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Short abstract:

This paper explores the transformation of public figures through innovation processes. Three key figures emerge in the establishment of co-construction, a participatory mode aligning the goals of both the public and private sectors: the Post-It Citizen, personas, and partners.

Long abstract:

In this paper, I present the results of my thesis on the transformation of public figures and participation through innovation processes, focusing on the "Smart Region" program in the Paris Region. Through an immersive field study with the regional council (2020-2023), my research delves into their efforts to establish "co-construction," a participatory mode aligning the goals of the public and private sectors.

I demonstrate how co-construction is defined as a fast, low-cost, and flexible engagement approach that caters to the needs of citizens while also serving the interests of companies and startups. This definition is embedded in a workshop technology using Post-It notes. I then explore the shaping process of three Smart Region public categories. The first is the Post-It Citizen, a non-politicized potential innovator mobilized in a heterogeneous way.

Next, I present two actively involved public figures: personas, fictional representations of citizens; and partners, collaborating with the regional council and being ask to represent citizen needs. These figures are more easily mobilized through innovation processes, effectively the only ones involved "as" citizens. The regional council's constraints, desiring a specific citizen type (the Post-It citizen, effectively nonexistent) and seeking rapid, cost-effective innovation, lead to opting for easy solutions: creating citizens from scratch or engaging partners. Paradoxically, this results in the disappearance of the citizen, only effectively mobilized through substitute means throughout the innovation process.