Fair and inclusive twin transitions for a stronger social Europe

Project Information

FITTER-EU

Grant agreement ID: 101132546

DOI

10.3030/101132546

EC signature date 26 October 2023

Start date 1 February 2024

End date 31 January 2027

Funded under

• Culture, creativity and inclusive society

Total cost

€ 2 999 875,00

EU contribution

€ 2 999 875,00

Coordinated by

TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY DUBLIN
Ireland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FITTER-EU (Fair and inclusive twin transitions for a stronger social Europe)

Reporting period: 2024-02-01 to 2025-01-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The FITTER-EU project aims to contribute to existing research on the origins, dynamics and determinants of inequalities and enable anticipatory governance to support a fair and inclusive twin transition across Europe. The project innovates through the formulation and development of an ecosystem that includes an interactive and gamified Digital Platform powered by an Intelligent Predictive Decision Support System. Through a co-creation approach, the ecosystem aims to support policymakers in assessing which social groups may be at risk of being adversely affected by twin transition policies under different scenarios, with the option to simulate the implementation of these policies for the assessment of inequalities and social exclusion risks. The Digital Platform within the ecosystem aims to provide proposed mitigation measures and better practice guides that can be used to curb potential negative effects of policies on identified at-risk groups. The FITTER ecosystem also incorporates wide platform connectivity capability and better practice guides which, through an applied foresight engagement process, helps to support the needs of the engaging stakeholders within the community of the FITTER Cluster Group. This group includes key pan-European actors such as policymakers, civil society organizations including trade unions and business angels.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

FITTER-EU has successfully set up the building blocks of the project. These include:
1) The development of the project conceptual framework and methodological approach, thorugh a systematic mapping of the state of the art in relation to theories, approaches and indicators of eco-social justice and equality in relation to the twin transition. The aim is to broaden our understanding of the relationship between the twin transition and existing structural inequalities through the problematisation of how the economy, the labour market and inequalities themselves are defined in the European Union context, and through a holistic approach to policy making.
2) The development a normative model of just transition governance which identifies the elements that a just transition governance system should comprise. This exercise was conducted through a critical review of transition governance concepts, principles and frameworks, together with mapping of policies, policymaking structures, actors and processes in Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal. This normative model enabled the identification of gaps, bottlenecks as well as good practice in twin transition governance systems and dynamics.
3) The identification and involvement of a set of national and transnational stakeholders, including researchers, civil servants, policymakers, trade unions, employers’ organisations, and civil society organisations, together with the establishment of a dedicated “expert group” to be consulted in each methodological step of the project.
4) A mapping of national baseline scenarios and associated vulnerabilities related to the twin transition process at the national level of the six EU member states represented by FITTER-EU. Drawing on an analysis of long-term strategies, policies and action plans implemented at the national level to meet the EU energy transition targets and the Paris Agreement commitments, national baseline scenarios were identified in the four sectors of the analysis (energy, transport and mobility, agriculture and food, housing and built environment). The specific focus is placed on the impact on inequalities of twin the transition process in each of the sectors, using indicators of associated vulnerabilities and profiles of structurally vulnerable cohorts.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Progress in the implementation of the FITTER-EU project has already made important contributions to its expected scientific impact. This relates to work already undertaken into: 1) the conceptualisation and operational definition of a “just transition,” critically analysing different frameworks and models of social justice in relation to the twin transition and incorporating an intersectional perspective and system-level analysis of structural inequalities across sectors and countries. 2) mapping the governance of the twin transition, identifying challenges and promising practices, as well as identifying barriers and enablers of eco-social policy; 3) advancing our knowledge of the impact of twin transition processes on social inequalities in 4 distinct sectors of the economy (energy, housing and the built environment, agriculture and food and transport and mobility) through the deployment of indicators of associated vulnerabilities and profiles of structurally vulnerable cohorts.
In this undertaking, the FITTER-EU project has laid a strong theoretical and methodological foundation to guide its research and engagement activities on fair and inclusive twin transitions. These analyses also provide a robust evidence-base that links sectoral policy developments to differentiated social risks, especially among structurally vulnerable populations, opening the possibility for future interventions to be better targeted, more inclusive, and more effective. In this way, they position the project to generate meaningful societal impact in the next phases, as concrete policy recommendations and mitigation strategies are developed. These findings have also supported the creation of a stakeholder engagement framework—through the CCGS—, helping ensure an inclusive and practice-informed approach to transition governance. These efforts will not only support uptake of results in public policy but also facilitate future multi-actor engagement, improving social acceptance and local relevance of the project’s outputs.
In terms of societal impact, the research outputs developed so far form the theoretical and empirical basis for the first set of policy briefs, which will be launched in May 2025 and discussed with policymakers and other stakeholders.
While contributions to the expected economic and technological impact will become more visible in later stages—particularly with the launch of the FITTER Digital Platform—the foundational work carried out so far has already established key design principles for usability, transparency, and integration with other systems (e.g. APIs and AI tools), as captured through stakeholder consultations and technical workshops.