From transition management towards just transition and place-based governance. The case of Western Macedonia in Greece.

• Author: Topaloglou, Lefteris

INTRODUCTION

Over the last decade, a frequent claim that has been made is that the traditional economic models need to be drastically reformed in order to address the challenges of the climate crisis, and the necessary transition to a green and sustainable economy, through technological innovations. Within this context, the concept of transition as fundamental changes within a given societal system has become a center of scientific and policy debates, interconnected with environmental, economic, social and government dimensions of sustainability (EEA, 2021; Loorbach, 2007). As a result, transition is seen as a means to tackle persistent problems related to transformative, and cross-cutting changes, encompassing major shifts in society's goals, practices, norms, and governance approaches (Jansen, 2003; Meadowcroft, 2000; Scott & Gough, 2004). Likewise, Lund Declarations in 2009 and 2015, called upon Member States and European Institutions to focus research on the grand challenges of our times by moving beyond rigid thematic approaches and shifting the focus to society's major needs.

The fact that persistent challenges are resistant to traditional policies, have raised the questions of systemic, integrated, and coherent policy responses which involve a just and efficient governance of the transition process (Loorbach, 2007; Petrakos, Topaloglou, Anagnostou, & Cupcea, 2021; Topaloglou, 2020, 2021). In particular, a research gap is identified in the interplay between environmental pressure, technological novelties, societal structure, administrative setting, and economic resilience of a given region, which defines, to a certain extent, the intensity of transformations (Kemp, Loorbach, & Rotmans, 2007; Loorbach, 2007; Rotmans, Kemp, & Asselt, 2001; Voss, Smith, & Grin, 2009). In this setting of multiple challenges and systemic changes in conjunction with the uncertain, co-evolutionary, and unpredictable nature of the transition, the policy interventions and governance configurations in open market economies, may generate winners and losers in space and society, thus challenging spatial and social justice (EEA, 2021; Madanipour, Shucksmith, Talbot, & Crawford, 2017).

Viewing the long-term process of transition through the lens of governance, it is uncontroversial to state that the traditional top-down model is currently challenged as the most effective and fair approach. Given that transition is by nature a multifaceted, multi-level and multi-actor process, an effective and just transition mechanism should reflect the views of different actors, emphasize the engagement of stakeholders, promote social dialogue as well as the active involvement of civil society, and be based on a solid communication strategy (EC, 2020a; Loorbach, 2007). Citing Borzel and Risse (2010), governance is considered as 'the various institutionalized modes of social coordination to produce and implement collectively binding rules or to provide collective goods. From the functionalist point of view, multilevel governance describes the diffusion of authority away from the central state, in which coordination takes place at discrete levels across vast reaches of scale (Hooghe & Marks, 2001; Hooghe & Marks, 2020). In this sense, it seems that multi-level governance models for regions in transition need to harness existing interactions among different levels and actors, as well as acknowledge that boundaries between levels and competences can sometimes be 'fuzzy' (EC, 2020b). The compelling research question addressed in this work, relates to the mix of just transition policy making and governance configuration that is able to serve spatial and social justice as well as the implementation of a place-based governance framework.

This paper attempts to examine to what extent the governance modes of transition implemented so far in the case of the region of Western Macedonia in Greece, are effective and just and whether they embed transition management, spatial justice, and place-based elements. Based on Edward Soja's work (2010), we conceptualize spatial justice as the fair and equitable distribution in space of socially valued resources and the opportunities to be used. In this framework, we critically discuss the concept of transition as a fundamental societal change through the lens of justice and efficiency. Thus, the notions of transition management and spatial justice are thoroughly explored. We also attempt to embed the concept of 'place' in this discussion as a socially constructed concept (Hassink, 2020), thus, the challenges, opportunities, and shortcomings of the place-based approach are examined. The empirical section involves a survey of the governance mechanism implemented in the case of Western Macedonia among experts on transition issues in Greece. The case of Western Macedonia has been selected, as the region has all the characteristics of a coal-dependent locality, under an urgent need to design and implement a post-lignite, just transition strategy within the EU Green Deal context.

