CINTRAN

Regions that economically depend on fossil fuel extraction or energy-intensive industries will be disproportionately affected by the decarbonisation of industry and the economy. The CINTRAN project studies the complex patterns and dynamics of structural change in those carbon-intensive regions across Europe. It examines the pace of transformation and the regions’ capacity to cope and adapt proactively through highly integrated, inter- and transdisciplinary research working in close collaboration with regional stakeholders from four highly fossil-fuel dependent regions: Western Macedonia (Greece), Silesia (Poland), Ida-Virumaa (Estonia) and the Rhenish mining area (Germany). This knowledge will inform more effective, just and inclusive governance of regional transformations.

The CINTRAN project aims at closing the research gap by systematically studying the patterns and dynamics of decarbonization at the regional level as well as the conditions of a region’s capacity to adapt to the related structural changes. At the theoretical level, we will seek answers to three major research questions:

• What are enablers, drivers and barriers for transforming carbon-intensive industries?
• What are the system overlaps between the carbon-intensive industry under transformation and the regional economic and social systems?
• And what makes a transition and subsequent structural adjustments “successful” from a normative perspective?