what we have said about the key factors of territoriality, i.e. (1) the importance of
	close interactions between actors, and (2) the necessity to encompass a global view that is
	inherent to the "sustainable development approach", we propose the following symbolic
	equation:
	Territorial potential = density of interaction * global vision
	Since (1) density of interaction decrease from the city level to the state level and (2) global
	vision increases from city to state, a graphical resolution of that equation is displayed in figure
	3 below.

•

  Region vs. state: typologies, share of responsibilities, of resources • Region vs. communities (cities, agglomerations, other administrative or sociocultural levels); redefinition of roles and responsibilities • Evaluating and controlling regional governance according with sustainable development • Redefining regional lobbying and citizen participation • World openness, especially to circum European regions • How the spirit of mundiality infuse governance of the regions • Educational concern • Caenti: a think tank for XXI° century regionalism?

http://www.a-e-r.org/VICARDS/index.html

This theory has been applied to regions, and even states, generally to justify imperialistic views. But it is also noteworthy that people in traditional tribes often designate themselves by the same word as their land.

« Territorial intelligence is the process of dynamically understanding the territory that makes up the territory"


Philippe Dumas
email: dumas@univ-tln.fr

Jean-Philippe Gardere
email: jean-philippe.gardere@wanadoo.fr

Yann Bertacchini
email: bertacchini@univ-tln.fr

"Contribution of socio-technical systems theory concepts to a framework of Territorial Intelligence"

Territorial intelligence approach to sustainable development is largely relying on two major paradigms of modern social sciences: social constructivism and systems theory as keys to manage complexity. But, whether in current definitions or practical applications, that is implicitly assessed by authors. The aim of this communication is to revisit some of the key concepts and principles of socio-technical systems theory to build up a consistent, explicit and practical framework of territorial intelligence achievements in order to contribute to a general theory of that new field of knowledge.

INTRODUCTION

The Caenti project brings together people from all Europe with their diversities and idiosyncrasies. The question of vocabulary thus can brings misunderstandings and, at the same time, richness and new insights. For example the word "intelligence" in Territorial Intelligence is largely polysemic and ambiguous. It may be taken with its Anglo-Saxon connotation of information and inquiry, or with its Latin connotation of ability to understand. We pose the ambiguity of communication within any European project as a source of richness that however needs to be managed appropriately in order to avoid misunderstanding. This is the European way to address complexity. Complexity is our world.

Thinking and dealing with complexity has been the goal of the epistemological endeavor conducted under the banner of General Systems Theory (Gst), from [START_REF] Wiener | Cybernetics[END_REF], Von [START_REF] Bertalanffy | General System Theory[END_REF], [START_REF] Simon | The new Science of Management Decision[END_REF] in the sixties to Von Foerster (1973), LeMoigne (1990) and Morin (1977Morin ( , 1980) ) in Europe in the nineties. This methodological light can be seen in the work of Robert [START_REF] Escarpit | Théorie générale de l'information et de la communication[END_REF] on the general theory of information and communication, for whom "Theorists of telecommunications have used mathematical tools that already exist, namely those the thermodynamic and statistical mechanics".

We aim at revisiting some of the General Systems Theory concepts to help structuring complexity in an emerging Territorial Intelligence theory. We will address among others the socio-technical systems, the notion of inquirer, systems openness, and entropy and deduce a discussion about learning and adaptability, emerging properties, game theory, hypertely and decision-making. A case study of urban development will prove how these concepts can be useful to understand and lead a territorial intelligence program.

THE SOCIO-TECHNICAL SYSTEMS APPROACH

The system as a representation

Most every one has an intuitive grasp of what a system is, since we encounter in common parlance expressions like "the nervous system", "the metric system", or "the monetary system". The dictionary says it is "a group of units so combined as to form a whole and to operate in unison" (Webster). Clearly this applies to a territory. But try to ask several persons to define, say, the "social security system". You will receive various answers to the point that you may embarrass your interlocutor. If you had asked the question about the solar system, you would probably have received similar answers from people at similar level of secondary education, while you would diverge when questioning peasants in far eastern countries. So, our immediate experience of systems approach indicates that a socalled "system" is not an object universally defined and accepted. It is rather a construct of everyone's mind, under the influence of a cultural background and a social setting. It is the difference between mechanical systems and social systems. The manner in which "a given system is described depends upon the observer, his knowledge, and interest in the operation of the system, although for many systems there are some strata, i.e. features, which appear as natural or inherent" (Mesarovic et al., 1968, p33).

