Intermédiation territoriale et innovation sociale : des leviers face aux trajectoires de déclin ?. L’exemple du Pôle Territorial de Coopération Économique de la Haute Vallée de l’Aude

Territorial clusters of economic cooperation (TCEC) are social innovations implemented to revitalize the local socio-economic tissue of declining territories through the implementation of diversified intermediation initiatives. These can play a decisive role in stimulating territorial integration and connectivity between actors while renewing the conception and practices of local development. Based on the experience of the 3EVA TCEC in the Haute Vallée de l?Aude (France), this article analyzes the emergence of territorial innovations claiming for social and solidarity values in order to overcome economic, political and institutional lock-in processes associated with territorial decline. We focus on the proximities that have been activated at different stages of the territorial intermediation process. We underline on the tensions due to the political dimensions of territorial innovations by questioning the institutional interactions between the local development stakeholders.