The “Rural Space and Spatial Project” (ERPS) network was born during a study day on cooperation between territories, higher education institutions and universities, organized by the ENSA of Nancy and Mairie-Conseils in 2007 in the Massif des Bauges Regional Natural Park. This study day brought together three teachers (Marc Verdier, Jean-Yves Quay and Xavier Guillot) from three architecture schools (Nancy, Lyon and Saint-Étienne), at the instigation of their respective directors (Lorenzo Diez, Nathalie Mezureux and Martin Chénot), who had chosen to engage in a common reflection on teaching design in rural territories. The shared desire to embark on a “collective adventure” of knowledge production and pedagogical innovation concerning rural areas and spatial planning materialized in three seminars held at the three National Schools of Architecture (ENSA) in the Rhône-Alpes region (ENSA Saint-Étienne, March 4, 2008; ENSA Grenoble, May 6, 2008; ENSA Lyon, June 30, 2008).

The institutional implementation and development of the network were subsequently overseen by Xavier Guillot at the ENSA Saint-Étienne, with the active contribution of its director, Martin Chénot, the research director, Jean-Luc Bayard, and the network coordinator, Luna d’Emilio (recruited on a contract from March 2015 to December 2019, within the framework of the “Massif Central” program). In June 2017, a Charter co-written by the network’s member teachers formalized the federation of thirteen higher education institutions: eleven ENSA(P) schools (Saint-Étienne, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble, Nancy, Lyon, Paris-La-Villette, Brittany, Normandy, Marseille, Paris-Est), one landscape architecture school (Versailles), and one agricultural engineering school (AgroParisTech Clermont-Ferrand). The ERPS network received accreditation as a scientific and thematic network from the Ministry of Culture for the periods 2015-2017 and 2018-2020 (accreditation extended in 2021 and 2022). It benefited from the support of the “Massif Central” Programs (State/Region – Auvergne, then Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) in two phases, from October 2014 to November 2016 and then from January 2017 to July 2020.

In 2024, the ERPS network, under the name Perspectives Rurales, responded to the Ministry of Culture’s call for applications to establish new scientific and educational networks in architecture (RSPA). The network’s project having been deemed a priority by the Ministry of Culture, Perspectives Rurales was selected as one of the five networks chosen. As such, the network receives support from the Ministry of Culture for three years (2025-2027). It is now jointly managed by the ENSA Saint-Étienne and the ENSA Clermont-Ferrand.