Case Study on the Local Health Contracts in France and in the context of the SHAPE-med@Lyon project

What is the format about

A local health contract is an agreement between a local authority (city, metropolitan area, community of municipalities) and the Regional Health Agency. The objective is to adapt public health policies to the real needs of the local population, taking into account their specific characteristics. This multistakeholder governance model is central to the link between research and policy.

There are two priority objectives for local areas:

=> To reduce social and territorial health inequalities

=> To implement solutions for local healthcare provision.

The local health contracts (CLS) contribute to the development of local health dynamics. They enable the Regional Health Agency’s project to be aligned with the expectations of local authorities in order to implement actions that are as close as possible to the population.

Unlike major national strategies, local health contracts operate on the local level, aiming to reduce social and regional health inequalities and improve access to care.

How does it work

The Local Health Contract operates primarily on the basis of a shared regional diagnosis. Local stakeholders, universities (including scientists), healthcare professionals, associations, and residents participate in analyzing the health situation: the population’s state of health, living conditions, access to care, etc. This diagnosis makes it possible to define priorities for activity that is tailored to current conditions on the local level.

Once the strategy has been established, the local authority and the Regional Health Agency sign a contract that is valid for an average of five years. The contract covers several strategic areas (prevention, mental health, environmental health, youth health, etc.) and sets out a series of practical actions.

In Lyon, for example, the Local Health Contract for 2022-27 presents more than 40 actions organized around four main areas and a cross-cutting focus on environmental health.

The Local Health Contracts are managed by a steering committee that includes representatives from the city, the Regional Health Agency, and the partners involved, while scientific bodies (such as the Local Health Scientific Council in Lyon) provide independent expertise.

Challenges and how to address them

Implementing a Local Health Contract raises several challenges:

The first one is Concertation, because bringing together institutions, associations, residents, and researchers in one place requires a considerable capacity for coordination.  This concertation is generally organized by the local authorities and the regional health agency.

Furthermore, priorities are not always shared, and a balance must be found between political demands and scientific realities.  Researchers are essential for providing data-based expertise, helping analyze regional health determinants, and evaluating the impact of actions taken. Their key mission is to ensure methodological rigor and to provide scientific knowledge for public decision making.

Another challenge concerns knowledge of the region, as this requires a solid diagnosis. There are, of course, funding limitations, as the Local Health Contracts is based on a multiannual contract, while local authority budgets can change with political cycles.

Finally, the evaluation of the efficiency of a local health policy requires tools shared between partners.

These difficulties help to explain why the SHAPE-med@lyon project in Lyon was created, which aims to bring together research, innovation, and regional leadership. The goal is to support the Local Heath Contracts with scientific data to build a shared culture of evaluation.

Tasks and resources

The success of a Local Health Contract relies on a number of coordinated stages:

First, there is a mobilization phase in which the various stakeholders commit to working together to build the project. This dynamic partnership, particularly between researchers and policymakers, is essential to guarantee sustainability beyond political cycles.

Then, a local diagnosis is carried out by both the local authorities and the regional health agency with the researchers’ expertise, combining all types of data. Based on this diagnosis, the steering committee defines priority areas and targets for action: these will be assigned to specific managers, with dedicated resources and identified managers.

Once the contract is signed, operational implementation begins: coordination between institutions, launch of actions, etc.

Among the examples of action, we can highlight SONAR@lyon, a Nature-Based Solutions Observatory that uses a One Health Approach in the Lyon metropolitan area, a project supervised by Ms. Caillaud from Lumière University: https://greps.univ-lyon2.fr/projets/projets-nationaux/sonarlyon

Throughout the process, regular reviews allow for adjustments to be made to the measures, certain things to be corrected, and successes to be built on.

Ressources 

https://www.univ-lyon2.fr/universite/shape-medlyon

https://www.ars.sante.fr/les-contrats-locaux-de-sante

https://www.lyon.fr/actions-et-projets/les-plans-daction-strategiques/le-contrat-local-de-sante

Summary: Key features in a nutshell

• Long-term engagement built around regional governance structures rather than single events
• Regular interaction between researchers, policymakers, and local stakeholders
• Combination of online coordination, in-person meetings, and public-facing activities
• Strong institutional anchoring within the University of Granada and its social innovation strategy

Description

Sustained engagement refers to the ability to maintain long-term, continuous, and meaningful interaction between researchers, policymakers, and societal actors beyond isolated dialogue events. Within the framework of the Erasmus + ENGAGEgreen project, the UGR County Councils represent a governance-oriented approach designed to embed science-policy dialogue into regional structures, ensuring continuity over time. Rather than relying on one-off consultations, this model seeks to institutionalize engagement as a permanent process, aligned with regional priorities and supported by the University of Granada (UGR).

How does the format work?