The role of the inquirer

The representation is assumed to have minimal commonality (e.g. rules of construct) between at least two minds so that communication between the latter can take place. Assessing rules for the representation of the "real" is the objective of Gst. Or to put it the other way around, Gst is a meta theory for abstract modeling the real world. Speaking of an object as a system is not an intrinsic property of the object. It is a method of observing it. Anything can be a system. "Systems everywhere", says [START_REF] Bertalanffy | General System Theory[END_REF]. Defining a system is a specific choice of someone we name "inquirer", i.e. someone who is interested in doing so.

"Inquirer" is the single denomination for two characters: the observer and the designer. Establishing this distinction between two roles of the inquirer accounts for an intrinsic dissymmetry of human experience: the human mind either informs itself about the world or is creating something new in the world. We may formulate that in terms of information exchange as measured by entropy 10 as we will see below. When observing the system, the inquirer takes information from the system hence the systems entropy grows. When designing, the inquirer brings information and variety to the system under the shape of ordering and purposeful action; hence the system's entropy decreases. All these processes are time-related.

Consequence for the Territorial Intelligence framework

A territory is a system that can only be defined with respect to the point of view of the inquirer, whether it is the observer or the designer. The inquirer is able to single out the system from its environment. Hence a territory possesses an inside, an outside, and a boundary. The properties of the boundary will be crucial to systems thinking [START_REF] Dumas | Is The Region The Most Suitable For Sustainable Development?[END_REF].

A further assumption is that the collective consciousness of change in the territory rejects the question of disorder, in other words, all forms of entropy. The concept of hypertely, borrowed from Gilbert Simondon, presents an interesting explanatory force to reflect the logical interfaces in building large urban systems, for example. Then the systemic properties of the emergence should enable us to explain the genesis of territorial forms in the context of multiple environments. Finally, we assess whether game theory is in a position to help us build a practical model of democratic formalization of political negotiation.

A PRELIMINARY LIST OF SOME RELEVANT SYSTEMS CONCEPTS

Systems openness and bounded rationality

Pure "rational thinking" is based on a complete, explicit knowledge of cause-effect relationship in a system, or between the system and its environment. This means that in rational thinking a system is conceived as a closed entity, within clearly defined boundaries. It is a self-contained set of cause-effect relationship such as a mechanical 10 A measure of internal degradation of closed systems diversity towards an ultimate state of uniformity. 95 engine described by a set of equations. Such approach has proven fruitful when applied to hardware or even natural systems. On the contrary, socio-technical systems include a set of relationship that exceeds human reason. They cannot be observed and completely described by any human inquiry. Hence we will name "openness" that property. It is related with the notion of porous boundaries that accounts for interactions with the environment and the possibility for the system to regenerate itself.

When the limits of human minds are reached with regard to its ability to handle numerous variables and cause-effect relationships, the knowledge of the system must be recognized as incomplete. Systems thinking is based on this recognition that the human mind is unable to apprehend the real world in its totality. That is a "bounded rationality" in [START_REF] Simon | The new Science of Management Decision[END_REF] terms.

Hence the human mind is compelled to conceive a representation of the real that is incomplete. This representation leaves something outside. It is an open system. The system (e.g. the territory) on which the human mind works is recognized as an artificial simplification of the real. To account for what has been left aside the system must be supposed related to the environment. It is conceived "open".

An open system is, in our representation of the real territory, the counterpart of our bounded rationality.

