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2025-02-06
Réflexions BC2
Collective Intelligence for Territorial Resilience
Chapters
Collective intelligence is the ability of a group of people to combine their knowledge and ideas to solve problems more effectively and creatively than any group member could achieve alone. In the field of urban planning, the concept of collective intelligence describes people’s ability to pool their knowledge and expertise to collaboratively create better planning, adaptation and mitigation solutions, thereby contributing to territorial resilience.
This publication examines the critical role of collective intelligence in territorial resilience, first by defining the concept and then exploring, through examples and case studies, its various roles, including:
- Its use to better understand territorial issues;
- Its impact on more resilient planning;
- Its role in strengthening the capacity of individuals and communities to address future challenges.
POTENTIAL AND LIMITS OF COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE TOOLS
Originally developed in the fields of management and human resources, collective intelligence is based on the fundamental idea that when people collaborate effectively, they can combine their strengths and offset their weaknesses. Each individual brings a unique perspective, specific skills, and personal experience of a given area. By bringing these together, it becomes possible to gain a deeper understanding of a problem and generate innovative ideas.
In the field of urban planning, the terms “territorial intelligence” or “collective intelligence” are used to refer to this practice, which brings together participants from various spheres, ranging from citizens to urban planning professionals and policymakers.1 This approach is part of the collaborative planning movement.2 From this perspective, the complexity of the world in which planning takes place makes it unproductive for professionals to act solely as experts. They must adopt the role of mediators, tasked with building consensus or proposing acceptable solutions for a diverse range of stakeholders with differing interests and influences. With this approach, planners must combine their technical expertise with interpersonal skills, such as communication and the ability to manage group dynamics. 3
There are various ways to foster collective intelligence. From information sessions to co-design workshops and participatory budgeting, the goal is to encourage active engagement from everyone, promote attentive listening, respect for everyone’s ideas, and create an environment conducive to free expression and creativity. Engaging local stakeholders with in-depth knowledge of the territory helps build communities that are better equipped to face change and adapt sustainably to future challenges.
While the methods and tools designed to foster collective intelligence hold great potential, there are limitations to fully realizing the potential of collective intelligence in every situation. Indeed, some public participation activities may be limited and biased by socio-cultural, economic or demographic factors. Some groups may find it difficult to access these initiatives for practical reasons such as location, time constraints or language barriers. These groups may not be adequately represented, which can lead to an imbalance in shared perspectives and compromise the relevance of proposed solutions. What is more, within participation activities themselves, social dynamics can influence the ideas or viewpoints put forward.
To overcome these obstacles, it is crucial that efforts to foster collective intelligence are designed inclusively from the outset. This means actively including under-represented voices. It is important to create environments where everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas, even if they differ from majority opinions. What is more, organized activities must have well-defined objectives and, above all, be meaningful to a range of stakeholders, otherwise participation can become instrumentalized (tokenism).4
Furthermore, while collective intelligence enriches thinking by contributing ideas and solutions adapted to specific issues, the role of the planner remains essential. As mediator and translator of collective needs, he or she must ensure that balanced solutions are identified, capable of meeting the diverse needs of different groups while respecting common territorial objectives.
In summary, integrating tools that promote collective intelligence within the context of urban and territorial planning offers significant potential for addressing complex challenges and fostering sustainable community development. However, to truly unlock the power of collective intelligence, it is essential to foster a genuine commitment to inclusion, diversity, and equity, ensuring that every voice contributes to the creation of solutions that reflect the richness and diversity of local experiences.
Collective intelligence for better understanding territorial issues
- Collecting data
- Lived experiences
- Territorial challenges
- In-depth understanding
Data collection and analysis are essential for understanding the challenges a territory faces and for developing effective resilience strategies. Methods of data collection rooted in collective intelligence allow for gathering a wide range of information from diverse sources, including scientific data, traditional knowledge, and lived experiences. By pooling this information, it becomes possible to create a comprehensive portrait of the territory, enabling a deeper understanding of its challenges and the needs of its population.
Tools that promote collective intelligence actively involve community members in diagnosing a territory and participating in decision-making processes. By encouraging the engagement of all relevant stakeholders—including residents, local businesses, community organizations, and policymakers—it is possible to leverage collective expertise and local knowledge to better understand specific challenges and develop tailored solutions.
Collective intelligence for adapted and more resilient planning
- Collaboration, engagement and ownership
- Creative idea generation
- Monitoring and evaluation
By leveraging collective intelligence, stakeholders can collaborate to develop innovative solutions tailored to the specific needs of a territory. Bringing together individuals with diverse expertise and skills—technical experts, policymakers, and community members—enables the generation of creative ideas, the finding of compromises, and the implementation of concrete actions. This approach leads to planning documents that are better suited to the needs of communities.
