Green but Just? Engaging V4 citizens and communities to achieve a socially just green transition

ongoing

Though the EU is often regarded as a frontrunner in the global race against climate change, some of the challenges brought about by the green transition in the context of the European Green Deal (EGD) are yet to emerge. Many of these challenges touch upon the social aspects of the green transition, as the transformation of European labour markets, the necessary improvements to buildings' energy performance, and a fundamental rethink of our transportation systems expose citizens to various sources of adaptation pressure. The project seeks to address these challenges in three particular domains, with the Just Transition's overarching imperative serving as a unifying thread among them: jobs, housing and mobility. Our geographic focus is the V4, where societies' prospects for a successful Just Transition look all but uncertain, partly due to relative economic underdevelopment and partly due to some of their political idiosyncrasies. The project begins with an exploratory phase where several communication, outreach and research methods (public consultations, focus groups, action-research activities, and policy analysis) will gather insights from hundreds of citizens in each of the V4 countries. Specifically, we shall probe citizens' experience, knowledge and needs in the context of the green transition. The engagement activities will offer citizens and communities a platform and an opportunity to exchange views, find common solutions, organise collective action, and, last but not least, push local and national-level policy-makers into action for the common goal reflecting the needs and perspectives of citizens. These public engagement activities will include climate assemblies, expert roundtables, podcasts, articles, book testimonies by citizens and policy recommendations to policy-makers. Our ultimate goal is to turn V4 citizens and communities into active agents of change in one of the most consequential social transformations since the birth of the European Union.