Systems borders between openness and closure

"The environment such as we perceive it, is our invention" (Von Föerster, 1973, p.74). "A growing body of new knowledge suggests that what we call reality is actually something we construct." The planetary ecological consciousness has to be related to cybernetics, born from the second world war and partly in reaction against it (Bougnoux, 1993).

Admittedly, we are immersed in varied environments that are either close, intermediary or distant. How we deal with them is one of the answers provided by territorial intelligence. Contrary to closed thinking approach, systems thinking recognizes that borders can be both frontiers in the sense that they make the world intelligible by reducing it into independent pieces, and screens inasmuch as they let interactions occur between all components. Screening the environment is a process of (territorial) intelligence.

Systems of territorial intelligence need to use traditional processes of transmission information and communication and information technologies through Intranet or Internet

Web sites, documentation, geographical information systems -Gis -, the Community Systems of Territorial Information -Csit-and the analysis of data. The strategy of Caenti consists in promoting comparative research, with two precise operational objectives, in accordance with the set of themes "To promote and support research, methodologies and the production of comparative data".

Design and diffusion of tools, methodologies and accessible protocols of research, on the one hand, with researchers in Social Sciences and, on the other hand, with actors of sustainable development of the territories is a concrete strategy and results are easily checkable.

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Entropy

The concept of entropy originated with the principles of thermodynamics for which we propose here an extension.

Any physical system tends to evolve into a lesser state of organization: it is said that its entropy increases. A compressed gas tends spontaneously to a state where the pressure is lowest. To reduce it to its original state, we must compress, which commits expenditure of work. The entropy of an isolated system can only increase, while the usable energy of the system decreases. This degradation can only stop with a significant external.

The first law of thermodynamics denies the possibility of perpetual motion. The second principle goes further. The energy that each has can not be used entirely for the benefit of its author: there necessarily losses. All events in reality lead to a downgrading of energy. The overall entropy of the world as a single system can only increase. This implies that not only the individual can never win (the first principle), but that he lost a portion of his (second principle).

The second principle leads to the idea of death heat of the world. If any event increases universal entropy irreversibly degrading forms of energy preexisting (by making them less usable), it is tempting to see in each of real events, a step towards a final state where everything movement become impossible by the lack of usable energy.

To understand what entropy is and to translate this scientific concept about which we appreciate, it is necessary to analyze three dimensions of the entropy in connection with the notions of order, balance and information.

▪ The entropy increases with disorder. In general we can say that in the wild any system ordered in time tending to a maximum state of disorder. To recover the initial order, we must invest much effort. Take the example of a building. If the decision is made not to make the necessary repairs, the house will fall quickly into disrepair. Even if it is cared for, sooner or later it will collapse. This is the trend toward disorder. The aging and the death of biological organisms can also be understood in this manner, as deteriorating structures.

▪ Entropy increases with the balance. Unlike an a priori, the balance is not related to the order but disorder and thus the increasing Entropy (note the difference between disorder and imbalance). The disorder is to be avoided because it is a defect, deterioration. This is the imbalance which otherwise is a potential towards equilibrium. Anything in nature is in a state of imbalance creates a usable energy. The Earth has two poles of opposing polarity and this imbalance by allowing terrestrial magnetic fields to exist. A drop of water comes from an imbalance and can be used to create energy. The entropy is very low. By contrast, the ocean contains considerable energy in the form of heat. However, the latter being in balance, it is impossible to use it. The ocean has high entropy that makes it unusable. Man was able to control locally and on a limited time increasing entropy. The centrepiece of our churches uses the sum of local small entropies to create a point in high entropy and therefore stable. This system generates not only a balance, and therefore a high 97 entropy, but an order low entropy and scalable. This evolution is part of a report to the time when the balance is split. The vault will eventually collapse, through its minimum entropy, to immediately find a pile of stone is worth far more important.

▪ Entropy and information. In information theory, entropy is a measure of noise in a channel where we try to send a message. In other words, when we transmit the information via a canal, there was a noise. Entropy and information can be distinguished. In architecture, for example, building requires information. The latter are reflected in a manual or orally transmitted. The more a construction is sophisticated, the higher information is. On the other hand, we do not need to build manual, with the same materials, a heap of stone. Its entropy will be much higher than that of construction.

