IHU – Among the 14 ideas considered a priority (for a post-pandemic world) include the development of short circuits, the adoption of agroecology and the relocation of strategic productions. This is what the report by Audrey Garric, published by the French newspaper, shows Le Monde, on May 28th. The translation is by André Langer.

More than ever, citizens have been involved in building the “post-pandemic world”. The consultation “How can we invent the post-pandemic world together?” was launched on April 10 by several organizations. These include WWF France, the Red Cross or Make.org. And it brought together no less than 165 thousand participants, who drew 20 thousand proposals and carried out 1.7 million votes. The results, published on Thursday, May 28, show the desire for a greener future and more focused on local production. They are in line with the consultation “The next day”, launched by 66 parliamentarians and concluded in mid-May.

Those who responded to the consultation declared themselves in favor of local consumption, with the development of short circuits, and the decrease in imports – with taxation of the mileage traveled by the products. They want the practice of “alternative” agriculture and livestock, which are more local and less intensive. Based mainly on agroecology or permaculture, and the use of less phytosanitary products.

They also advocate limiting the production of waste, in particular packaging and disposable plastic, and encouraging recycling. They are in favor of relocating in France and Europe all the productions considered strategic. Especially in the health, food and textile sectors. And they want to develop ecological mobility (public transport, free ride, bicycle) and reduce road and air freight transport for the benefit of rail transport.

Modification of the economic model

Finally, they want a greener urban space, better protect biodiversity, better know and remunerate the professions considered essential (teachers, farmers, cashiers, truck drivers, caregivers …), provide more resources to hospitals, develop a more participatory democracy or even modify radically the economic model.

On the other hand, some proposals were not maintained because they are considered to be very controversial. Such as the establishment of a universal income, the ban on the implantation of 5G, the reduction of weekly working time or the abandonment of nuclear energy.

“This consultation showed a high degree of involvement by the population, says Axel Dauchez, president of Make.org. The rate of proposals, when reduced to the number of participants, is about ten times higher than that of other consultations on our platform ”.

WWF France is committed to “translating citizens’ expectations into more detailed measures, modeling their socio-economic impact (especially in terms of maintaining and creating jobs) and assessing the investment needs needed to implement them,” explains Pierre Cannet , director of the NGO’s legal sector. The idea is to deliver the measures to the President of the Republic and to the government by the end of June. And that they are integrated into the plan to resume the economy planned for the fall.

Sustainable economic recovery

It is precisely here that the main challenge lies for the dozens of consultations with the population launched since the covid-19 crisis. How can they have a bearing on politics? Unlike the citizen convention on the climate, which has an official mandate and was committed by Emmanuel Macron to see his proposals be transmitted “without a filter”, the other platforms do not know if the results of their work will be taken into account and how.

“There is a risk that these many platforms will remain politically dead letters, which could discredit the processes of participatory democracy”, he warns Mathilde Imer, one of the creators of “Nous les premiers”, Name of a tribune addressed to Emmanuel Macron and which brings together local elected officials and civil society actors, which proposes to bring together all citizen consultations.

“Nous les premiers” invites you to summarize the consultations, which could be done, for example, by National Public Debate Commission. This synthesis could then be used to define a “national plan for sustainable economic recovery” through a deliberative process of the Grenelle or Citizen Assembly.