Just Transition Platform

The seventh edition of the Just Transition Platform (JTP) Conference took place on 25-27 April 2023. Co-hosted by DG REGIO and DG ENER, the hybrid event brought together over 1 000 registered participants.

Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, opened the event. She encouraged attendees – including stakeholders from national, local and regional authorities, economic and social partners and the European Commission – to openly share successes and challenges of Just Transition Fund (JTF) implementation.

“You are rising to the challenge”, she said, calling for continued participation, creativity, enthusiasm and ambition from all partners, including youth, NGOs and trade unions.

Also in attendance was Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, who delivered a keynote speech in the session on opportunities for strategic industries in JTF regions, and Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, who spoke at the session on the international dimension of just transition.

Other thematic sessions focused on the energy crisis in the context of just transition, JTF implementation and monitoring, and the JTP Working Groups, before the main conference closed with a side event about the JTP GROUNDWORK and JTPeers programmes.

On 27 April, the JTP Working Groups on Steel, Cement, Chemicals and Horizontal Stakeholder Strategy met in Brussels and a Multi-Level Dialogue also took place, organised by the Committee of the Regions.

To learn more about the outcomes from the conference, read this news article. If you missed the conference, you can watch back the sessions on Swapcard. More materials, including a detailed report, will be shared on the JTP website in due course.

The European Commission is inviting regional authorities, stakeholders and other professionals working on just transition to apply for JTPeers – a new programme from the JTP Secretariat to support the implementation of Territorial Just Transition Plans (TJTPs) in eligible Just Transition Fund (JTF) regions.

It aims to increase skills and expertise on how to implement just transition processes and strengthen cooperation amongst just transition stakeholders in the EU.

JTPeers consists of two sub-programmes:

1. JTPeers Exchange: Launched on 2 May 2023, this is a peer-to-peer programme to facilitate in-person and online exchanges between different JTF territories and JTPeers Experts listed on the database.
2. JTPeers Experts: Launching later this spring, this is a database of professionals working on just transition across Europe. Once listed on the database, JTF territories and other interested stakeholders will be able to contact the experts for advice regarding the implementation of Just Transition projects.

JTPeers Exchange: now open for applications!

JTPeers is a two-fold programme consisting of JTPeers Exchange and JTPeers Experts. JTPeers is available to carbon-intensive and coal+ JTF territories from all 27 EU Member States. Relevant public and private stakeholders playing a crucial role in implementing TJTPs are encouraged to apply. Eligible institutions include public authorities, civil society, and socio-economic actors, and other types of relevant practitioners and experts.

How to apply?

The call for applications to participate in JTPeers Exchange opened on 2 May 2023. Apply for JTPeers Exchange through EU Survey.

For further information on how to apply for JTPeers Exchange, please read the FAQ.

For general questions on the programme, please contact the JTPeers team via: JTPeers@justtransitionplatform.eu

Application deadline: 31 May 2023, 23:00 CEST.

JTPeers Exchange to facilitate co-learning and cooperation for the just transition 

This call for JTPeers Exchange is designed to benefit institutions and organisations from a wide range of sectors contributing to the just transition of their respective JTF territories. The purpose is to share lessons learned, especially in terms of enhancing TJTP implementation though cross-cutting topics such as the following:

• Project identification and development
• Capacity building for regional and local administrations and other key stakeholders
• Awareness-raising campaigns, communication about JTF in the territories
• Mobilisation of specific stakeholder groups
• The establishment of a transparent, inclusive, and efficient governance mechanism for TJTP implementation
• Cross-border cooperation with other JTF territories 

Joining the programme provides JTF territories with:

• Access to an extended community of Just Transition thinkers, shapers, and doers across Europe
• Access to hands-on information and experiences from peers and counterparts facing similar challenges

JTPeers Experts will follow soon!

Calls for applications for the JTPeers Experts database will open later this spring. Keep checking the JTP website and this newsletter for further information on the application call.

