Each November, Lyon hosts a free public economics festival built around a Scientific Committee-validated programme and a parallel "OFF" track for partner institutions, drawing economists, students, journalists and citizens to the same free sessions across several sites anchored by ENS de Lyon, with no ticket price and no professional gatekeeping.
Journées de l'Économie, known as Jéco, is a free three-day public economics festival held each November in Lyon. The 2026 edition, the 19th, runs 3 to 5 November 2026. It mixes conferences validated by a Scientific Committee (the "IN" programme) with an "OFF" track run independently by partner institutions, and is organised by the Fondation Innovation et Transitions with ENS Lyon as its founding academic partner. Source: journeeseconomie.org, checked 3 September 2026.
3 to 5 November 2026, the 19th edition. Multiple venues across Lyon, with ENS de Lyon (15 Parvis René Descartes, 69007 Lyon) as the anchor institution and mécène. The database record behind this fiche previously listed Hôtel de Lassay as a Lyon venue for the main festival; that is incorrect. Hôtel de Lassay is the Paris residence of the president of the French National Assembly, and it hosts a separate Jéco satellite event, the Matinale de l'Économie, held once a year (28 May 2026 for the most recent edition), not the three-day Lyon festival itself. Sources: journeeseconomie.org/node/16323, journeeseconomie.org/evenement/nosevenements, assemblee-nationale.fr, checked 3 September 2026.
Fondation Innovation et Transitions, based at 3 Place de la Bourse, 69002 Lyon, led by Ronan Stephan per the organiser's own FAQ. The festival itself was founded in 2008 at ENS de Lyon, and the 2026 edition is its 19th. The foundation's stated mission is to advance economic literacy and connect research to public and societal needs. It organises Jéco in partnership with ENS Lyon, which supplies academic credibility, hosting capacity and a Scientific Committee of economists that validates the official ("IN") programme, chooses the topics and selects the speakers. General contact: jeco@fondation-fit.org . Sources: journeeseconomie.org/node/16296, journeeseconomie.org/node/16327 (FAQ), checked 3 September 2026.
More than 40,000 participants a year, an organiser figure repeated across editions rather than an audited count specific to 2026. The audience is deliberately mixed: students at all levels, economics and social-science academics, secondary and higher-education teachers, journalists, civil servants and local officials, policy professionals and think-tank researchers, and the general public of Lyon and visitors. There is no separate delegate category or paid access tier: everyone attends the same free sessions on the same terms. Source: journeeseconomie.org, database record (target_audience_base), checked 3 September 2026.
The official 2026 speakers page (journeeseconomie.org/jeco/2026/intervenant) listed 202 names as of 3 September 2026, none with role or affiliation shown on that index. Eight speakers sit on record from past editions in the database behind this fiche: Jean Tirole, Esther Duflo, Philippe Aghion, Thomas Piketty, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Hélène Rey, Jean Pisani-Ferry and Daron Acemoglu. Of those eight, only Esther Duflo and Philippe Aghion appear on the confirmed 2026 list; Tirole, Piketty, Stiglitz, Rey, Pisani-Ferry and Acemoglu are past-edition speakers and are not confirmed for 2026. The 202 names below are the ones captured on the official page on the date checked; treat this as the observed list, not a guaranteed mirror of any later change to the live page.
Source: journeeseconomie.org/jeco/2026/intervenant, checked 3 September 2026.
The organiser's own pages state "40,000 participants, 250 speakers, 65 conferences" on the mission page, the FAQ and the homepage alike, worded identically across years rather than recalculated for each edition. The 2026 speakers page shows 202 published names against an advertised total north of 250 to 300, and only two of the eight speaker names on record from past editions carry over to 2026. Read the three headline numbers as a settled description of what Jéco has become, not as a certified count for this specific edition.
