Desvaux, Quentin

Transforming the construction industry in the Grenoble metropolitan area: Comparative analysis of transition processes guided by action research - 2024.


20

At the intersection of the construction and waste sectors, the specific area of waste management and treatment in the construction industry is characterized by interconnected transitional dynamics. The introduction of a new national system of extended producer responsibility (EPR) is having a major impact on these sectors, tying in with local policies previously set up by local authorities responsible for waste management. To examine the links between these dynamics, this article analyzes an action-research approach initiated by the Grenoble Alpes Métropole (GAM ) administration and the collective dynamics of the local sector. The researcher’s inclusion sheds light on transformation knowledges (TK) conducive to assessing how two transitional schemes, local and national, operate, and the dynamics in which they are embedded, in order to explore their respective conceptions of transformation. The interpretation of the results highlights a series of contradictions between a national process initiated from above and an earlier local transformation dynamic initiated from below.