In the spring, the JTP Working Group on Horizonal Stakeholder Strategy carried out a survey to gather feedback from stakeholders involved in the just transition process in Europe.

The survey was part of  Action 3 of the JTP Working Groups’ common Implementation Plan, which aims to design a toolkit for communicating about the just transition with citizens and municipalities.

This toolkit will support primarily local-level public authorities and municipalities to communicate about the just transition to citizens and to raise awareness among citizens and municipalities about what the Just Transition Fund does and how to make use of it.

As a first step, the Working Group carried out a survey to better understand the needs of stakeholders regarding effective just transition communication and awareness raising. It was circulated on the JTP website and newsletter and made available in all 24 EU languages.

The survey identified a number of main findings:

• The definition of just transition is generally shared.
• A lack of information is a key barrier to developing or submitting projects.
• In-person communication is preferred, as it provides more opportunities for networking (in contrast to only passive communication).
• It is important to take into account local views and opinions of youth.
• A lack of communication to the local level is often linked to low local-level participation, resulting in top-down plans that are not rooted in local knowledge and can seem threatening to the local community.
• Survey respondents reported difficulties in getting involved in just transition processes in their regions.
• Trust is important: communication must come from a trusted (dedicated and official) source.
• Clear, simple and consistent messaging is essential to build and retain the trust of stakeholders.

Responses were received from stakeholders across 15 countries. Representatives of Hungary, Romania and Croatia provided the most responses, with Ireland and Greece also well represented. While the findings did not cover all countries, they provide a useful basis for understanding the need for improved communication on just transition in the regions. This information will also be a big help in developing a short guide, entitled ‘What the just transition is: for EU regions’.

On behalf of Action 3 team members, the Working Group on Horizontal Stakeholder Strategy would like to say a big thank you to all those who responded to the survey.

Join the EU Initiative for Coal Regions in Transition for the fourth Annual Political Dialogue in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, on 27-28 June 2023! Stakeholders from all EU coal+ regions will gather to take stock of transition progress and discuss common challenges in today’s quickly evolving energy landscape. The event will give voice to leading figures in the transition – those that are designing and implementing transition on the ground in the regions, in EU capitals, and in Brussels. The programme features strategic discussions with European leaders, including Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, on what coal regions will be confronted with on their paths to climate neutrality, and how transition can be attained in a just and inclusive way.

Registration closes on 1 June, so register today!

The new Cohesion for Transitions (C4T) Community of Practice has launched its first call under C4T Groundwork, its technical assistance instrument.

The C4T Community of Practice is a community-based platform that aims to support cohesion territories to make better use of EU funds for sustainability transitions. It will provide technical assistance to Member States and regions in making use of European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund resources under the Greener Europe (PO2) objective.

This call, which focuses on regional and local energy agencies and climate adaptation, is open to all managing authorities, environment and energy authorities and local and regional governments. Beneficiaries will receive free-of-charge, tailor-made technical assistance from a pool of experts to work hand in hand with them on the two aforementioned topics.

The call is open until 23 May 2023 at 23:59 CET. In order to apply, please fill in this application form. We also encourage you to check out the C4T Groundwork Guidelines.

Finally, the C4T Community of Practice is organising a conference, which will take place on 6 June 2023 at the Marivaux Hotel in Brussels and online.

The C4T Conference will be a full-day hybrid event (from 9:00 to 17:00), with the aim of providing a platform for the European Commission and Cohesion Policy practitioners to interact, share insights, and enhance their collaboration on the implementation of the EU Green Deal with Cohesion Policy.

During the conference, you will hear about the C4T Community of Practice and how the initiative will work to improve the effective expenditure of PO2 resources under the European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund. The programme will include interventions from DG REGIO’s Director-General and other high-level speakers from public institutions, as well as relevant examples from regions across Europe on the topics of climate adaptation and energy transition.

If you wish to attend, please register here by 26 May.