Poitiers’ Agence des temps

Problem

Social time is diversifying as society evolves: the work of women, reducedworking hours, flexibility of working hours, extreme mobility for certain groupsand immobility for others. Different types of population frequent the publicdomain from one time slot to the next. The consideration of the differenttimeframes contributes to fighting against inequalities.
Changing schedules upsets established practices, affects how people think andact and challenges ideas that are taken for granted.

Description

The Poitiers Conurbation Committee has been dealing with the issue of timewithin the city since 1998, regarding it as crucial in the fight againstinequalities, notably those associated with gender and housing location. In2001, the Agence des temps was created within the research and developmentservice. It has several objectives: raise citizens’ awareness, harmonise thedifferent timeframes, innovate in the personal services sector, improve accessto public services, promote debate and experimentation.
The work carried out resulted in several concrete initiatives (reform of publicservice schedules, “one-stop” shop for the back-to-school period etc.).

Approach

The Agence des temps carries out surveys and organises debates to assess thetime-related needs of the population, after which it offers adapted solutions.

Results

The surveys have shown the need to create service and administration branchesin local areas, the need for more frequent public transport and for a child careoffer for the families with atypical working hours.
The discussion conducted as part of the Agence des temps notably questions therole of women in the city, at the intersection of different timeframes:professional, family, community or neighbourhood-oriented.
Finally, this initiative highlighted the need to consult and work in partnershipwith local decision-makers.

Resources

The Agence des temps is supported by the European Social Fund (ESF) (seeglossary)

EU involvement

The support of the ESF is part of the Equal community initiative programme.Its objective is transnational cooperation for the promotion of new practices tofight against discrimination and inequality of all kinds on the labour market.

Contact info

Agence des temps – Poitiers Conurbation Committee (CAP)
Dominique Royoux

Cities

Poitiers (France)

Document type

practice