Promote the Green Transition Income

Founded in 2019, the Zoein France association aims to promote the “Ecological Transition Income” (ETI) in France and to support the implementation of regional ETI pilot projects through “Ecological Transition Cooperatives” (ETCs).

Its missions include networking all stakeholders involved in RTE pilot projects in France, contributing to the capitalization of ongoing pilot projects and the dissemination of tools and methods, and facilitating the expansion of new pilot projects. The Zoein France association thus fosters a multi-stakeholder “learning community” centered on the RTE in France.

The Zoein France association also implements an intervention and research methodology aimed at co-producing knowledge and expertise, and facilitating their adoption—particularly by putting them at the service of citizen-led and collective transition initiatives. It is thus tasked with coordinating and conducting research projects focused on new socio-economic and democratic models.

Three pilot experiments of the “Ecological Transition Income” were launched in late 2019/early 2020. Two and a half to three years later, a process of “capitalization through action” was carried out: the Ephemeral University of the Haute-Vallée de l’Aude Cooperative (Nov. 2021), Ephemeral University of the TILT Cooperative in Hauts-de-France (May 2022), and the TERA Scientific Councils (the most recent of which was in March 2022).

The year 2023 marks a “scaling-up” phase: four new RTE projects are launching in Pays-de-la-Loire, Île-de-France, the Grand Est region, and PACA.

The “Learning Community” surrounding the RTE aims to facilitate the transfer of experiences, tools, and methods, as well as peer-to-peer exchanges, with a view to facilitating the operational implementation of the RTE and the Ecological Transition Cooperatives (which constitute the mechanisms for operationalizing the RTE at the regional level).

The collective dimension is central to the dynamics of the “Learning Community” we facilitate. Each member is both a source of knowledge and a learner, with everyone drawing inspiration from one another. Connections between actors and researchers are fostered through periods of reflection to co-produce knowledge and share it, following the example of Ephemeral Universities or “CoopérAction” (a collective intelligence day held on June 28 in Saint-Nazaire, directly linked to the BaObab project—a pilot for an Ecological Transition Cooperative in Saint-Nazaire).

The action research we facilitate aims to generate insights through tangible experiences. There is no “one-size-fits-all” model for RTE or an Ecological Transition Cooperative. Drawing from these experimental settings, we rely on the innovative capacity of local actors and communities, and we learn together. We are, in fact, committed to a collaborative approach: everyone contributes to the effort of investigation, documenting experiments, and producing shared resources, much like the Pop-up Universities we have organized.