The twelve participants of the workshop, coming from Mayotte and around the world, worked collectively in two teams to answer the delicate questions posed by the workshop.

How to cope with both population growth and the effects of climate change, in a constrained territory? How to define a modern development adapted to the singularities, the know-how and the cultural practices of the territory? How to mobilize the territory in the face of a shortage of decent housing?

After a series of videoconferences, enriched by the context file and intense days of visits and meetings, the official opening on Tuesday January 31, 2023 in the hemicycle of the Departmental Council of Mayotte, allowed the participants to meet local authorities and elected officials and listen to their expectations.

The two teams then began to work, to quickly present their first tracks and ideas during the Exchange Forum on Thursday, February 2, bringing together experts from the territories, the State and local institutions in the work rooms of the participants.

The workshop ended with an exceptional day of final presentations and jury debates, once again at the Hemicycle of the Departmental Council, and by videoconference. More than 100 people were able to enjoy these live presentations.

The teams chose to show Mayotte in a positive light. Mayotte is "the island of possibilities", with many potentials linked in particular to the youth of the population and its exceptional landscape. The proposals made it possible to envision a desirable future for the archipelago, of a Mayotte which takes advantage of its geographical position in the Mozambique Channel, which protects its landscapes and consolidates them in a concerted way, opens up to soft mobility and accompanies self-construction. All proposals can be found in the workshop session book.

The jury, co-chaired by Salime Mdéré, 1st Vice-President of the Departmental Council, in charge of Planning, Infrastructure and Land, and by Pierre-André Périssol, President of the Ateliers, Mayor de Moulins, former French Minister of Housing, brought together many actors and elected officials from the archipelago: Agglomeration Communities, Mamoudzou City, State, Public Land and Development Establishment of Mayotte (EPFAM), Action Logement Mayotte , Société Immobilière de Mayotte (SIM), the Port of Longoni, the Economic, Social and Environmental Council of Mayotte (CESEM), environmental associations (…) were all represented. The opening to the Indian Ocean region, in the continuity of the work of the Insular Territories workshop in Reunion, was ensured by the presence of the governor of Toamasina (Madagascar) Richard Rafidison, and that of Eugène Mangalaza, professor and former Malagasy Prime Minister. The Pointe-à-Pitre Town Hall participated online. Jack Arthaud, present in Mayotte, expert with the Ministry of Ecological Transition, had previously participated in hosting the workshop in Guyana. Finally, the Scientific Orientation Committee of the Workshops was represented by Gérard Abadia.

The jury thus underlined the importance of the change of outlook on Mayotte brought by the international teams, noted that the proposals were very complementary and did not forget the existing initiatives. Together they form solid bases for a territorial project, broken down into short-term action and longer strategies. The jury called for the work to be extended in order to deploy the tools to create these strategies for the Mayotte territory.

The international urban planning workshop of Mayotte is organized at the request of the Departmental Council of Mayotte with the support from the Agence Française de Développement. Find all the productions of the workshop in the session book, available online.