Analyse d'une pratique innovante intersectorielle. Entreprise publique et associa tio ns de défense des droi ts des consommateurs

Abstract

This article focuses on the Alliance between a public company and associations for the protection of consumer rights, focusing on a project that aims to develop a unique and unprecedented cooperation between different sectors to help low-income customers in default. The project is conceived as a social innovation, i.e., an initiative involving local actors to create alliances with other means of intervention in order to solve a problem. This type of relationship is based on cooperation between various actors, when institutions are unable to resolve the situation to the satisfaction of the parties involved. These partnerships represent organisational settings conducive to innovation. The current article analyses a case under the following perspectives that are essential to understand the social innovation process: the context, the problematization, the actors, the exchanges and the coalition.