The 2026 edition moves to 3 to 5 November 2026, a day earlier than the 2025 edition's 4 to 6 November 2025 run. Unlike 2025, which carried the announced theme "Vieux démons et nouveaux mondes" (Old demons and new worlds), no single overarching theme title had been announced for 2026 as of 3 September 2026: the programme instead groups around named sessions such as "Le réarmement de l'Europe," "Le second choc chinois" and "Trois grands défis du vieillissement." The confirmed 2026 speaker roster has almost entirely turned over from the names on record for past editions: only Esther Duflo and Philippe Aghion repeat. Source: journeeseconomie.org, comparison with the ENS Lyon institutional page, checked 3 September 2026.
The full 2026 "IN" programme lists 65 conferences across three days; the titles captured directly from the official programme page include, by day: 3 November, the opening session, "Réinventer la solidarité face aux tensions mondiales," "Pauvreté et développement: histoire des idées, terrain et expériences," "Décarboner l'Europe" and "Voiture électrique: une chance pour l'Europe, une chance pour le climat?"; 4 November, "Le réarmement de l'Europe," "Trois grands défis du vieillissement" and "L'innovation est-elle en panne?"; 5 November, "Le second choc chinois," "Plus de PIB, moins de CO2, est-ce possible?" and "Campagne présidentielle: les sujets à affronter." These sit inside recurring themes the database also records: artificial intelligence, the environmental crisis, demographic transition, geopolitics, Europe's direction, social media and public debate, and economic inequality. Source: journeeseconomie.org/affiche-conference2026, checked 3 September 2026.
Lecture-style plenaries, panel debates, roundtables and dedicated workshops, per the organiser's own description of the event as built around "conférences, ateliers et débats." A distinct "Jéco étudiants" strand connects postgraduate and doctoral students with early-career economists. There is no exhibition floor, no delegate matchmaking system and no paid access tier: this is a public-lecture format throughout, not a trade-show or B2B networking format. Source: journeeseconomie.org, ens-lyon.fr, checked 3 September 2026.
Two structures run alongside the main three days. Inside the festival itself, an "OFF" programme lets partner institutions run their own sessions under their own format and their own registration process, distinct from the "IN" programme that the Scientific Committee validates directly; one published 2026 OFF session is a "Fresque de la biodiversité" workshop. Separately, Jéco runs a small family of satellite events across the year outside the November Lyon dates: the Matinale de l'Économie at the Hôtel de Lassay in Paris (28 May 2026, hosted by the presidency of the National Assembly), Nocturnes de l'économie and Nocturnes de la santé evening debates in various French cities, and Rencontres de la mobilité (17 September 2026 in Bordeaux). None of these satellite events is part of the three-day Lyon festival. Sources: journeeseconomie.org/node/16327 (FAQ), journeeseconomie.org/evenement/nosevenements, checked 3 September 2026.
The organiser's own FAQ frames it plainly: the "off" track exists to let partner institutions associate with Jéco while keeping their independence, choosing their own formats and themes rather than submitting to Scientific Committee validation. Read the IN/OFF split as a deliberate trade: a smaller, curated core programme that the Committee can vouch for, wrapped in a wider and more variable set of partner-run sessions that widen the festival's reach without diluting the main programme's editorial standard.
Free. All conferences and debates are open at no cost, though registration is compulsory for every session: register online at journeeseconomie.org, with a confirmation email sent within 72 hours. Funding instead comes from patrons and partners, described by the organiser's FAQ as "quasiment équilibré entre financements publics et privés" (nearly balanced between public and private funding). Source: journeeseconomie.org/node/16299, journeeseconomie.org/node/16327 (FAQ), checked 3 September 2026.
There is no open call for papers. Per the organiser's FAQ, "members of the Scientific Committee, partners, participants, students, or any person wishing to make a proposal" can submit a theme suggestion to the Scientific Committee, which then decides whether to organise a session around it. No submission form, deadline or selection criteria are published beyond that description. No deadline is stated. Source: journeeseconomie.org/node/16327 (FAQ), checked 3 September 2026.
No public sponsorship application form was found. Five patron tiers and several partner categories are named on the official partners page (official patrons, major patrons, patron-partners, associated patrons, plus media, event, institutional, scientific and associate partner categories), but the process to join a tier is not documented. General enquiries go to jeco@fondation-fit.org, the same address used for all organiser contact. Source: journeeseconomie.org/partenaires, checked 3 September 2026.
