Silesia has been engaged in the Initiative for Coal Regions in Transition since its inception. This has notably included working with the Secretariat on two rounds of START Technical Assistance. As Mr. Stankiewicz puts it, “from the beginning, the START project team and the Silesian counterparts adopted a relationship based on collaboration and co-creation.”  

In this spirit, Silesia leveraged START assistance to develop a ‘Transformation Options Framework’ that has served to guide the process of brownfield transformation, especially in smaller communities. START returned to Silesia in 2023 to work with the Marshal’s Office of the Silesian Voivodeship to strengthen just transition communication. This included conducting a survey to assess stakeholders’ communication needs, reviewing the region’s just transition website, and creating a Handbook for Transition Communication (in English & Polish) that will enable the region to craft, implement and monitor a transition-specific communication strategy. There is strong consensus that these products – like the Transformation Options Framework that came before them – will advance a just transition by facilitating the development of a common understanding of transition in the region. 

Silesia in 2030 will be a “Green Silesia”: a modern, economically competitive, and environmentally friendly region. Bringing this vision to life has been made easier thanks to the Just Transition Fund, which enables Silesia’s broad investment into green initiatives such as in renewable energy and clean mobility.  

Silesia continues to work together with other coal+ regions with the hope of mutually benefiting from each other’s experiences and knowledge, and realising the common goal of a rapid and just transition. Speaking to the role of programmes like the Initiative for Coal Regions in Transition, Mr. Stankiewicz explains: “The hope for common success of the EU’s mining regions has been strengthened by the exchange of experience and knowledge, as well as advisory and investment support.” 

Looking forward, Silesia hopes for the Initiative to continue to develop “easy-to-use and detailed frameworks for engaging stakeholders and facilitating exchange of ideas which provide a stronger base for improved communication among partners… Improving two-way exchange and further providing tips for opening-up channels of communication from actors to decision-makers are of essential importance.”

©Babylonia/T.Monasse, 2023