ABSTRACT

The Lorraine region, with 2.3 million inhabitants on 23,500 square kilometres in the north-east of France, is one of the regions in the core of Europe that suffered most from the decline of its traditional industries, namely coal, steel and textiles. Severely hit by the closure of the mines and the drastic reduction of activities in traditional industries—steel and coal in the north, textiles in the south—the region has been involved in twenty years of profound restructuring and reconversion, striving to escape the trap of mono-industries. During the 1980s, the region lost around 10,000 jobs per year, and 14,000 inhabitants between 1982 and 1990 (INSEE 1997).