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Support for cultural policies

Drawing on Benoît Labourdette’s 30 years of experience in the field of cultural innovation and his research and methodological work, the Benoît Labourdette production agency supports cultural policies in their need for innovation, better encounters with populations, use of digital tools and cooperation, definition of mediation strategies, and support for artistic teams, technicians and elected representatives. Our method is always based on collective intelligence, cooperation and empowerment of people and structures. We work with cities and other local authorities, national networks, institutions and associations.

Creating to think
Creating to think

A French-Finnish meeting at L’Alhambra in Marseille on 4 May 2026, as part of the Erasmus+ Visual Thinkers project.

On 4 May 2026, I facilitated a professional meeting at L’Alhambra in Marseille, organised by the Image Clé association as part of the European Erasmus+ Visual Thinkers project. Around fifteen French professionals from cinema, cultural mediation, (…)
4 May 2026
  7 min
The Book Archipelago
The Book Archipelago

A proposal to elected representatives: making plural bookshops the backbone of territorial cultural policies.

Faced with the tensions running through the bookshop sector today, it is time to put an end to the sanctuary myth. Rather than seeking an unattainable neutrality, let us accept the editorial radicality of each bookshop and publicly support their (…)
20 April 2026
  14 min
The photography workshop: creating, showing, looking together
The photography workshop: creating, showing, looking together

Reflections on a hands-on workshop facilitated by Benoît Labourdette at the professional conference “Cinema, images and young people’s mental health”, held on 14 April 2026 in Romainville, France.

A workshop in nine small groups, fifteen minutes to produce a photograph, then a moment of collective viewing in which the authors remain silent and the others speak of what they see. The context: an afternoon at the 14 April 2026 conference (…)
16 April 2026
  11 min
« Mental Health and Cinema »
« Mental Health and Cinema »

Synthesis of the day “Young people, their images, their spaces: new paradigms” (14 April 2026)

Synthesis of a day of professional gatherings at the Le Trianon cinema in Romainville, bringing together the perspectives of professionals from the cultural sector, cinema, social work and care around young people’s mental health. The day in (…)
15 April 2026
  10 min
Mental health, young people, images: what are we talking about?
Mental health, young people, images: what are we talking about?

Text of Benoît Labourdette’s opening talk at the professional meetings held on 14 April 2026.

Before entering into projects, we need to pin down the words. Mental health, young people, images: three notions we often use together without defining them, and which cover realities far wider than everyday use would suggest. A jointly built (…)
14 April 2026
  7 min
Transmitting cultural rights: a question of coherence
Transmitting cultural rights: a question of coherence

What facilitation methods reveal about our relationship with people.

How can we talk about cultural democracy within an authoritarian framework? How can we defend respect for each person’s culture while imposing a tightly scheduled programme? The transmission of cultural rights raises a radical question: that of (…)
11 April 2026
  7 min
Mental Health and Cinema - Experiencing the World Through Images
Mental Health and Cinema - Experiencing the World Through Images

Two professional conferences in Romainville (April 14 and 15, 2026).

On April 14 and 15, 2026, ACRIF, as part of its coordination mission for Passeurs d’images in Île-de-France, is organizing two days of professional meetings at Le Trianon cinema in Romainville (Seine-Saint-Denis) on cinema, image education, and (…)
9 April 2026
  8 min
Collaborative assessment of screen literacy education in Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Collaborative assessment of screen literacy education in Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Collective intelligence methodology, digital platform, and collaborative publication for ALCA (2026).

ALCA, Agence Livre, Cinéma et Audiovisuel en Nouvelle-Aquitaine, entrusted me with the methodological support for a collaborative assessment of screen literacy education across its territory. This project, carried out in cooperation with Aurore (…)
30 March 2026
  15 min
Media Literacy: Should We Judge or Guide?
Media Literacy: Should We Judge or Guide?

Reflections based on the National Meeting of Regional Centers for Media Literacy (Rouen, March 16–17, 2026).