To measure the effectiveness of implemented resilience strategies, it is essential to establish mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation. Collective intelligence facilitates community involvement in this process by gathering feedback, assessing outcomes, and adjusting approaches based on identified needs.
Collective intelligence for empowering communities
- Strenghtening long-term capacity
- Skill deveopment
- Building connections
Collective intelligence also enhances the ability of individuals and communities to tackle future challenges. By promoting collaborative learning, knowledge sharing, and mutual training, it helps improve long-term resilience by developing local skills and resources. This process plays a crucial role in fostering greater empathy among groups, thereby strengthening social cohesion and mutual understanding. The synergy between urban planning professionals and the true experts of a place—the citizens who live and experience it daily—enriches planning actions and integrates them meaningfully into everyday life.
EXAMPLES AND LESSONS LEARNED
Collective intelligence for parks and green spaces
The tools of collective intelligence can be put to practical use to understand the real needs and uses of recreational and sports facilities within a territory. Direct interaction with the users of the area allows for the discovery of specific needs that may have been previously overlooked. This approach helps better target investments, ensuring their relevance to the community, such as avoiding unnecessary expenditures, focusing on areas that genuinely require improvements, and repurposing underutilized infrastructure for new activities.
For example, Thetford Mines’ Parks and Green Spaces Master Plan highlights the need to optimize sports and recreational areas.
Collective intelligence for better understanding:
- Specific needs: Identify under-used, duplicated or missing facilities to meet the needs of a population whose demographic profile is set to change significantly.
- The impact of municipal mergers: Evaluating post-merger equipment and infrastructure for better use of municipal service resources.
Collective intelligence for better planning:
- Realistically: Optimize existing facilities rather than build new ones, while targeting high-priority investments.
- Aligning with real needs: Projects in line with citizens’ expectations and local realities.
New York City’s “Five Borough” program, launched in 2014, aims to strengthen the maintenance and resilience of the city’s parks by leveraging collective intelligence to better empower local communities and public officials. Through training, technical support and ongoing exchanges between professionals and residents, the program supports collaborative management of public spaces, enabling parks to become vibrant, accessible places for New Yorkers.
Collective intelligence for better empowerment:
- Through collaboration: The program fosters collaboration among public officials, municipal workers, and citizens to develop shared skills, thereby enhancing the resilience of parks and ensuring their sustainability by actively involving all stakeholders.
- By forging social ties: Sharing knowledge between professional teams and community partners prepares parks to face future challenges, while fostering social ties.
Assessing social acceptability and understanding community aspirations - analysis of urban transformation in Pointe-Claire
In response to increasing urbanization, the City of Pointe-Claire has adopted a collaborative approach to better understand and plan urban densification while empowering its citizens to actively participate in the process. Through participatory workshops, the City has created a space for dialogue where residents can share their ideas and concerns about urban transformation. This process, grounded in collective intelligence, aims to develop solutions that are both tailored to and accepted by the community to address the challenges of densification.
Collective intelligence for better understanding:
- Perceptions on urban densification: the workshops offered citizens a space to express their concerns and enrich the dialogue with professionals and decision-makers, creating a collaborative space for co-constructing the city’s transformation.
Collective intelligence for better planning:
- Urban transformation: The collaborative process facilitated the co-creation of concrete solutions for rethinking city planning, integrating citizens’ needs into the planning of urban space and sustainable mobility. Citizens were able to draw on their lived experience of space and take part in a process that requires collective discussion and negotiation on the distribution of available space.
Collective intelligence for better empowerment:
- Citizens participate in the transformation: The activities have helped transform complex issues into constructive discussions, empowering the community to understand the challenges of densification and providing useful tools for local players that go beyond the current activity.
Participatory mapping tools
Interactive maps facilitate the dynamic visualization of data, enabling different types of information to be superimposed to establish connections between elements while identifying trends. The use of participatory mapping strengthens understanding of territorial issues by drawing on local knowledge, concrete observations and collective aspirations. Many organizations and communities have successfully adopted participatory mapping tools during public consultation activities, enabling them to better understand the realities on the ground.
Collective intelligence for better understanding:
- A variety of experiences and realities: For example, the Laboratoire de Cartographie Participative at the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) has set up several projects where residents themselves map their environment, sharing their observations and experiences.
- People’s aspirations for the future: the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) used this tool as part of public consultations for Montreal’s forthcoming planning program. These maps allow citizens to mark locations, raise concerns and propose ideas for shaping their neighborhoods, boroughs and even the city as a whole.
