About the Working Groups
The Just Transition Platform (JTP) has been managing several Working Groups since 2021.
The groups bring together stakeholders from across Europe, with a common concern for the people and places affected by the transition to a climate-neutral economy.
The groups are supported and facilitated by the JTP Secretariat, managed by an external contractor under the supervision of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy. The Working Groups do not have the status of Commission expert groups.
Between 2021 and 2023, the JTP managed four dedicated Working Groups for carbon-intensive regions: three with a thematic focus on Steel, Cement and Chemicals, and one on Horizontal Stakeholder Strategy.
These Working Groups brought together stakeholders to exchange and collaborate, and to develop and implement a series of Actions, leading to various useful outputs, including guides, toolkits, and concept, strategy and recommendation papers.
Following the conclusion of these groups, the JTP is now managing three Working Groups for the period 2024-2026 on stakeholder engagement, equal opportunities, and the future of just transition.
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March 2025First meeting of the Working Group on the Future of Just Transition
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February 2025Consultations launched on the draft Implementation Plan for the Stakeholder Engagement and Equal Opportunities Working Groups
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December 2024 – January 2025Launch of call for members of the new Working Group on the Future of Just Transition; review of applications and selection of members
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April 2024First meeting of the Working Groups on Equal Opportunities and Stakeholder Engagement.
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February-March 2024Call for applications for Working Groups on Equal Opportunities and Stakeholder Engagement for 2024-2026; review and selection of members
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January 2024Publication of outputs from Actions of Working Groups for 2021-2023
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December 2023Conclusion of the Working Groups on Steel, Cement, Chemicals and Horizontal Stakeholder Strategy.
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September 2021Launch of call for expression of interest for Working Groups for 2021-2023
2024-2026
Set up through an open call for applications in February 2024, the two JTP Working Groups focus on the topics of stakeholder engagement and equal opportunities. A separate call for applications was launched in December 2024 for a third Working Group on the Future of Just Transition.
The Working Groups focus on all Just Transition Fund (JTF) regions (coal and carbon-intensive), with the aim to leave no one behind in the transition process.
They focus on proper implementation of the JTF and bring together a varied group of stakeholders to closely monitor the just transition process, share competencies, and formulate guidelines for the implementation of JTF projects linked to their area of competences.
The Working Groups are running from early 2024 (or early 2025 in the case of the Working Group on the Future of Just Transition) until the end of 2026 and meet regularly, both in person and online.
Objectives
Through principles of problem-solving, advocacy and stakeholder inclusion, the Working Groups provide a forum for strategic exchange on challenges shared by stakeholders involved in the transition process in coal and carbon-intensive regions. They aim to:
- establish and strengthen networks of stakeholders;
- develop a common vision of the just transition for all people involved in the process;
- collect and share knowledge and good practices on challenges, impacts and strategies;
- find practical solutions and tools to tackle local challenges and mitigate the adverse effects of the transition process;
- support the Commission in identifying and developing inclusive approaches to the transition in carbon-intensive regions;
- develop actions and outputs tackling common and cross-thematic issues related to shared challenges in the transition process;
- exchange knowledge and offer insights on designing and implementing just transitions based on experience thus far from just transition implementation on the ground;
- support the alignment of the next phase of just transition policy implementation with the realities on the ground.
The Working Group on stakeholder engagement cuts across different transition sectors (energy, steel, cement, chemicals, etc.) as well as different directly affected segments of society from JTF territories.
The mission of this Working Group is to identify and assess approaches and good practices for engaging different stakeholder groups in the implementation of the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM).
The Working Group on equal opportunities acts as an observatory, focusing specifically on the most vulnerable and underrepresented groups of the just transition: youth, elderly, rural communities, women and other groups.
The mission of this Working Group is to bring advocacy organisations, JTF Managing Authorities and other decision-makers to the same table to discuss and find ways to ensure that the implementation of the JTM benefits these groups of stakeholders and creates equal opportunities. A dedicated JTP Youth Taskforce within this Working Group focuses on the skills and challenges of youth.
The Working Group on the Future of Just Transition aims to establish a setting through which just transition stakeholders from diverse backgrounds can provide input and recommendations to inform discussions at the EU level on the future just transition policies and funding instruments.
The goal of this Working Group is to support aligning the next phase of just transition policy implementation with the realities on the ground.
Membership and operation
The Working Groups’ members come from national, local and regional authorities, associations representing regional, local, urban and other public authorities, organisations representing economic and social partners, and bodies representing civil society, such as non-governmental organisations.
The core members actively shape, steer and perform the work of the group and support actions in the implementation phase.
A second circle of close observers participates in some of the group’s work on an ad hoc basis and is consulted on a regular basis. There is one second circle for those interested in engaging and following the work of the Working Groups on Stakeholder Engagement and Equal Opportunities, and a separate one for the Working Group on the Future of Just Transition.
The call for applications for the 2nd circle for the Working Groups on Stakeholder Engagement and Equal Opportunities remains open. If you would like to join, please submit an application.
A list of the current Working Group members can be found here.
Activities
Each group meets at least twice a year with ad-hoc online meetings organised as needed. These meetings are key milestones for the groups, bringing together participating stakeholders to define and launch actions that address their priority themes.
More information about the activities of the 2024-2026 Working Groups will be added to this page in due course.
Outputs
Outputs from the 2024-2026 Working Groups will be added to this page in due course.
2021-2023
Between 2021 and 2023, the JTP managed four dedicated Working Groups for carbon-intensive regions.
Three Working Groups – for Steel, Cement and Chemicals – each focused on a specific carbon-intensive sector that is heavily impacted by the transition, while a fourth Working Group focused on Horizontal Stakeholder Strategy.
Members were selected following a call for expression of interest launched in September 2021. Each group had three ‘circles’ of members. The first circle consisted of up to 20 members who actively shaped, steered and performed the work of the group.
Following their official launch and first meeting alongside the JTP Meeting in November 2021, the groups began gathering inputs and working on Scoping Papers outlining their focus areas and objectives.
Following on from these Scoping Papers, which were finalised and published in May 2022, the groups then developed a common Implementation Plan, which set out their actions. This plan was finalised and published in April 2023.
The common Implementation Plan is available to download below, followed by the Scoping Papers and lists of members for each group, and the outputs from their work.
All outputs from the Actions of the Working Groups, including guides and toolkits, concept and strategy papers, and recommendations, are available on the JTP Working Groups: Outputs page.
News
Follow the latest news on the JTP, including from the Working Groups: