Transdisciplinary and deliberative equity appraisal of transition policies in energy and mobility

Multi-stakeholder engagement in policy making is necessary in order to mitigate the negative impacts of climate policies, that is, inequalities and injustice specifically. From this perspective, various citizens’ assemblies were created as an experiment. In 2016, “We The Citizens” was established in Ireland to consider various questions including climate change. In 2019, the Citizens Convention for Climate was initiated in France in response to the yellow vest movement. At a more local scale, the use of ’Mini-publics’ to address local policy making issues is well established in Scotland.

The TANDEM project aims to develop, structure, and disseminate these practices by designing and testing a methodology that allows policy makers to create and to implement inclusive, equitable and fair transition pathways through the involvement of various stakeholders. It relies on complementary research methods: desk, survey and interview methods, participatory system-mapping methods, participatory appraisal methods, and art-based deliberative visioning.

Five different case studies will be set up in Spain, Belgium, Finland, Poland and Austria, around controversial transition policies in energy and mobility affecting urban and rural populations. These studies will allow TANDEM to understand the challenges of a wide range of contexts, vulnerable groups and inequalities, and test the methodology in a variety of settings.

Project partner and leader of the Spanish pilot.

The main objective is to develop a transdisciplinary approach by integrating deliberative, art-based and appraisal methods to identify and analyse emerging inequalities of low-carbon transition policies, as well as to co-design equitable, fair, and effective alternative transition pathways with stakeholders. This main objective is supported by 6 specific ones:

1. To develop and test a methodology with specific guidelines and tools that facilitates the co-design of just transition policies.
2. To involve citizens from all parts of society in the transition policy design and evaluation process.
3. To increase societal and political acceptance of climate transition strategies.
4. To develop a better understanding of how citizens and the private sector are impacted by transition policies through 5 case studies across Europe.
5. To develop a better understanding of the trade-offs and synergies between climate action and justice considerations for stakeholders.
6. To develop and disseminate strategy and policy recommendations to inform EU, national and regional policy makers.

• Smart-Up (H2020)
• ASSIST (H2020)