The sustained engagement model of the UGR County Councils operates as a progressive and cumulative process. Regional challenges are jointly identified with local governments and stakeholders and then connected to relevant research expertise within the university. Engagement is maintained through recurring meetings, thematic working sessions, preparatory online workshops, and large-scale dialogue events such as the Impronta Granada Meetings. Digital tools support continuity by preserving institutional memory, ensuring visibility of actors and projects, and enabling ongoing interaction between events. Over time, this format allows relationships to mature and trust to be built, which is essential for effective science-policy collaboration.

Challenges

Achieving sustained engagement in science-policy dialogue is inherently challenging. One of the main difficulties lies in maintaining long-term commitment by both researchers and policymakers whose priorities, workloads, and institutional contexts may change over time. Political cycles, staff turnover, and limited incentives for academic engagement can disrupt continuity. Additionally, sustained engagement requires moving beyond short-term outputs and accepting that impact often emerges gradually, which may conflict with expectations for immediate results. Addressing these challenges requires stable coordination structures, institutional support, and clear long-term objectives.

Tasks and resources

Scientists

• Tasks
  • Contribute research expertise aligned with regional challenges identified through the UGR County Councils
  • Participate in recurring dialogue activities (meetings, workshops, consultations) over time
  • Adapt research outputs to policy-relevant formats and long-term territorial priorities
• Required Resources
  • Time allocated to sustained engagement beyond single events
  • Institutional recognition of science-policy dialogue activities
  • Communication and knowledge-sharing tools to interact with policymakers and stakeholders.

Knowledge exchange managers and research managers

• Tasks
  • Coordinate sustained interaction between researchers, policymakers, and regional stakeholders
  • Facilitate dialogue processes, preparatory meetings, and follow-up activities
  • Translate research outputs into accessible, policy-relevant formats
  • Ensure continuity, documentation, and institutional memory across political and academic cycles
• Required Resources
  • Dedicated staff time for coordination and facilitation
  • Digital platforms and tools to support communication, documentation, and visibility
  • Institutional support to maintain long-term engagement structures

Policymakers

• Tasks
  • Identify and articulate medium- and long-term regional needs
  • Engage regularly with researchers through the UGR County Councils framework
  • Integrate research-based insights into local strategies and policy processes.
• Required Resources
  • Time for participation in ongoing dialogue processes
  • Political and administrative support to ensure continuity across policy cycles
  • Access to synthesized research evidence relevant to territorial decision-making

How is the format conducted?

Sustained engagement within the UGR County Councils is conducted through a sequence of recurring activities that combine preparatory online meetings, in-person dialogue events, and continuous coordination between the University of Granada and regional actors. Interaction is distributed over time through periodic meetings, thematic working sessions, and large-scale encounters such as the Impronta Granada Meetings. This approach allows relationships between researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders to mature gradually, supporting trust-building, shared learning, and the progressive alignment of research expertise with regional priorities.

Available resources (what are the main tasks?)

Researchers contribute by sharing ongoing research aligned with territorial challenges and by participating in dialogue processes over time. Knowledge exchange managers and research managers coordinate interaction between actors, facilitate meetings, translate research outputs into accessible formats, and ensure continuity and documentation across political and academic cycles. Policymakers articulate regional priorities, participate regularly in dialogue activities, and integrate research-based insights into local strategies and decision-making processes. The format relies on sustained coordination capacity, institutional support from the University of Granada, and digital tools that enable communication, visibility, and follow-up.

What works? What doesn’t? (Lessons learnt)

What works is the progressive consolidation of the UGR County Councils as stable governance structures for science-policy dialogue. During 2025, several milestones demonstrated growing participation, institutional anchoring, and public visibility. The initiative was officially launched in January 2025 at the First Impronta Granada Meeting, bringing together more than 80 UGR researchers and local representatives. In July 2025, the First County Councils Regional Meeting (Costa Tropical) strengthened cross-council dialogue, showcased ongoing projects, and fostered closer cooperation between municipalities and researchers. Two interactive working sessions held in November 2025 enabled representatives of the ten councils to review priorities, share knowledge, and prepare the December meeting. These efforts culminated in the Second Impronta Granada Meeting (December 2025, Loja), a major in-person gathering with thematic working tables on mobility, rural women, employment, agriculture, and sustainability, consolidating the Councils as an active governance network. Complementary scientific and regional activities, such as seminars addressing concrete local needs, further reinforced the regional ecosystem.

From a communication perspective, sustained engagement is reinforced by the use of institutional communication channels managed by Medialab UGR, Social Innovation Lab of the University of Granada, such as the Impronta Granada website, social media profiles (Medialab UGR’s LinkedIn  account, Impronta Granada’s Instagram account, Medialab UGR’s Instagram account, Medialab X’s account, Impronta Granada’s X account), and audio dissemination channels (Radiolab UGR’s Spreaker Account and Radiolab UGR’s Spotify account. As these channels are structurally embedded within the University, they remain active beyond the duration of individual projects, contributing to the long-term sustainability of the initiative. Participants regularly use these platforms to disseminate activities, announce science-policy dialogue events, and share territorial initiatives related to research and public decision making. This continuous use of shared communication spaces strengthens visibility, facilitates coordination among actors, and supports the consolidation of the UGR County Councils as a permanent science-policy interface at the territorial level.

