Raphaël Besson

Raphaël Besson is an expert in urban socio-economics and a doctor in territorial sciences. In 2013, he founded Villes Innovations, a design consultancy based in Madrid and Grenoble that specialises in urban innovation strategies, and territorial transition policies. Associate researcher at the PACTE-CNRS laboratory, its research focuses on the spaces of knowledge and innovation (creative and innovation clusters, Cognitive Urban Systems, Third Places, Living Labs), cultural regional policies (Cultural third places, cultural cooperation, Third Places Libraries, ecosystem of the arts and digital cultures,…), urban innovation policies (fab cities, urban labs, tactic, transitional, collaborative, frugal urban planning), and the approaches rethinking the relations between man / nature / the living in the urban and regional fabric (biopolitics of the city, territorial biomimicry, regenerative ecosystems, circular urban planning, biodiversity city, symbiotic territory, etc.). He is a member of the Biomim’city lab of the CEEBIOS (European Center of excellence in Biomimicry).