Project : People & Trees

A successful bidder in 2019 under the Territoires d’Innovation national call for projects within the context of the GPI investment plan, the project “People & Trees – the Roots of Tomorrow” initially emerged under the coordination of Grand Nancy metropolitan council in association with the municipality association Epinal, on behalf of some 100 public and private sector operators in south Lorraine and north Vosges.

To provide long-term collective governance of the project, the “People & Trees – the Roots of Tomorrow” association was created in early 2020. It brings together institutional, economic and academic stakeholders, all concerned by the place of trees in our everyday lives in an environmental and economic context, all sharing a common vision:

• Trees are a major trump card of the Grand Est region (in towns, in forests and in the countryside)
• Understanding them better, preserving them and commercialising the services they render is a source of good living, innovation, prosperity and ecological transformation

This unique regional alliance covers four Départements of the Grand Est region and 1,132 municipalities totalling over one million inhabitants.

The shared goal of the project is to transform the region over a 10-year period via innovative actions that develop and promote trees in personal well-being, preservation of the environment, regional resilience and prosperity in line with society’s expectations, future climate change and justifiable commercialisation of local resources.

5 complementary strategic priorities have been defined to achieve this goal:

1. Services Rendered: to better understand and commercialise the services rendered by trees.
   
2. Ecosystems: to promote sustainable and resilient wooded ecosystems.
3. Industry: to improve the commercialisation of local wood resources.
4. Quality of Life & Wellbeing: to develop the use of wood and plants in construction, planning, depollution, design… and promote the therapeutic and social benefits of wooded spaces.
5. Extended Factory: to motivate the public, citizens and users to become involved in implementation of the project and to accelerate innovation in close sympathy with society’s expectations.