On 16 and 17 March 2026, Normandie Images organised in Rouen the national meeting of France’s regional image education centres (pôles régionaux d’éducation aux images), entitled “Le temps des regards” (“The Time of Gazes”). A hundred and fifty (…)
17 March 2026
  11 min
The Meaning of Mediation Methods in Arts and Cultural Education
The Meaning of Mediation Methods in Arts and Cultural Education

When practice reveals what theory ignores.

Artists and professionals involved in arts education develop singular methods that most often remain implicit. I wish to lift the veil on the invisible dimensions of our practices and their democratic stakes. The porous boundary between image (…)
20 January 2026
  9 min
Cultural Mediation as a Device for Symbolic Emancipation
Cultural Mediation as a Device for Symbolic Emancipation

Methodological Principles for a Horizontal Approach to Collective Creation.

Lived experience radically transforms our relationship to thought. Cultural mediation does not consist of transmitting knowledge but of creating the conditions for shared symbolization. I propose a conceptualization of the methodological (…)
19 January 2026
  15 min
Evaluating Arts and Cultural Education from the Artist's Perspective
Evaluating Arts and Cultural Education from the Artist’s Perspective

Review of a course given at INSEAC: conceptual and methodological tools for cultural professionals.

On January 15, 2026, as part of the CNAM module EAC104 “Building tools to evaluate ACE projects: qualitative and quantitative survey methodologies in living-labs,” I led a distance learning session for students in continuing education at INSEAC (…)
15 January 2026
  11 min
Developing Psychosocial Skills Through Artistic Practices
Developing Psychosocial Skills Through Artistic Practices

Methodological principles for an experiential approach.

Psychosocial skills (PSS) are now at the heart of public health, education, and child protection policies. The 2023-2027 intersectoral roadmap, jointly led by the General Directorate for Social Cohesion and the Directorate for Judicial Youth (…)
13 January 2026
  8 min
When thirty-five professionals discover their psychosocial skills through creative experience
When thirty-five professionals discover their psychosocial skills through creative experience

A look back at the interprofessional seminar of January 12, 2026, in Limoges: a day where theory gave way to lived experience.

At the DRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine, educators, teachers, caregivers, and cultural actors experienced together what it truly means to develop psychosocial skills (PSS).This article relates the interprofessional seminar that I co-designed, (…)
12 January 2026
  10 min
Image Education and Citizenship: When Youth Professionals Rethink Their Practices
Image Education and Citizenship: When Youth Professionals Rethink Their Practices

{{Reflections on the “Out-of-School Time” professional day that I co-designed with ALCA and the Gironde Departmental Council.}}

On December 2, 2025, around a hundred youth, animation, and culture professionals gathered at the MECA auditorium in Bordeaux to explore together the contemporary challenges of image education. I co-designed this day and facilitated its key (…)
2 December 2025
  9 min
Art and Culture in the Service of Psychosocial Skills
Art and Culture in the Service of Psychosocial Skills

Account of a founding seminar for professionals of the Judicial Protection of Youth in Limousin.

On November 27, 2025, the Limousin Regional Directorate of PJJ brought together its teams for a half-day of collective reflection on psychosocial skills, the first step in a three-year initiative. An institutional framework with ambitious goals (…)
27 November 2025
  9 min
Youth and culture: for a radical change in posture
Youth and culture: for a radical change in posture

Giving young people the power to create, not just consume culture.

How can cultural institutions break out of their chronic failure with young people? By abandoning condescension to embrace a genuine cultural democracy based on trust and creative autonomy. I was invited on October 17, 2025 to speak about youth (…)
17 October 2025
  10 min
Reinventing youth reception in cinemas
Reinventing youth reception in cinemas

Remote training for cinema operators in Lot-et-Garonne.

How can we transform our cinemas into spaces for authentic encounters with 15-25 year-olds? This question guided an intense training session with professionals brought together by the Ligue de l’enseignement of Lot-et-Garonne. A pedagogical (…)
14 October 2025
  10 min
“Participatory creation as a laboratory for democracy?”
“Participatory creation as a laboratory for democracy?”

4th edition of the biennial festival of participatory creation - Les Rencontres de la Poudrerie - Théâtre des habitants - May 16 & 17, 2025.