Continuing challenges are sustaining long-term engagement in the face of academic workloads, changing political cycles, and the need for stable incentives and institutional support to ensure continuity beyond individual events.

How the activities evaluated?

Evaluation of sustained engagement is structured around short-, medium-, and long-term objectives.

In the short term (by 2026), evaluation focuses on the consolidation of ten County Councils as stable governance structures representing all regions of Granada, the active participation of more than 200 stakeholders (including researchers, policymakers, businesspeople, and citizens), the creation of at least two pilot projects addressing regional priorities such as sustainable mobility, rural depopulation, cultural heritage, and agro-ecological innovation, and the strengthening of the institutional image of the University of Granada as a leader in social innovation and regional collaboration. These aspects are assessed through participation data and impact evaluation surveys.

In the medium term (2026–2030), evaluation looks at the creation of Impronta Regional Development Centers in collaboration with the Diputación de Granada, the integration of the County Councils as a permanent advisory and cooperation mechanism within the University’s governance model, the increased inclusion of regional challenges in research, innovation, and teaching agendas, and the strengthening of alliances with regional and European institutions to cofund and scale initiatives.

In the long term (beyond 2030), evaluation focuses on the institutionalization of the County Councils as a transferable model of university-community collaboration, the consolidation and expansion of the Impronta Regional Development Centers as long-term infrastructural nodes for regional innovation and civic collaboration, and their contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Andalusian Smart Specialization Strategy, embedding sustainability and participation into public decision making.

Do you want to know more about the policy engagement toolkit?

Do you want to share your experience in policy engagement? Do you think about contributing to the policy engagement toolkit? Feel free to contact Tome Sandevski via science-policy@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de

Description

The Public Factory is a structure that opened in Lyon at the start of the 2018 academic year. The Public Factory offers modular, user-friendly spaces for student and teaching communities, as well as local stakeholders (government departments, local authorities, businesses, associations). The Public Factory is made up of a range of spaces where people can meet, get together, and take part in events, as well as learning, sharing, and debating.

What is the format about?

Its aim is to develop a scientific, artistic, and civic program in line with the activities of the school, Science Po Lyon and its Foundation, but it was also created on the basis of a Political Science teaching program designed to involve fourth-year students in concrete and complex issues of general interest to which the humanities and social sciences can provide useful food for thought and answers.

The aim of the Public Factory is to create links between students, researchers, policymakers (state, local and hospital civil servants, institutions, elected representatives), semi-public and socioeconomic players around issues of transforming public action. The University of Lyon 2, the IAE Lyon 3, the ENS, and the University of Lyon also participate by mobilizing their students for certain projects while developing a science, arts, and civic program linked to the activities of the school, Science Po Lyon and its Foundation.

Over a period of six years, the Public Factory has carried out nearly 50 projects involving more than 300 students and 40 different partners. Every year, around a hundred students work with local authorities, government departments, businesses, and associations that are committed to tackling issues of public interest.

How does the format work?

Public Factory projects are carried out in the form of action training. They are based on phases of research and immersion in the field, enabling students to meet the various players involved in or impacted by the theme of the project. This is a pedagogical method of in-situation training with an enhanced creative and professional dimension. The common theme is the action-research approach to teaching by Kurt Lewin.

More concretely, here are the different steps in a Public Factory project

1) Each year, there is a call for expressions of interest concerning public policy projects.

When the request is received, the problem is approached and rethought in consultation with the teams at the Public Factory and the lecturers. This is the step of collaborative work and redefinition of the scope of intervention and expectations.

Parallel to this, students form groups of eight to ten students from September to April (out of a total of around 100 students).

2) The central idea is to immerse the project teams in the field to understand how the various stakeholders experience the chosen problem. Parallel to this, the project teams draw up a literature review to guide their work through the literature relevant to their subject.

3) Finally, a feedback session is organized for each project, giving the students the opportunity to present their conclusions and recommendations to all the partners, teachers, and professionals present. Each year, we can count on around 15 projects for around 100 students. The results of the work are free, as the Public Factory wishes to be part of the knowledge commons.

Examples

Public Factory website: https://www.sciencespo-lyon.fr/public-factory/

Projects for the year 2025-26: sciencespo-lyon.fr/public-factory/dispositif-pedagogique/projets-de-lannee-en-cours-2/

Sources and further reading

Action-Research and Kurt Lewin: https://cedrea.net/La-demarche-de-recherche-action-une-rupture-epistemologique

Do you want to know more about the policy engagement toolkit?

Do you want to share your experience in policy engagement? Do you think about contributing to the policy engagement toolkit? Feel free to contact Tome Sandevski via science-policy@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de