CAP Territories: Training the future managers of territorial transitions

Starting in 2022, CAP Territoires relied on a qualitative survey of the needs of professionals and trades during individual semi-directive interviews conducted in 2022 and 2023 and two collective sharing sessions with a diverse panel of 34 professionals called the external committee. The approach was also part of an exchange with an internal committee made up of teacher-researchers, research engineers and members of the various bodies of AgroParisTech who agreed to participate in this collective reflection to develop the institution’s training offer. The richness of the discussions made it possible to identify professional practices that are being questioned in the face of the multiple crises that territories are going through at all levels. These dynamics are transforming existing professions and opening the way to emerging professions, encouraging initial and vocational training to reflect them.

The territories are confronted with often multiple issues, of a different nature and linked to economic, social, climatic or even institutional dynamics. They are also at the crossroads of territorial opportunities and innovations brought about by numerous actors, whether public, private or associative. From an institutional point of view, this can be seen in the fact that stakeholders are having to rethink their methods of regional action, often collectively, with a view to integrating regional issues and knowledge. From a professional point of view, while expert skills continue to be in high demand, situations of uncertainty where a large number of actors come together and where problems are multifactorial invite professionals to change their approach. The relationship with the field, experimentation and the ability to cooperate and make connections are becoming essential components. Similarly, research work reflects developments in the territory and helps to support local stakeholders in the implementation of their projects.

The interviews and group workshops conducted during this CAP Territoires have therefore provided valuable insights into the evolution of local professions and expectations in terms of skills, giving rise to important reflections on the issue of professional attitudes in a changing, uncertain and crisis-ridden world. The results of the CAP Territories highlight three issues:

• Training professionals capable of grasping a dynamic system and therefore accepting experimentation
• Taking a cultural and sensitive approach rooted in a territory in order to question its imaginaries and desirable futures
• Integrating an ethical dimension that places action in a process, rather than in solutions to be applied.