Welcome to the fifth release in our series Discover DUST, where we spotlight each of the partners in the project and share their roles and interests in Democratising jUst Sustainability Transitions! This time, we introduce one of our Polish partners: Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Katowicach (UEK).
Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Katowicach (UEK) is a top business school as well as one of the oldest in Poland. Their Faculty of Spatial Economy and Regions in Transition is the only one in Poland, which focuses on sustainable transition in post-industrial cities and regions into zero-emission, green, and digital economy. Their expert team have played active roles in the development of the National and Territorial Just Transition Plans in all the Polish Coal Regions.
In DUST, UEK draws on their experience in producing academic outputs and their connections to regional leaders to channel the knowledge developed through the project to urban professionals in sustainability transitions. Through their leadership in developing the DUST Academy, they focus on the exchange of lessons learnt, good practices and case-specific knowledge between regions and countries. This task will help to expand the results of the project to networks across Europe and help to promote widespread change in decision-making processes that is informed by interactions with real communities that are facing the challenges of changing futures.
UEK also provides crucial regional knowledge on two DUST case study regions; Katowice coal region and Belchatow Area of Transition, helping to adapt the approach in DUST to the unique social and policy contexts in these areas. With their knowledge and experience in just transitions, as well as robust connections with local practitioners, policymakers and communities in the Polish region, UEK’s work will be essential to make the participatory experts in DUST effective, valuable and regionally appropriate. Our connections to academic and societal partners in each of the DUST case study regions is a true strength of the project in producing constructive and actionable results.
UEK’s contributions in DUST are helping to drive forward the project’s explorations into democratic decision making in sustainability transitions. We value their experience working with local people, decision makers, and social partners in the biggest coal region in the EU for the last 25 years!