Project
Towards Learning Territories: Integrating Dialogical, Systemic, and Forward-Looking Approaches for Sustainable Community Development
This doctoral research explores how rural communities in developing countries can become learning territories to support sustainable local development. By integrating dialogical, systemic, and forward-looking (prospective) approaches, the study seeks to understand the collective learning processes, governance dynamics, and participatory practices that enable communities to co-construct their futures.
Bio
Ahmed Benabadji is a practitioner and researcher in human and territorial development, with a particular focus on rural resilience and inclusive innovation. In 2015–2016, he undertook a year-long journey across four continents with his family to study community development in remote villages. He later founded Open Village, an NGO supporting a network of Moroccan villages engaged in peer learning and sustainable local development. A founding member of the think tank Les Citoyens, he also contributes to public debate on rural issues and social cohesion. Ahmed is a member of the scientific committee of the École Centrale Casablanca’s chair on “Collective Emergence and Inclusive Development” and teaches at École Centrale Casablanca, Université Paris Dauphine–PSL, and Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique. He lives with his family near Marrakech on a permaculture olive farm.