Regional synergy and resilience of the mountain network
Every year, more than 700,000 people visit the Gaspé Peninsula, a popular destination between sea and mountains for nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts. However, this success does not overshadow the major challenges of our time. A large proportion of Gaspésie’s tourism offering is seasonal, which poses challenges for the region’s social, economic and environmental sustainability. With climate change threatening the rhythm of the seasons, year-round mountain tourism is emerging as a major opportunity to strengthen local economic resilience. Against this backdrop, the collective intelligence approach has enabled us to create a realistic plan that reflects the region’s image:
Collective intelligence for better understanding:
- Issues specific to mountain tourism: The process highlighted issues related to social, economic and environmental sustainability for an entire region, by bringing together a wide range of players (tourism companies, RCMs, municipalities, etc.) around the same table.
Collective intelligence for better planning:
- Identifying the best opportunities: The process prioritized opportunities for transition to a four-season tourism offering and improved spatial accessibility for both small-scale and large-scale regional projects.
- Ongoing stakeholder consultation: Our various exercises have shown that, in this context, it is important to establish a mechanism for ongoing consultation with the various organizations.
A forward-looking approach powered by intelligence
Interview with Mélanie McDonald, Executive Director of Chemins de transitions. This project, proposed by Université de Montréal and Espace pour la vie, aims to bring together the academic community and the driving forces of Quebec society to tackle together the most complex challenges of this transition.
To find out more: https://cheminsdetransition.org/
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, collective intelligence emerges as a powerful catalyst for building territorial resilience through planning and development. By combining diverse perspectives, it provides a dynamic approach to addressing the complex challenges our regions face. This collaboration intertwines technical expertise, innovative ideas from decision-makers, and the voices of the community, creating a shared foundation of understanding and collective aspirations.
However, it is important to recognize that initiatives involving collective intelligence can only serve as a starting point. They must be nurtured, cultivated, and sustained with perseverance. The frequency of participatory activities, the sincerity of commitments – meaning . a genuine willingness to incorporate participants’ feedback into decisions – and strategies for ongoing consultation strategies are all essential components. These strategies involve maintaining active dialogue throughout a project rather than limiting engagement to isolated or one-off consultations. They enable real-time adjustments, address emerging challenges and strengthen stakeholder trust by integrating their contributions at every key stage. In territorial resilience, preparation plays a crucial role, , involving people from the outset and at every step of a project.Ultimately, leveraging collective intelligence for territorial resilience is an iterative process, requiring constant self-assessment, evaluation of methods, and acknowledgment that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions for public participation. Each public participation process must be carefully tailored to the specific context in which it is implemented.
By fostering this approach of mutual learning and continuous adaptation, we enhance our chances of strengthening the resilience of our territories, not only in response to current disruptions but also in anticipation of future challenges. By combining the potential of collective intelligence with the active engagement of all stakeholders, we create the conditions to develop resilient territories enriched by the synergy between a global vision and individual aspirations.
References
1 Soufyane, Frimousse & Peretti, Jean. (2019). How to develop collaborative practices and collective intelligence. Question(s) de management. n°25. 99. 10.3917/qdm.193.0099; Bertacchini, Yann. (2009). Intelligence territoriale: constat, théorie, applications.
2 Gauthier, M., Chiasson, G. and Gagnon, L. (2016). Planning a downtown in a fragmented metropolis. JSTOR. In M. Gariépy and O. Roy-Baillargeon (Eds.), Gouvernance et planification collaborative (pp. 133-164). Presses de l’Université de Montréal.
3 Stiftel, B. (2000). Planning theory. In The national American Institute of Certified Planners Examination Preparation Course Guidebook (pp. 4-16). Roshi Pelaseyed.
4 Arnstein, S. R. (1969). A Ladder Of Citizen Participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35(4), 216-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944366908977225
1 Soufyane, Frimousse & Peretti, Jean. (2019). How to develop collaborative practices and collective intelligence. Question(s) de management. n°25. 99. 10.3917/qdm.193.0099; Bertacchini, Yann. (2009). Intelligence territoriale: constat, théorie, applications.
2 Gauthier, M., Chiasson, G. and Gagnon, L. (2016). Planning a downtown in a fragmented metropolis. JSTOR. In M. Gariépy and O. Roy-Baillargeon (Eds.), Gouvernance et planification collaborative (pp. 133-164). Presses de l’Université de Montréal.
3 Stiftel, B. (2000). Planning theory. In The national American Institute of Certified Planners Examination Preparation Course Guidebook (pp. 4-16). Roshi Pelaseyed.
4 Arnstein, S. R. (1969). A Ladder Of Citizen Participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35(4), 216-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944366908977225