Confirmed for the page referencing the 3 to 5 November 2026 dates, by category, as published on journeeseconomie.org/partenaires:
Media partners named above appear as press coverage sources elsewhere on the site; because they are formal partners, that coverage should be read as partnership content rather than independent editorial judgment. Source: journeeseconomie.org/partenaires, checked 3 September 2026.
The FAQ states funding runs "nearly balanced between public and private" sources. The partner roster above backs that up directly: a national central bank and a metropolitan authority as official patrons, five major financial and insurance groups as grands mécènes, and eleven further corporates and institutions as patron-partners, before counting the media, event, institutional, scientific and associate tiers. Free admission for 40,000 people a year is a funding model, not an absence of a business model.
Read directly from the sponsor roster rather than from a published breakdown, three types dominate: large public and quasi-public institutions (Banque de France, Métropole Grand Lyon, Caisse des Dépôts, INSEE), major French utilities, transport and energy corporates (TotalEnergies, RTE, SNCF Groupe, Transdev, Keolis, RATP Dev), and financial and insurance groups (AXA, Banque Populaire Aura, Caisse d'Épargne Rhône Alpes, Apicil). Academic and research institutions (ENS Lyon, Université Lyon 2, Université Lyon 3, emlyon business school) form a fourth, distinct category tied to the Scientific Committee rather than to sponsorship revenue. There is no venture, startup or B2B exhibitor tier of the kind found at trade-style conferences; this is consistent with a free public-education festival rather than a commercial marketplace event. Source: journeeseconomie.org/partenaires, checked 3 September 2026.
Journalists wishing to attend or request information are directed to the press agency handling Jéco media relations, Agence Giesbert & Mandin: Stéphanie Bonnamour (s.bonnamour@giesbert-mandin.fr), Floriane Rey (f.rey@giesbert-mandin.fr) and Léa Villot (l.villot@giesbert-mandin.fr). No formal accreditation form, eligibility criteria or deadline is published on the press page itself. Source: journeeseconomie.org/node/16326, checked 3 September 2026.
The site's own press-summary archive (journeeseconomie.org/node/16356) is not maintained for recent editions: the articles listed there date to 2010 to 2014. No independent, non-partner press coverage specific to the 2026 edition was found in the sourced material. Twelve outlets, several of them major French national titles, are formal media partners rather than independent observers: Les Échos (media partner), Alternatives Économiques (media partner), Le Monde (media partner), La Tribune (media partner), AJEF (media partner), Brief.Eco (media partner), France Info (media partner), Lyon Capitale (media partner), Lyon Décideurs (media partner), Oeconomicus (media partner), The Conversation (media partner) and Tribune de Lyon (media partner). Any coverage bearing these names should be read against that partnership. Source: journeeseconomie.org/partenaires, journeeseconomie.org/node/16356, checked 3 September 2026.
Treat it as thin rather than unreliable. The only outlets confirmed to cover Jéco by name are its own twelve media partners (Les Échos (media partner), Alternatives Économiques (media partner), Le Monde (media partner), La Tribune (media partner), AJEF (media partner), Brief.Eco (media partner), France Info (media partner), Lyon Capitale (media partner), Lyon Décideurs (media partner), Oeconomicus (media partner), The Conversation (media partner), Tribune de Lyon (media partner)), so any of their coverage is arranged rather than independently assigned. No non-partner press coverage of the 2026 edition was located, and the organiser's own press archive has not been updated with recent-year articles. Net read: coverage of Jéco is real but structurally close to the organiser, and a claim of broad independent press interest is not supported by the sourced material. Source: journeeseconomie.org/partenaires, journeeseconomie.org/node/16356, checked 3 September 2026.
