We offer a web-based format of structured debate on topics such as land development, public policy or issues of science and society. Our debate platform is structured around a thematic graph.
After collaboration with project managers, experts from the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS), officials of the National Commission on Public Debate, and research administrators, and after multiple field experiences in communities with citizens and stakeholders such as businesses, labor unions, and non-profit organisations, we can affirm the effectiveness of oppositional debates in open and transparent settings. Organizers need no longer be concerned about emotional volatility in discussions; healthy debate opens the door to an enjoyable exchange of views among citizens, and to the development of civic engagement. The shared goal of the process is to facilitate collective decision-making through dialogue and the exercise of reasoned argumentation.
Our signature characteristic is data-visualisation in the form of a thematic graph presenting a comprehensive overview of discussion topics, enabling individual participation while navigating levels of increasing granularity. The platform enables commentary and discussion on questions prepared and documented in advance by the debate Organizer. This presupposes an initial intention and involves an element of preparation.
To ensure a clear connection between in-person and online debates, in-person events are reconstructed in a format that makes it possible to follow the discussion on the platform, thus broadening and diversifying the panel of participants. We employ rigorous data reconstruction protocols derived from our scientific collaborations, whether from collective note-taking, audio transcriptions, or approval by the speakers themselves before publication online.
Along the same lines, dissemination is designed to increase the diversity of viewpoints through targeted communication modes along with community management operations.
In collaboration with Hervé Marchal, professor of sociology at the Georges Chevrier Center for Research in Societies, Sensibilities, and Care (LIR3S) at the University of Bourgogne, we have developed a method of annotation of verbatim notes and transcriptions. This consists in establishing an objective, stating a hypothesis, and defining a process of annotating contributions. Our technology enables analysis of a large text corpus in support of a transparent interpretation. The outcomes of debates are thus propelled and authenticated by maintaining links between the composite reproduction and that which was expressed in real time situations.
NHNAI: New Humanism in the time of Neurosciences and Artificial Intelligence
Regional meetings on Forests and Timber
Consultations on the project of extending the Cerbère-Banyuls National Marine Nature Reserve
We have also observed a need to establish continuity between actions undertaken in the real-world and the digital arenas: this brings diversity of participant profiles and qualitative enhancement of participation.
Current forms of manipulation of discourse, notably fake news and trolls, influence our perceptions and create media echo chambers in social media settings, especially among youth. With our academic partners and support from the national development fund Caisse des Dépôts, the CartoDÉBAT team is engaging with this issue to create a digital platform for high school students that promotes critical thinking and the development of reasoning skills.
Designers of software interfaces know very well that design and function influence behavior. CartoDÉBAT is designed to render an account of the challenges of debate and of diversity. The goal is to:
CartoDÉBAT's thematic graph allows for a representation of contention in all its vivacity and interactivity, giving a better understanding of the dynamics of exchanges among participants.
