The Think Tank

 Since September 2012, the Think Tank (coordinator Marie-Christine Jaillet) has organized focus groups with various representatives from associations, economics and politics. Meetings are held on average once a month. Based on the feedback and reviews of the various participants, three major themes have been identified.

The first focuses on the issue of social diversity as a ‘cure’ for segregation effects. This theme has helped deconstruct a fuzzy concept, while at the same time recognizing its praxeological value. Their discussions, in which the critical stance of researchers was contrasted and compared with the pragmatic position of social actors who deal with the ‘making’ of the everyday urban fabric, led scholars to pose the relationship of social diversity and segregation in other terms. 

The second theme is that of religion and the question of friction related to religion and the French notion of laicité (similar to secularism) in certain disadvantaged neighbourhoods of Toulouse. These discussions unfortunately prefigured the tragic events of Charlie Hebdo in January 2015 and revealed important research questions.

The third theme is the labour market for engineers in a city where this profession is highly represented, particularly in design activities. These activities, which have driven Toulouse’s economic growth, are currently threatened by the refocusing of the local aviation industry on manufacturing and their range of aircraft that has been recently updated but with no new model design.