Attendees seeking closed, invitation-only professional networking, commercial deal-making or investment sourcing: Jéco is a public-education festival, not a B2B forum, and it carries no exhibitor floor or delegate matchmaking. Non-French speakers who need simultaneous interpretation: sessions run in French only, and the organiser's own FAQ cites the cost of translation as a reason more international speakers are not brought in. Researchers seeking closed academic peer exchange on unpublished work: the format favours moderated public debate over paper presentation, and the audience mix deliberately includes non-specialists. Source: journeeseconomie.org (v0.3 fiche research, retained), journeeseconomie.org/node/16327 (FAQ), checked 3 September 2026.
Jéco occupies the first week of November in Lyon, a slot distinct from the French economics calendar's other marquee fixture, the Rencontres Économiques d'Aix-en-Provence (Cercle des Économistes), which runs in early July, charges for parts of its programme and drew roughly 400 speakers across 80 sessions in 2026. Jéco's positioning is the inverse: free, civic-facing and anchored in a university city rather than in a resort setting built for policymakers and international guests. Within Lyon itself, Jéco is the one annual event that brings ENS Lyon, Université Lyon 2, Université Lyon 3 and emlyon business school together in front of a single public audience. Source: festival-aix.com, lecercledeseconomistes.fr, journeeseconomie.org, checked 3 September 2026.
No. The three-day Jéco festival itself is held only in Lyon. The organiser runs a separate family of smaller, differently named satellite events elsewhere in France across the year: the Matinale de l'Économie at the Hôtel de Lassay in Paris (28 May 2026), Nocturnes de l'économie and Nocturnes de la santé evening debates in various cities, and Rencontres de la mobilité (17 September 2026 in Bordeaux). These are distinct programmes with their own formats and audiences, not regional editions of the Lyon festival, and none should be treated as interchangeable with it in scale or content. Source: journeeseconomie.org/evenement/nosevenements, checked 3 September 2026.
French throughout, on every session and in every venue. The organiser's own FAQ names the cost of translation services, alongside travel cost, as one of the two reasons the event does not host more international speakers; no simultaneous interpretation is offered. Source: journeeseconomie.org/node/16327 (FAQ), checked 3 September 2026.
No live remote or livestream option for the main three-day programme is described on the ticketing or practical-information pages. After the event, slides and video recordings for most conferences are published on Téco (touteconomie.org), the organiser's dedicated video and document library, searchable by conference, theme, author and keyword. Whether the 2026 edition adds a live-streaming option for individual sessions is not publicly disclosed. Source: journeeseconomie.org/node/16327 (FAQ), touteconomie.org, checked 3 September 2026.
No monetary refund policy applies because attendance is free of charge. Whether a confirmed registration can be cancelled or reassigned to another attendee is not publicly disclosed on the registration or FAQ pages. Source: journeeseconomie.org/node/16299, journeeseconomie.org/node/16327 (FAQ), checked 3 September 2026.
Not publicly disclosed. No accessibility statement appears on the registration page, the access ("Accès") page, the accommodation page or the FAQ. Source: journeeseconomie.org/node/16323, journeeseconomie.org/node/16324, journeeseconomie.org/node/16327, checked 3 September 2026.
ENS de Lyon, 15 Parvis René Descartes, 69007 Lyon, is the anchor venue and mécène for the festival; other sessions run at further sites across Lyon during the three days, per the organiser's practical-information page. Public-transport routing and step-by-step access details specific to each venue are not published outside a general reference to the Grand Lyon tourist office for accommodation. Source: journeeseconomie.org/node/16323, ens-lyon.fr, checked 3 September 2026.
Official site: www.journeeseconomie.org. Registration: journeeseconomie.org/node/16299. Programme: journeeseconomie.org/affiche-conference2026. Speakers: journeeseconomie.org/jeco/2026/intervenant. Partners: journeeseconomie.org/partenaires. Press: journeeseconomie.org/node/16326. FAQ: journeeseconomie.org/node/16327. Video and document archive: www.touteconomie.org. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/journees-de-leconomie. X: @les_jeco. Facebook: facebook.com/jeco.lyon. Instagram: @jecolyon. YouTube: youtube.com/c/JournéesdelEconomie. Bluesky: @les-jeco.bsky.social. Organiser: Fondation Innovation et Transitions, fondation-fit.org.