The concept of entropy has been used repeatedly information science and communication. However, moving from theory to the social sciences thermodynamics must be done with caution. If the notions of entropy and neg-entropy may apply to information science and communication, it must take into account the human side the area considered: "We can venture the hypothesis that the concept [of information] is structurally linked to that of entropy, but it differs by the fact that it takes into account two elements ignored by the physical science: life, and especially thought" (Escarpit,1976).

Lucien Sfez, indicated in Critique of communication that "these considerations lead to promote a relative entropy, which, among a total mess of uncertainty and random and repetition (redundancy) without information, maintain an adequate degree of entropy" [START_REF] Sfez | Critique de la communication[END_REF]. Rather than entropy itself, Robert Escarpit preferred to speak of neg-entropy.

While entropy tends to chaos, neg-entropy move away. Two interpretations of the same state, one optimistic and the other pessimistic, "But sometimes, there may be incidents of communications requiring amendments to the program. These changes are changes that can be a neg-entropique as in the case of adaptations to the environment, or entropic as in the case of cancer" [START_REF] Escarpit | Théorie générale de l'information et de la communication[END_REF]. It is clear from these notions that if we want to lead a constructive meeting between people on a particular project, it is necessary to create conditions to establish microcosm entropy is locally reduced. What goes through:

▪ A place where law and order prevails and where spoken are regulated and enforced.

Place where the rules of the game are fixed in advance and where everyone enjoys legitimacy.

▪ A place that is not in balance, where all views can be presented, as well as all categories of users. The balance, we have just seen, is not synonymous with order, but thermal death. The same is true for ideas. In a balanced, they do not circulate and do not thrive.

▪ A place where information and clear about is suitable for use by all.

The approach requires communication, as a result, these three characteristics in order to reduce the entropy locally and create the conditions necessary for a constructive discussion.

Learning and adaptability

An adaptive system is in the class of complex systems that show self-direction in an evolutive environment. Adaptation differs from controlled behavior inasmuch as it understands a quest for efficiency11 , goals being unchanged. Says Ackoff (1974, 668): "adaptiveness is the ability of a system to modify itself or its environment when either has changed to the system disadvantage so as to regain at least some of its efficiency".

For Ackoff, this definition implies four types of adaptation: other-other, other-self, selfother, and self-self adaptation depending upon which one of the system or the environment is induced to change. For instance, the quality of gasoline drops unexpectedly due to uncertainty of the environment (the markets). The car owner may continue to ride his car at the same speed by increasing his consumption: he then displays goal-seeking behavior under feedback12 control, at the expense of the reduction of his efficiency (ratio speed/consumption) in an other-self adaptation. He may also change the gas in an otherother adaptation, or change the car or change the desired speed in a self-self adaptation.

We presently watch such kinds of conducts in relation with sustainable development issues.

"To learn is to increase one's efficiency in the pursuit of a goal under unchanged conditions" (ibid; p 669). It is noticeable that learning requires time, the ability to make choice and a memory.

It is now common say to extend the notion of learning to organizations. This implies in addition a collaborative capability. E. Morin has shown that an open system like an organization (e.g. a territory) demonstrates capabilities of self-learning by recording its own behavior.

Emerging properties

Open systems display emerging properties when learning and adapting, in the sense that new behaviors tend to create new functions, forms and significances whether in the learning individual or the learning organization. There are strong correspondences between properties, functions, forms and significances. The application of this concept to Territorial Intelligence should allow us to better understand the changes in our present world under the pressure of sustainable development. Networking, social communities are examples of new functions and correlative forms. Information technologies are both the trigger and the result of adaptation in organizations.

