Scenario lab - Grand Reims

Presentation of the Scenario lab of Reims Urban and peri-urban area (Grand Reims territory).

Cities are responsible for 70% of global CO2 emissions, and building construction is often estimated to represent 35–40% of that total. Like other French and European cities, the Grand Reims administration has launched actions through various partnerships (e.g., with ADEME or chambers of agriculture) aimed at accelerating the transition towards carbon neutrality. Its strategy has centred on (i) employing new energy production systems, including those based on biomass; (ii) developing and incorporating innovative and efficient construction materials, including biobased materials, into residential and non-residential buildings; and (iii) promoting the use of short supply chains to provide food and manage/reuse domestic waste. In addition, the Grand Reims territory hosts a operational biorefinery located at Pomacle, which transforms agricultural residues into energy, compounds, and materials.

In the Grand Reims scenario lab, this task will design and evaluate scenarios focused on the local deployment of biobased solutions in building construction and renovation, biogas production, food production, and biorefineries creating biobased materials from urban waste. SLAM-B will utilise collective and participative approaches to design these different transition scenarios, working with multiple experts (urban planners, architects, decision-makers, geographers, and sociologists) and the broader community of the Grand Reims territory. The overarching goal is to illustrate the ways in which the development of diverse facets of multiple interacting bioeconomies will boost the transitions undertaken in the Grand Reims territory.

The preliminary work on urban metabolism will be performed collaboratively by LAE, FARE, LISC, I2M Bordeaux, and IATE. We intend to benefit from the expertise of CEREMA and Gustave Eiffel University by fostering partnerships within shared projects. These two establishments use different approaches to tackle urban planning and low-net-carbon construction (involving or not biobased materials). They are also part of Labex and PEPR programms focused on building sustainable cities. They will be invited to act as participants in WP2. This scenario lab will implement models developed in WP1 environmental biorefineries and bioplastics, spatial optimisation of biorefineries, and urban metabolism of biobased construction materials.