A town in the mining basin of France's Pas-de-Calais department, Loos-en- Gohelle has experienced a metamorphosis. A casualty of the cessation of coal mining, Loos has become a pilot town for sustainable development. Its story revolves around the councillors, the inhabitants, the companies and the associations that have brought to fruition hundreds of initiatives and participative projects which today are weaving the very fabric of a global ecological transition in the area.
Over this last 30 years, one would have had to be something of a visionary to imagine that one day the mining basin would be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and that the spoil heaps would be havens of biodiversity, idéal for a Sunday-afternoon walk. The inhabitants of Loos-en-Gohelle, however, firmly believed in this.
Far from the picture of the self-sufficient village of died-in-the-wool ecologists, the journey of Loos-en-Gohelle shows that each town or area can find the resources to conduct an ecological-transition project equal to the current climatic challenge. Philippe Chibani-Jacquot is a journalist specialised in sustainable development, ecological transition and social and solidarity economy.