Historical and regional analyses of industrial transitions and their lessons for ensuring a fair green transition

This funding opportunity aims to help policymakers ensure a fair green transition by analyzing how past and current industrial changes have affected regions and communities. The main focus is on understanding which policies have helped reduce negative impacts, how regions have responded—especially in terms of labor mobility and workforce adaptation—and how collaboration and social dialogue can support these processes. Special attention is given to labor market challenges, preventing business closures, and using lessons from past transitions to support job creation, skills development, and business diversification. The geographic scope is Europe, with a focus on regions most affected by the European Green Deal, such as those reliant on coal mining or traditional vehicle manufacturing, and considers the movement of workers both within and between EU countries, including third-country nationals.

• Analyse historical and regional industrial transitions (e.g. coal mining, traditional manufacturing) to extract lessons for a fair green transition.

• Examine regional labour dynamics, including mobility, firm adaptation, and socio-economic resilience.

• Develop policy recommendations and roadmaps to help regions manage green transitions equitably, avoiding closure of industries and supporting up‑skilling or retooling firms.

• Evaluate participatory governance approaches, such as social dialogue, collective bargaining, or community-based strategies in transition processes.

• Use interdisciplinary and mixed methods, combining socioeconomic, spatial and policy analysis to inform evidence-based recommendations.

• Support policymakers with analysis of existing measures, transferable lessons, and actionable strategies for equitable transitions.

Example projects:

• A research project comparing labor mobility strategies in coal-dependent regions in Eastern Europe with those in Western Europe.
• An initiative to analyze how social dialogue has helped car manufacturing regions adapt to green policies and prevent job losses.
• A study on the effectiveness of upskilling programs for workers in regions transitioning away from fossil fuels.

• Personnel costs for researchers and project staff
• Travel and accommodation for project-related events or fieldwork
• Costs of organizing workshops, seminars, and stakeholder meetings
• Purchase of data, access to databases, and research materials
• Subcontracting of specialized tasks or expertise
• Dissemination and communication activities
• Costs related to project management and coordination
• Equipment and software necessary for research activities
• Translation and interpretation services
• Evaluation and monitoring of project results

All expenses must fit within the lump sum funding model and follow the Horizon Europe Programme's rules.

• Budget for this Call: 10.200.000€
• Number of Grants attributed: 3
• Budget per project: 3.400.000€

• Must be submitted by a consortium of at least three independent legal entities established in three different eligible countries, with at least one organisation based in an EU Member State.
• All participants must be legal entities in EU Member States or Horizon Europe associated countries and must demonstrate sufficient financial and operational capacity in accordance with Horizon Europe General Annexes B and C.
• Projects must be Research & Innovation Actions (RIA) focused on conducting rigorous historical and regional case studies of past industrial transitions in Europe, extracting lessons about economic, social, and policy factors that enabled or hindered fairness and sustainability transitions.
• Consortia should include expertise in SSH disciplines (economic history, political economy, sociology), regional stakeholders (e.g. local government, workers’ organisations, trade unions), and policy-oriented social scientists.
• Proposals must design comparative multi-regional or cross-temporal frameworks and develop actionable policy recommendations for equitable green transitions.
• Standard Horizon Europe eligibility rules apply, including ethics assessment, integrity and exclusion checks, conflict-of-interest procedures, data protection, and legal compliance per General Annexes A–G.