Catherine Dameron

Biography

Catherine Dameron runs the Bureau des temps (Time Office) for the city and metropolis of Rennes. Faced with the diversification and individualization of life rhythms, the Bureau des temps organizes time on a regional scale. Adapting public service timetables to users’ needs while respecting those of staff, staggering traffic flows to limit congestion, developing public spaces and buildings to accommodate a diversity of uses over time, networking the territory’s services according to access times… these are all levers for improving the quality of life in the area, based on the experiences and needs of users. Catherine Dameron is also deeply involved in Tempo Territorial, the network of players in temporal policies.

Conference: Time management: an individual or collective issue?

Who has control over their time these days? Imposed working hours, restricted commuting times, access to services, digital flows… Some people have control over their time, or can “buy” time (housework, childcare…), while others suffer from it. Struggling to manage one’s time can be a source of guilt and stress on an individual scale. However, some of the answers can be found by revisiting the organization of time on the collective scale of an area: opening hours of shops and services, mobility offer, regional planning… Conversely, our individual choices (shopping on Sundays, enjoying an evening terrace, commuting during rush hour…) can result in tensions and inequalities on the collective scale, and we can also act to contribute to the right general tempo. It’s this balance between individual and collective time that we’ll be analyzing together.