Les Rencontres de la Poudrerie are a moment for reflection and co-construction, at the intersection of art forms and the practice of social life. They bring together citizens, artists, elected officials, professionals from the cultural and social (…)
9 April 2025
  13 min
Pour une robustesse coopérative des projets culturels
Pour une robustesse coopérative des projets culturels

Réflexion sur les modalités de coopération territoriale et d’évaluation.

Pour que les projets culturels puissent trouver pleinement leur sens social et devenir plus robustes face aux attaques politiques qui les jugent « non essentielles », il me semble nécessaire de réfléchir aux dynamiques de coopération et (…)
10 février 2025
  6 min
Design of a professional day on “Artistic and digital practices for young people”
Design of a professional day on “Artistic and digital practices for young people”

Act’art, artistic and cultural action in Seine-et-Marne.

As part of its mission to promote collective intelligence by facilitating local think tanks, Act’art asked Benoît Labourdette to design, co-construct and co-host a collaborative professional day on the theme of “Artistic and digital practices for (…)
17 October 2023
  6 min
OPC Media: “What if we changed our posture?”
OPC Media: “What if we changed our posture?”

How can we learn to consider the richness of teenage digital practices and avoid giving in to preconceived ideas?

How can we learn to consider the richness of teenagers’ digital practices and not give in to preconceived ideas? For Benoît Labourdette, if we want to design cultural projects that are attentive to the aspirations of young people, and therefore (…)
31 August 2023
  8 min
Itinéraire bis, the path of cultural rights
Itinéraire bis, the path of cultural rights

Action research conducted by the MPAA (Paris).

Accompaniment in the animation, production of traces and fabrication of the web platform resources of the research-action “Itinéraire bis, chemin des droits culturels” led by the MPAA between 2021 and 2023, and piloted by its director Sonia (…)
9 June 2023
  3 min
Helping young people and professionals to speak out: “Cultures and youth policies” national meeting
Helping young people and professionals to speak out: “Cultures and youth policies” national meeting

Observatory of Cultural Policies / Villeurbanne (TNP, May 11 & 12, 2023).

As part of the Rencontres nationales “Cultures et politiques de la jeunesse” (“Cultures and youth policies”), which brought the year of the French Capital of Culture to a close in Villeurbanne, I was commissioned by the Observatoire des (…)
13 May 2023
  5 min
"Culture, youth and digital: designing new modalities for cultural and educational projects
"Culture, youth and digital: designing new modalities for cultural and educational projects

Sharing of methodological tracks and professional training.

Deconstructing preconceived ideas about digital transformation and developing projects adapted to young people.The cultural offer is sometimes questioned in a brutal way by the “young” public. A questioning that manifests itself in particular (…)
19 November 2022
  5 min
“Media College” platform for Périfééries
“Media College” platform for Périfééries

Creation of a digital collective intelligence tool.

To meet a need for creative, intellectual emulation and the production of ideas for one of the axes of the Saint-Denis (93) city’s bid for the title of European Capital of Culture 2028, the best way for me was to create a digital tool for (…)
1 July 2022
  3 min
Giant digital brainstorming
Giant digital brainstorming

Design and implementation of a digital collective intelligence tool.

Method of activating a vast contribution for the axes of a cultural project. The needIn the solidarity I had with the city of Saint-Denis’ bid to become European Capital of Culture 2028, Juliette Bompoint, the general delegate, had told me (…)
10 June 2022
  7 min
Vocal review by Benoît Labourdette
The Périfééries project’s heritage council of influence

Facilitating collective intelligence in a short space of time.

As part of Saint-Denis’s bid to become European Capital of Culture 2028, I led a collective intelligence session to collect proposals on the subject of “Making local residents active players, from the production to the editorialization of (…)
1 June 2022
  10 min
Reinventing cultural projects with youth?
Reinventing cultural projects with youth?

Proposal of questions.

While public cultural action aims to reach people in their great diversity, it is clear that it is often difficult to mobilize youth. However, young people (from children to young adults) have an intense cultural consumption, especially online in (…)
31 January 2022
  3 min