This workshop aims to place the concept of just transition within an overarching vision for just transformation, moving from sectoral or regional focused approaches towards a systemic and global perspective: from Just Transition to Just Transformation.
During the workshop, we exchanges about just transition experiences from various regions, with a focus on multi-stakeholder governance. Breakout groups were organised to have in-depth discussions on the role of women and young people in just transition or transformation, as well as the synergies between social and ecological goals.
By the end of the workshop, we developed a flipchart of ideas to feed existing coalition work on just transition and just transformation.
Friday, June 18th 2021
15h to 16h30 CEST
Online (zoom) format
English
Do you want to participate? Register here
The event is co-organised by CAN-E, eco-union and WWF European Policy Office, and convened by GCF. It takes place under the Transformations 2021 Conference co-organised by the H2020 project TIPPING+.
Further information on the workshop
Transformations 2021 Conference
In 2020 a tipping point may have been crossed on how societies worldwide deal with multiple overlapping crises. On an unprecedented scale, we see groups and communities mobilizing to re-imagine and transform the pre-pandemic systems which led to current vulnerabilities, risks, and unsustainable practices. This challenging but also fertile moment calls for urgent knowledge synthesis able to enact positive tipping points and tipping interventions towards new regenerative development trajectories.
The TRANSFORMATIONS 2021 Conference showcases the latest developments in research and practice of transformations towards sustainability, support and celebrate transdisciplinary learning networks for new collective international initiatives.
Description of the Just Transition(s) Workshop
The Just Transition is a well-recognised concept promoted initially by trade unions – and now by policy-makers and NGOs – as a means of reconciling the climate and environmental policies with socio-economic goals. From the beginning, social goals and environmental goals are portrayed as inherently in conflict, while the concept itself is embedded in a market-based approach to society. The current understanding of the Just Transition struggles to apply to different situations and contexts, despite the implications for social justice from a gender, international and intergenerational perspective. It is not readily applicable to addressing existing social inequalities which manifest outside of the locality, actor or sector specifically targeted.
In Europe, some civil society organizations are further exploring the current concept of Just Transition, viewing social and environmental goals as interdependent. They have been redefining Just Transition(s) as a means to achieve socially, economically and environmentally resilient societies, rather than perceiving just transition of a specific sector as an end. In this vision, a series of just transitions across society, from the local and sectoral level and up, will together deliver the systemic transformation needed to act on climate change and deliver a fairer, resilient world for all.
In this session we discussed this new, holistic idea for just transitions to deliver true social and environmental justice across society, building on European examples and experiences from other carbon-intensive or dependent regions. The objective is to expand our current understanding of the Just Transition inviting external contributions to further shape and influence the inclusive and fair transformation of our economy and society as a whole. We aim in particular to complement the national or regional frameworks to evolve it into a truly global and multi-sectoral concept. This workshop is therefore an important milestone in a workstream building a complete picture of how to deliver Just Transitions for Just Transformation in the run-up to COP 26.
Objectives of the workshop
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Place the concept of just transition within an overarching vision for just transformation, moving from sectoral or regional focused approaches towards a systemic and global perspective.
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Exchange about just transition experiences from various regions, with a focus on multi-stakeholder governance.
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Develop a flipchart of ideas to feed ongoing coalition work on just transition and just transformation.