Home>Portrait of Camille Gaumont, alumna

25.08.2020

Portrait of Camille Gaumont, alumna

Graduate of the Sciences Po Urban School, Camille Gaumont channels her energies into expanding bike use in the vast and dense urban zone that is Plaine Commune, a conglomeration of 9 major cities to the north of Paris. She sees her work as the perfect way to combine her expertise in urban studies, her passion for cycling and her desire to take concrete action on behalf of the planet. Read the interview.

You are the Cycling Project Manager at Plaine Commune, a public institution representing 9 communes to the north of Paris. What does your work involve? 

Camille Gaumont: I am the cycling lead for the entire area, which is around half the size of Paris and home to some 430,000 inhabitants. I’m in charge of both designing and implementing the area’s cycling strategy: in practice, that means working as a project manager to oversee the construction of cycle routes. I also provide support and advice to local councils in the area, planners and sometimes private companies interested in developing cycling too. I also work with charities, who have more and more of an influence today. My role is to coordinate this myriad of stakeholders involved in cycling policy: it’s a very cross-cutting job! Promoting cycling without thinking about the distribution of public space is pointless: things also need to be considered in terms of urban planning, energy and climate issues, biodiversity policy… Plaine Commune was among the first pioneers of cycling policy in 2011, when it established a comprehensive Cycling Plan for the area and created the post of Cycling Project Manager. We are seeing this dynamic more and more these days.

You became interested in cities and their organisation very early on in your studies, almost as soon as you arrived at Sciences Po…

CG: Yes, so much so that I chose to do two master’s in urban studies at Sciences Po! Right from my bachelor’s degree I was interested in urban sociology. During my third year studying abroad in Berlin, I got the chance to dig a little deeper into the issues of urban planning. I wanted to continue my studies with the same focus on the social sciences, while at the same time giving them a concrete local anchor. That was what made me choose Sciences Po’s Master in Regional and Urban Strategy, which incorporates work on multiple disciplines. This then led me to a year of more intensive technical study on the Urban Planning Programme.

After graduating, I began work in the field of regional planning within local authorities. At that time, eco-districts were all the rage. I did a stint working in the private sector as a consultant for the Grand Paris region, where I became more and more interested in modes of movement and transport. I see these as issues that combine all the things I enjoy: interdisciplinary work, network building, the possibility of instigating broad, in-depth changes, especially with regards to carbon emissions. For me, it’s essential that my work has a positive impact on the wider public and the climate: as a field, cycling policy allows me to contribute in a real and meaningful way to ecological transition.

Beyond your work, is cycling a personal commitment?

CG: Yes, of course, I am a total advocate and fan of cycling for all travel, both day-to-day and touristic! What I find interesting about cycling is how simple it is as a lever for change: a straightforward technology that we have used for many years, accessible for everyone and easily adaptable to new developments. All while having enormous benefits: for getting around, facilitating social interaction, keeping fit, and so on. In a dynamic and predominantly young area like Plaine Commune, it means we can work as an inclusive hub with really diverse contributors. Back when positions around cycling were beginning to spring up, I signed up straight away. I love being able to travel right across the area by bike in my current job!

What are the most crucial challenges when developing cycle routes in urban areas? Will Covid-19 have an impact on the situation?

CG: It’s still too early to say. But what with the health crisis, transport strikes and local elections this year, we can certainly say that recent events have been aligned in favour of advancing bike policy! In a highly urbanised and often congested area, there are major challenges to be met before we can get everybody cycling. First of all, there’s the question of the safety of new routes. Then there’s the fact that people need to own a working bike and to know how to use it… Finally, cyclists need to be able to park their bikes without risk. But across all levels, I am seeing an increasing determination to make use of the current context to take on each of these challenges: that’s very promising.

What skills and knowledge have you kept from your time at Sciences Po?

CG: I think that the interdisciplinary and intellectually demanding nature of study at Sciences Po, where students are required to grasp complex social issues, both serve me a lot in my day-to-day work! So does the ability to see the wider picture and to analyse things as part of a cohesive whole. At master’s level, I really enjoyed combining the policy dimension of urban studies with a concrete local focus. In the Urban Planning programme, I learnt to work with people whose background was more “technical” than my own: that has been really important in my later work. Actually I only have one regret: to have graduated before the introduction of the dual degree in natural sciences and social sciences. I would have loved that!> 

Interview conducted by the Sciences Po editorial team

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