Projet Numana

Empathic Neighbourhoods:
A future where technology, well-being and resilience meet

Discover how empathetic neighbourhoods seek to create more inclusive, sustainable and wellness-focused urban environments, by putting people at the heart of technological innovation.

Why did Numana choose this project?

Smart cities have limitations despite their technological innovations, whereas empathetic neighbourhoods offer a humane and ethical alternative that could make Quebec a leader in caring technologies. Empathetic neighbourhoods promote social inclusion and local empowerment, while providing sustainable environments that meet real community needs and generate significant social and economic benefits.

Our journey towards Empathetic Neighbourhoods has been marked by a natural progression in our research. After exploring green and intelligent buildings (2022) and technologies for ageing well at home (these documents are available below), we have broadened our scope to include neighbourhoods as a whole. Our collaboration with the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie in 2023 enabled us to deepen our understanding of Quebec’s smart city initiatives and lay the conceptual foundations for Empathetic Neighbourhoods.

Numana identified the need for a more empathetic approach to the use of technology for cities and urban planning, and sought to answer the fundamental question: ‘Beyond simple urban management, how can technology be used to improve the well-being of residents?’

Project objectives

Numana had several objectives in holding this think tank on empathetic neighbourhoods:

Assessing the potential of technologies using this new empathic approach
Where intelligence has long been at the heart of technological development, empathy is sometimes a long way off, and in the context of living environments, it is important to bring it to the fore.
Analysing impacts and opportunities
While the concept of an empathetic neighbourhood is easily seduced, it was essential to assess not only its technical feasibility, but also to analyse its potential impacts and opportunities.
Developing a shared, cross-sector definition and vision
The concept of an empathetic neighbourhood involves listening to its residents, so how do you define and design them when each empathetic neighbourhood has to be intrinsically different?
Playing a crucial role in the development of caring technologies
Tech for Good is a growing economic sector, and empathetic neighbourhoods provide fertile ground for its development.
Positioning Quebec as a centre of innovation in benevolent technologies
The development of empathetic neighbourhoods in Quebec will be an opportunity to showcase Quebec innovations in caring technologies (Tech for Good)

Recognising Quebec’s potential as a hub for benevolent technologies, Numana set up a diverse think tank with 13 members representing different sectors (technology, institutions, research, health, urban planning, etc.). From January to June 2024, this group analysed the concept of the ‘empathetic neighbourhood’, initially defined as ‘a set of technological and social innovations used in a benevolent manner to improve the socialisation, autonomy and resilience of people and the environment on a neighbourhood scale’.

The resulting study proposes a common vision for Quebec and recommendations to integrate this concept in future urban planning projects.

The expected impact of the think tank on empathetic neighbourhoods

In the short term:

Creation of a network of players committed to the development of Empathetic Neighbourhoods.
Emergence of new economic opportunities and skilled jobs.

Long-term impact

Improving the quality of life and well-being of local residents.
Strengthening of the social fabric and community cohesion.
Development of innovative solutions to meet the challenges of the sustainable city.

Members of think tank:

Adèle Salin-Cantegrel, Vice-president of the Coalition de Parents d’Enfants à Besoins Particuliers du Québec (CPEBPQ), Co-founder and CEO of Scikoop.
Gaétan Brousseau, Engineer, Founder and CEO of Innovention Inc.
Nathalie Boucher, Anthropologist, specialist of urban public spaces. Director of the R.Es.P.I.R.E organisation.
Joel Trudeau, Professor at Dawson College, Founder of SPACE (Sciences Participating with Arts and Culture in Education) as well as the AILaunchLab project (training students in artificial intelligence instersecting of the SDG objectives) and holder of a mixed heritage identifying himself as Anishnabee-Odjibwa.
Dr. Olivier Beauchet, Clinician-researcher specialising in the effects of the arts on health; Director of the Centre of excellence en longevity; director of the Ageteq laboratory, and co-chair at Chair CREAT and manager of the Arts and Health Axis.
Ursula Eicker, Professor at department of Engineering of building, civil engineering and environment at Concordia University, Directorof the Excellence Research Chair in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Communities and Cities (CERC).
Shin Koseki, Director of the UNESCO Chair in urban landscape, Professor to the urban planning school of the University of Montreal, Researcher affiliated to Mila.
Kathy Malas, Specialist in the integration of innovation and AI in healthcare environments, Director of Research, Innovation and Learning, CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest (formerly at CHUM and CHU Ste-Justine).
Jean-Noé Landry, Community organiser, systemic mediator, advocate of open technologies in smart cities and more, Obama scholar.
Nouha Ben Gaied, Director of the Berthiaume-du Tremblay foundation.
Catherine Mathys, Tech columnist at Radio-Canada, partner and prospectivist at Demains..
Dr. Abdo Shabah, Founder and General Manager of Humanitas and emergency medical doctor at the Cardiology Institute of Montreal.
Véronique Laurin, Main advisor, Innovation and research partnerships at the Agence de mobilité durable de Montréal, President of the board at Solon.

Obsververs

Sylvain Simard, ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie du Québec
Marie-Claude Lagacé, Conseil de l’innovation du Québec
Julien Fouquet-Asselin, ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie du Québec

Other advisors

Pierrich Plusquellec, Associate Professor, Université de Montréal, School of Psychoeducation. Director of Collaboration with Industry and Developers at OBVIA, co-founder of EmoSciens, Co-Director, Centre for Studies on Human Stress (CSHS)
Jimmy Paquet-Cormier, Head of the Laboratoire en innovation ouverte (LLio)
Louise Hodder, Manager of social economy companies, General Manager of the Pôle régional d’économie sociale de Laval, CEO and founder of Vivacité – Société immobilière solidaire.

Participanting organisations

Last updated on 13/05/2025

CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest (previously at CHUM et au CHU Ste-Justine)
By definition, empathetic neighbourhoods improve health and well-being through a partnership approach with citizens [...] overall health, not just physical health but social, community, cognitive and spiritual health.
Specialist in the integration of innovation and AI in healthcare environments, Director of Research, Innovation and Learning
Kathy Malas
Scikoop
I see solutions and mobile applications where there would be collaborative project management on the initiative of the communities, access to solutions that would make resources available to the different residences according to their personalised needs.
Co-founder and CEO
Adèle Salin-Cantegrel
Demains
They say that in a harmonious friendship or love relationship, you should always try to see: what can I do to make your life easier, more beautiful? I think that applies to a city too. How can we make your daily life simpler? That should be close to the key issue, the cardinal value of using technology in a city context.
Tech columnist at Radio-Canada, partner and prospectivist
Catherine Mathys
Unesco Chair in urban landscapes at University of Montreal
Data can easily be used against us. For technologies to be used in empathetic neighbourhoods, we need to ensure that the technologies deployed follow a responsible development, deployment and use process. These are principles like ‘no harm’, no coercive technology, no surveillance.
Professor at the urban planning school of the University of Montreal, Researcher affiliated to Mila
Shin Koseki