The paper proceeds as follows. The next section provides a theoretical discussion and a synthesis of existing bodies of literature on transition, spatial justice, place-based approach, and governance. The following section outlines the transition governance frameworks in EU and Greece in relation to the European Green Deal and especially the Just Transition Fund Regulation. Then, we present the empirical elements and results of the fieldwork research, while the last section provides conclusions and policy recommendations for improving the efficacy and the fairness of the current governance mechanism.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The notion of transition is theorized as a process of fundamental change within the structure of a given societal system (Frantzeskaki & de Haan, 2009), in which 'degradation' and 'breakdown' co-exist for a certain period with 'build up' and 'innovation' (Gunderson & Holling, 2002). Historical evidence indicates that before the transition phase occurs, societal systems have experienced long periods of relative stability and optimization that are followed by relatively short periods of radical change. Within this context, governance of transformations of such a critical magnitude, emerges as a crucial issue. Existing literature provides ample insights into the dynamics of transitions in the endeavor of establishing an alternative paradigm (Kemp et al., 2007; Voss et al., 2009). However, the question of how the transition could be effectively and fairly governed remain ambiguous.

The transition management approach

Loorbach (2010) invokes the notion of transition management as a governance concept, based upon complex systems theory on the one hand and practical experimental approach on the other. In conceptual terms, this approach offers a framework that can simultaneously analyze and manage long-term changes and ongoing governance practices in society, economy, and the environment. From this pioneering point of view, the concept of transition management reflects a normative model by embedding the long-term objective of sustainability, while at the same time suggesting a prescriptive governance approach at the operational level. In fact, the transition management approach goes a stepf urther in comparison to process management approaches, through focusing on sustainability narratives and lessons learned from experiments (Frantzeskaki, Loorbach, & Meadowcroft, 2012). Despite this promising perspective of transition management, in which theory and practice-oriented research co-exist and are fed to each other, this hybrid approach is still in early stages of development, and there is plenty of room for amplification (Rotmans et al., 2001; Voss, Bauknecht, & Kemp, 2006).

Currentdevelopmentsinthespheresof economy, technology, demography, and climate change have brought to the fore the society whose social structure is made up of networks (Castells 2009; Teisman 1992; Voss et al., 2006) and an increasing societal complexity (Loorbach, 2010). From the evolutionary perspective, system theories use the concepts of transition and transition management as a means to provide a useful analytical framework from the organizational point of view (Senge, 1990), governance and political sciences (Kemp et al., 2007; Rotmans et al., 2001). Within this context, government, business, academia, civil society organizations and individuals, create formal and informal networks in which each actor's views may either diverge or converge. From the democratic legitimacy point of view, however, such types of lose and informal policymaking may lead to deficits in transparency, thus creating a policy vacuum that needs to be addressed (Loorbach, 2010). The strengthening of the local governance could potentially help bridge the democratic deficit, but it needs a sound coordination and collaboration with all other actors, as well as cross cutting procedures and forces (Madanipour et al., 2017). In other words, policymaking should introduce novel approaches to learning, interaction, integration, and experimentation at the level of society instead of policy alone (Loorbach, 2010).

Fairness and spatial (in)justice perspective

While the transition management approach focuses on a well-managed transition, the concept of just transition is mainly based on social and environmental considerations, seeking to ensure the substantial benefits of a green economy transition which contribute to the goals of decent work for all, social inclusion and the eradication of poverty (EC, 2020a). Based on the EU Governance of Transitions Toolkit issued by the European Commission in May 2020, just transition can be defined as a [Transition which captures the opportunities of the transition to sustainable, climate neutral systems, whilst minimising the social hardships and costs]. According to ILO's vision, just transition is a bridge from where we are today to a future where all jobs...