LC-SC3-CC-1-2018-2019-2020
Specific Challenge:
The clean-energy transition doesn't just pose technological and scientific challenges; it also requires a better understanding of cross-cutting issues related to socioeconomic, gender, sociocultural, and socio-political issues. Addressing these issues will help to devise more effective ways of involving citizens and to better understand energy-related views and attitudes, ultimately leading to greater social acceptability as well as more durable governance arrangements and socioeconomic benefits.
Challenges facing carbon-intensive regions: The transition to a low-carbon energy system and economy poses particular challenges for regions that are still heavily dependent on fossil-fuel-based industries or the extraction of fossil fuels themselves ("coal and carbon-intensive regions"). At the same time, this transition offers major opportunities for developing new lines of business and for increasing the competitiveness of structurally weak regions. Focusing on the past 5-10 years up to the present, particular attention should be focused on the following issues:
What are the principal socio-economic challenges facing coal and carbon-intensive regions today and what effect have these had on livelihoods and the sustainability of local and regional economies?
What coping strategies have emerged in recent years? What are the principal differences between regions that are coping well and those that are not?
To what extent have coal and carbon-intensive regions experienced outward migration in recent years and in what way has this affected their social and demographic composition?
What effect, if any, have these changes had on the rise of populism and of anti-democratic attitudes in the regions concerned?
The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 1 and 3 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.