COMPASS: Socioeconomic Development of Coal Regions in Transition
Proposal Submitted 27 August 2019 27.09.2019
Europe has made an efficient and constant transition away from coal mining in the last decades. However, some Coal and Carbon-Intensive Regions (CCIRs) still remain far from an accelerated transition to clean energy because of multiple aspects, including socioeconomic obstacles. The eseia-lead proposal COMPASS (Socioeconomic Development of Coal Regions in Transition) submitted 27 August 2019 within the H2020 work programme aims at finding solutions for CCIRs in Central and Eastern Europe that are attempting the energy transition. The project would set recommendations on how to achieve this more efficiently and help kick-start the transition in the regions where this has not happened yet.
The project focuses on five specific CCIRs in Europe where the transition is urgent: Stara Zagora (Bulgaria), Western Macedonia in Greece and North Macedonia, Silesia (Poland), Asturias and Castilla-y-León (Spain), and a Western Balkan region encompassing Bosnia, Kosovo and Croatia. Apart from technological challenges, these CCIRs face many issues related to social, economic and political aspects preventing cleaner pathways away from coal production and consumption to take place.
COMPASS is supported by a 29 partners’ Consortium representing 11 EU Member States and three Third Countries. The main objective is to conduct extensive research to find solutions to the following socioeconomic challenges:
- How socioeconomic innovation can contribute to speeding up the transition?
- How history, politics and culture in each of the regions affect their socioeconomic evolution?
- How does regional economics affect the situation of the CCIRs?
- How can we engage the youngest in driving community-based energy transition initiatives?
If selected for funding, COMPASS will bring together regional stakeholders, government, industry, civil society and public organisations to create a consensus on innovation strategies and will provide a new understanding of the socioeconomic and political aspects that are currently preventing CCIRs to achieve the transition away from coal. The project will also develop case studies and provide policy recommendations applicable in the selected CCIRs that are also replicable in other regions with similar problems.
More Information
Contact Person
Marina Lopez, eseia Communication assistant – marina.lopezortega@eseia.eu
