Laurence Monnoyer-Smith

Since June 2019, Laurence Monnoyer-Smith is Environment and Climate Advisor to the CNES President.

Laurence Monnoyer-Smith holds a PhD in Information and Communication Sciences and is an accredited Director of Research in the field of ‘Modes of citizen expression in modern societies - Forms and constraints of public debate’. She was a Senior Lecturer and then Professor at the University of Technology of Compiègne (UTC) from 2008 to 2013.

In this role, Laurence Monnoyer-Smith was in charge of teaching for information and communication science engineers, science and technology culture, public debate and science outreach, before heading up the Costech knowledge and technical systems research laboratory at UTC. Her research work encompasses electronic democracy, electronic citizen mediation systems, public data and the development of digital culture and new forms of citizenship.

In 2013, Laurence Monnoyer-Smith was made Vice-Chair of the National Public Debate Commission (CNDP), where was active in developing representative and participative democracy tools. The first woman and the first academic to hold this post, she spent two years modernizing the methodologies employed by the CNDP and chaired the public hearing on offshore wind turbines for Le Tréport.

In May 2015, Laurence Monnoyer-Smith was appointed Interministerial Delegate and Commissioner General for Sustainable Development at the Commissariat General for Sustainable Development within the Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Maritime Affairs. In this capacity, she led the reform of environmental assessments and citizen participation after the Sivens tragedy. As Interministerial Delegate, she led work to establish France’s roadmap to implement the Agenda 2030 sustainable development goals.

In 2021, she becomes Director of Sustainable Development and Performance.