At the 2nd Interdisciplinary Conference of the DAAD-funded Global Centers for Climate and Environment and Health and Pandemic Prevention, JUSTEM partner Anna Mazur (KAPE), was part of a panel session ‘Key Challenges and Opportunities for Citizen Participation in Just Transition Processes Out of Coal, Oil, and Gas’. Anna’s participation provided an opportunity to share the results of the co-creation activities conducted within the JUSTEM project, the challenges, but also the good practices from the JUSTEM pilot regions (Bulgaria- Stara Zagora, Croatia- Istria, Greece- Western Macedonia, Poland- Silesia, Romania- Jiu Valley, Spain- Asturias).
The session focused on the crucial role of citizen engagement in ensuring a just and inclusive transition away from fossil fuels. One of the key messages was the need to shift citizen participation from a formal requirement to a fundamental part of policymaking.
In the JUSTEM analysis of the Territorial Just Transition Plans (TJTPs), the main findings were that in all countries, stakeholder consultations took place as part of the preparation of the TJTPs and other relevant plans, but citizens were not really involved.
The panel stressed that for a just transition to be truly equitable, citizen participation must become an ongoing and integral part of policy development and implementation. It should not be reduced to ticking off successive stages aimed solely at meeting formal requirements. Instead, participation must be an ongoing dialogue between citizens, policymakers and other stakeholders, particularly in the communities most affected by the transition away from coal, oil and gas. This shift in approach is essential to ensure that local voices are truly heard and taken into account throughout the transition.
The value of discussion and engagement was emphasised, but it is clear that meaningful participation requires more than just talk. The findings reached during citizen consultations must be implemented to create real change, failure to do so leads to stakeholder disappointment. Panellists highlighted that without concrete results, citizens may lose confidence in the process, making their future engagement difficult.
The lack of sufficient and properly allocated funding to support citizen participation was also raised. Funds often do not reach citizens themselves but are directed to intermediaries, potentially limiting the effectiveness of bottom-up engagement. The need for better targeting of financial resources to enable local communities to play a key role in processes of just transition was highlighted.
In the context of a just transition, collaboration is essential across national, regional, and local levels. The panel pointed out that there are many different stakeholders engaged in the participation process who have much bigger power in influencing the decision making process and there is a potential risk that the voice of local citizens who are directly impacted may not be taken as a priority.
From the JUSTEM project, Anna was able to share some of the project’s key findings and outcomes thus far, including the results of the citizen workshops in the pilot regions and the broader conclusions from the JUSTEM region to region workshop. The experiences and results of the activities are summarised in a report, find it here.
