"Since the AZF accident in 2001, the management of industrial risks in France has undergone a change which lays the foundation for a just transition for local industrial systems. Since 2003, the legislation has included an obligation for at-risk industries to put forward Technological Risk Prevention Plans (PPRT). These are tools for urban planning which must be realized through consultations within specific structures. The authors' study of the Dunkirk region, a densely populated territory in the north of France, shows that the different actors involved in such consultation exercises must be particularly inventive so as to apply the law and the security perimeters laid out in the PPRT, on a case-by-case basis, without jeopardizing the social and economic development of the region. In the end, paradoxically, this more rigid management framework, centred on risk management, appears to be able to preserve the local industrial system by making it evolve towards more justice and equity, by giving more importance to the security and well-being of the local population and by involving it in the process. The system, which is more open to different actors, is based on information sharing and consultation processes. This trend in the governance system corresponds to a search for territorial resilience. Despite numerous criticisms and genuine limitations, the process thus appears to lay the foundation for a real sustainable transition because it makes the local industrial system evolve not only from an economic point of view, but also from a social and environmental perspective."

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