Participation is the watchword of the Dome. But this cannot be decreed and there is no participation without recognition of this participation. This need to recognise a commitment, to value those who give their time, but also to be able to claim what one has discovered or learned was a reflection that we had for a long time, without finding a solution. With the discovery of the open badges, the obvious thing became clear to us. It seemed to us to be the ideal tool to enable everyone to recognise that one takes part in a project and that one contributes to it, but also to the part one gets out of it.

As for the risk of profusion: the badges that will disappear are those that will have the least value for the people who benefit from them and are therefore not indispensable. The badges offered by the Dome reflect the diversity of approaches and workshops that are open to the public. Sometimes they are co-constructed with the participants, sometimes they are mass-produced during an event, some are unique and others have been in existence since we launched our programme. In reality, it’s not that there are too many badges, it’s that we only do things that deserve recognition for those who participate! Moreover, we are 5 structures at the Dôme to have seized this tool and we host the dynamic “Badgeons la Normandie”, which adds to the “multiplier” feeling of the place.

In reality, this impression of profusion is only perceptible to professionals in the field, but is certainly far removed from the feelings and experiences of the people who benefit from it, each one having his or her own door of entry into the open badges. And the more channels we multiply, the more chances we have that the approach will make sense outside our (small) communities.