The European Green Deal is the EU’s strategy to make its economy and society fit for a healthy planet. It advocates a policy approach oriented towards the goals of climate neutrality and circular economy. This refers essentially to the concept of sustainability transitions – understood as long-term transformations of societal systems towards more sustainable modes of production and consumption – which has been promoted in EU discourse for a number of years.
This toolkit attempts to translate this approach into concrete tools, methodologies and steps that can be implemented in the context of the EU’s cohesion policy. It focuses on how cohesion policy can support sustainability transitions in the planning and delivery of Partnership Agreements and Programmes, by prioritising available support for the 2021-2027 funding period to facilitate a transition to a climate neutral, green and circular economy. It consists of a set of instruments and questions to guide a strategic reflection and to help deliver the increased ambition of the European Green Deal with the future cohesion policy.
The toolkit is primarily aimed at programming and Managing Authorities at the national and regional level. While many other actors are involved in implementation, Managing Authorities can use cohesion policy to leverage change oriented towards transitions, and create an overall framework which is sufficiently flexible to accommodate local strategies, actions and conditions.