The emergence is a property that makes the whole is not reducible to its parts, it is more (having his own properties and overhanging), and less (it does not possess all the properties of its parts, some information is lost). A quote from Robert B. Laughlin summarizes the concept: "It (a solid, a cloud, an agency) leads his life in an autonomous manner. The rules governing it do not depend on those governing its constituents. It

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reflects a new level of organization. They testify to the phenomenon most mysterious and therefore the most fascinating of nature: the emergence" [START_REF] Laughlin | [END_REF]].

The existence of emerging properties implies that the addition of several elements is not always equal their sum. Thus, the interactions between components cancel their differences and combine. This limits the scope of certain forces that cancel (electrically charged) or balance to a higher level of observation where the components are no longer taken individually but whole, comprehensive statistical level (crowd, thermodynamics, noise).

There may be new properties dispersion as entropy as well as the phenomena of rhythm, strengthening or pipe (a river that widens), which are not reducible to the elements involved (molecular level). It's emergence is the simplest is the statistical mechanics.

Beyond this simple mechanical properties, the emergence on the property to establish, macro level, different properties of the sum of the properties at the micro level. This is the case, for example, the water molecule (H2O), whose properties are clean and are quite various properties of oxygen and hydrogen. Each element has lost independence to meet the purpose of the combination of the two.

These are phenomena or reflexive construction of a recursive interactive with the environment. Causality is no longer just domestic. There is really emerging from the elements but from the outside and effects. What emerge here are the purpose and the project. It is in a reflective, all capable of changing itself, controlled interaction with the environment, a constant adjustment with the reality. Extrapolation of this physical phenomenon can be made for a meeting of participatory democracy:

▪ Confrontation of individuals with different expectations cancels their own opinions in favour of a combination of more than their own money.

▪ The discussions raise the dynamic progress that take precedence over the views of each.

▪ This dynamic individual imposes its own rules.

▪ For feedback, the project will become the purpose of this microphone organization. Each individual is different, not by his own opinion, but with a specialization in a particular field of discussion.

It seems that participatory democracy, to work, should respond to basic rules minimizing its entropy and encouraging the emergence of the collective opinion.

This axiom questioned the conduct of a conciliation meeting because even when there is enough qualities of entropy, the emergence of the collective opinion will be held. In the wake of scientific borrowing, one of the solutions is based on a mathematical theory, the game theory. This theory is called upon to illustrate any situation that features players under certain conditions. They must develop strategies to maximize their earnings. The situation has generated a balance and the emergence of a solution around which all will agree. 100

These gains are varied and depend on the expectations of citizens in a process of participation. This may be the personal welfare or a more altruistic motivation. This theory tells us more about the conditions of equilibrium.

Game theory: toward the balance

The game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing the strategic interactions among individuals with divergent interests by the study of configurations where the situation of each depends on the behaviour of all. It takes its roots in the strategy game. Also, a conciliation meeting, as well as any meeting of participatory democracy, can be treated because every players use strategies to maximize their earnings.

The translation in terms of playing these meetings is done by the initial configuration of the situation described by parameters such as the number of players, all possible strategies, the order of speakers, the information from each and expected gains. Based on these data, each actor player (here each participant in a meeting) develops a strategy characterized by the gain potential he can draw from it.

The mathematician Nash is at the root of the theorem and demonstrated that this type of situation gives rise to a balance called Nash-balance. It is the set of strategies (one strategy for each player) such as no player can't gain more if he unilaterally changes strategy. The choices reflect the strategies of other players. This implies no regrets.

The Nash theorem states that all ended game admits at least one Nash equilibrium. This means that any interaction between various individuals admits a Nash equilibrium, and therefore a strategy. Once implemented, it gives the absence of regrets of the participants. This theorem can be applied to our subject. In this case, the Nash balance came out of this strategy game that is a process of participation. That is a solution which is not necessarily the best, but there are no regrets and a degree satisfaction sufficient parties concerned to arrive at the resolution of the situation, the problem.

Moreover, game theory allows for two investigations that help to the study of the participation process:

▪ The duration of proceedings for participation should be fixed and known. Nash balance exists if the number of repetitions is finished. However, if the game is repeated infinitely, or if the players do not know how many times it will be repeated the system is not determined and no possibility of prediction. Thus, the rules of a process of participation must be clear if a Nash balance is search.

The solution that emerges from a game or a participation procedure is not necessarily the optimum solution for each. It is one of the inputs of the theory of Nash in the understanding of human strategies. Personnal rationality of the players do not necessarily lead to a collective rationality. [The prisoner's dilemma]. This is the dilemma between individual rationality and collective rationality. To escape, it is necessary to explain to both players gains matrix to move towards a cooperation agreement.

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The game theory shows that the participation procedure, if properly defined in terms of rules of the game and planning, gives the emergence of a solution balance. It is all the more optimum when it is conducted in a cooperation spirit.

The use of these three theories highlights the auto-emerging character of some forms of participatory process, if the conditions in which these are conducted are enable the phenomenon occur, ie with a value entropic low. These conditions are reflected in the proposal of a model for meeting the laws of physics and mathematics above views. However, in the context continuously adapting what city, negative hypertely is to be avoided.

Hypertely

Hypertely is that way of adaptation of a system to its environment (self-other) based on the hypertrophied development of existing functions. Hypertely is a term borrowed from biology that has been adapted to technical objects by [START_REF] Simon | The new Science of Management Decision[END_REF], and applied to territorial development by Gardère (2006[START_REF] Gardère | Démocratie participative en aménagement urbain vers la microreprésentativité[END_REF]. There are two sorts of hypertelies. The one is named "negative" to characterize endogenous developments. An example is the expansion of regulations to control public space in city development. The other is "positive" in the sense that it improves efficiency of the system. For example, traffic lights can be used intelligently to regulate the flows of public transportation at the expense of the speed of private vehicles.

Functional relations between objects make up a sub-system within the socio-technical system with emerging properties that induce self-self adaptations. These are both efficient and effective when hypertely is positive. Making it positive is the process of participative democracy at the level of the territory, a process that implies certain types of decisionmaking as will be evoked hereafter. The management interfaces contained in the notion of hypertely is central in the development of a theory of participatory democracy. The interface between the citizen and the elected exist. To avoid the pitfalls of a poorly proportioned interface (Negative hypertely), it is desirable to determinate this interface while developing the process. This is the keystone of the micro representativity (Gardère, 2006).

Decision-making

Decision-making is classically introduced in the literature in the form of an individual exerting a choice between several alternatives of ends and means. A given choice is motivated by its expected outcome(s). This general framework has given rise to several approaches to decision making. Among them are the economic approach to "rational decision making" and the behavioral approach defined by the March-Cyert-Simon school.

In short, rational decision-making assumes that 1) all possible alternatives are known, 2) all outcomes are known, and 3) preferences for every outcome can be ordered. Under these conditions, the decision maker is assumed to choose so as to maximize the pay-off. The behavioral approach recognizes that not all alternatives are known: choice is only satisficing. Yet preferences are ordered, and the decision maker seeks to know as many alternatives as possible. Hence a quest for good "information for decision" is a permanent 102 goal of information specialists (Goria, 2006). But that quest will ever be limited by our "bounded rationality" (see above).

Meanwhile less emphasis can be put on the individual since most organizations decide collectively. Then decision-making is rather viewed as a process of negotiation between social actors linked altogether in power relationship. A given decision is neither optimizing nor satisficing in the sense given above, but it is the result of compromises, trade-offs between conflicting rationalities so as to square with the balance of power between those who hold the rationalities. This is the basis for the experiments in participative democracy and micro-representativeness (Gardère, 2006). It is demonstrated that trade-offs and compromises are possible, but not systematic. A way to reach democratic consensus in territorial organizations consists in recognizing that people behave differently depending on their beliefs about outcomes -implying beliefs about cause-effect relationship-and the way they order their preferences. Thompson (1967) and [START_REF] Dumas | Management Information Systems: A Dialectic Theory and the Evaluation Issue[END_REF] have proposed a model that later orientates the type of "inquiring" adapted to reach a decision.

