Since the end of 2017, the Region Bourgogne Franche-Comté and Energy Cities, in partnership with ADEME and Mr Lion, have been leading a "Transition Management with the Pionniers Ordinaires de la Transition Écologique (POTEs)" initiative for a positive energy region. This approach is based on the belief that networking a territory's pioneers brings a creative potential for innovation that can trigger and multiply change. As actors of the transition, the POTEs open new paths and are sources of inspiration for all and demonstrate how to do things differently. To date about 300 POTEs have been identified but there are hundreds or even thousands of them throughout the region. The field of the energy transition is open here and extends to the socio-ecological transition. For the POTEs, the transition must be transversal and applies to many fields: People enter the community because they recognize themselves as a POTE. They are open individuals who wish to collaborate, engage, learn, protect, who have a sense of community and who also express their point of view. - They are individuals already active in the local field and who take concrete action in the socio ecological transition. They rely on the living forces of the territory in order to multiply actions, efforts and trials. - The POTE network allows them to exchange and learn from each other, but a POTE is a pioneer already involved at her/his own level.

• Community-based initiative (i.e. citizens, cooperative, neighbourhood group)
• Non-profit organisation (i.e. pursues a particular social cause, e.g. schools, foundations, social movement)
• Social enterprise (i.e. for-profit company, but has primary objective to achieve social and/or ecological benefits)
• For-profit company
• Local government
• Regional government

• Providing knowledge transfer / advisory / education services
• Conducting research, pilot studies and/or living labs
• Raising awareness and/or political agenda-setting
• Facilitating dialogue and networking
• Designing policies and/or (management) strategies
• Offering funding (i.e. subsidies, grants and/or other means of financing)
• (Re-)selling goods and/or facilitating good exchanges
• Developing and/or producing goods
• Showcasing and/or demonstrating practices