In that systems modeling of decision making, two basic dimensions account for a typology of decision-making.

1) The beliefs of decision makers about the cause-effect relationship of their action to the future outcome;

2) The standards of desirability against which effects of causal actions can be evaluated.

By combining the extreme occurrences on these two continua, we obtain a typological matrix of organizational assessment (Figure 1) The four cells identified in that typology correspond to the following organizational situations in Territorial decision-making.

I: closed systems' thinking relies on the hypothesis of efficiency maximization of outcomes; it is the area where consensus is obtained because everyone thinks alike.

II: goals are shared, but the ways to attain them are controversial.

III: goals are not shared but the cause-effect relationship is fairly clear, so that negotiation can take place in power relationship.

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IV: confused situations where all arguments are set forth and debated. It is also the situation where creativity will provide a way to return to cell I where consensus can be reached.

The interest of that typology is that situations are shifting from one cell to another (as figured by the arrows in Figure 1) and this shifting game will explain the collective decision making process.

A case study: urban development as territorial intelligence process

The development of a city, its zones, neighbourhoods, suburban, outgrowths, tracing of the streets and logistical uses create infinite hypertely to adapt the changing environments.

Over the change in a city, the citizens' interactions with each other and with public space generate continual adaptations of the environment according to usage. Thus, the increased requirements on the road leading to arterial roads carry out ever more important. The problem saturations and pollution increases, a transit was privileged. This example demonstrates the various bodies that are successively being hypertely during changes of the city.

In the city, we cannot fail to communicate about the disorder, the immediate signs of disorder. The entropy of black facades, tags, comes into its own policy in the long term: what makes sign, in the public space affected by this so urban disorder is the persistence of the trace. This explains the stranglehold on the political and technical hypertelic solutions.

The political instance delegates to the technical power to counter the inherent chaos of the city. The quality of life of a city, as expressed in its flow, its passages and bridges, always a policy hallmark in favour of an optimal technical solution and therefore a successful hypertely: "hypertely research by value analysis useful information to resolve technical malfunction and/or humans in the implementation of a project. Cells possess the experts who could innovate and ensure the success of the project" [START_REF] Gramaccia | Les actes de langage dans les organisations[END_REF]].

The transition from disorder to order is the result of a technical choice in the political process. Two political instances divide public space in the city. The first is the election, which orders (in all senses of the term: in order, to order, to prescribe, to spend). This is what we call the major uses of the city: traffic, access to commercial spaces, security, and hygiene. The second is the user who suffers, in its daily life, the harmful effects of a temporarily disabled or restricted hypertely.

So, what urban public spaces have to redesign for creating settlement spaces? Can we argue that communicational power could be created from the coexistence of institutional political power and popular power? This concern is at the heart of democratic debate. One condition for success is that citizens can freely come to an agreement on collective solutions at the cost of hypertelic sacrifices and individual entropy at short term (provisionally accept losing a little commercial time to build a road for example).

The experience of neighbourhood associations shows that the procedure is difficult to apply if the hypertelic constraints are not resolved.

Figure 1 :

 1 Figure 1: Four types of organizational assessment based on the complexity of decision situations. Beliefs about cause-effect relationship

Efficiency refers to a ratio between systems outputs and inputs, while effectiveness qualifies the degree of achievement of a systems goal.

Feedback is the process by which a system corrects the inputs so as to maintain its goal.

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The adaptation of representative democracy to participatory democracy should not cause negative hypertely. It would make the system malfunctions. The dialogue is not an end in itself but a means. A hypertely of the organizing services of participatory democracy in a city should not, by its heaviness, act against the project. Indeed, a hypertelic communication mismanaged can take precedence over the project. But if the aim is to begin a reflexive process on the terms of proximity, it is to find the way of another technical design, more sustainable.

CONCLUSION

This short insight into systems thinking has proven that those concepts developed in the last decades can provide the theoretical framework for organizing findings on the field. At present this review is sketchy and incomplete. It is an objective of Caenti research to complete it.