Regions with long-standing specialisations in carbon-intensive industries, manufacturing, energy and transport must also adapt their skills, institutions, business networks and policy frameworks.
How can they navigate this change while creating new economic opportunities and ensuring that workers and communities are not left behind? MOSAIC explores the policies and regional partnerships that can help make this transformation possible.
At the heart of this research is transformative innovation policy, an approach that connects innovation with wider societal goals, including decarbonisation, social inclusion and regional resilience. Rather than treating innovation, industrial development, employment, education and regional policy as separate areas, MOSAIC examines how they can work together to support lasting economic change. The research seeks to understand which combinations of measures can help regions move beyond established industrial trajectories and develop new, more sustainable pathways.
Understanding what works across different regional contexts is central to this work. MOSAIC compares experiences across Europe, examining how governance structures, policy frameworks and relationships between public authorities, businesses, research organisations, workers and local communities influence the transition. It also investigates the conditions that enable regions to develop new green capabilities, from effective coordination between levels of government to access to skills and finance, and meaningful stakeholder participation.
These insights will help strengthen the evidence base for policymakers seeking to accelerate the green transition. Recognising that regions differ in their industrial histories, institutional capacities and social needs, MOSAIC does not assume that a single policy model can work everywhere. Instead, its research will inform the development of place-sensitive policy mixes that reflect local circumstances while supporting innovation, quality employment and social fairness.
Ultimately, MOSAIC aims to help regions turn the challenges of industrial transformation into opportunities for renewal. By identifying how policies, institutions and regional actors can work together, the project will generate insights to support industrial adaptation, help workers navigate changing labour markets and give communities a meaningful role in shaping their economic future. This research will contribute to more effective, inclusive and resilient approaches to Europe’s green industrial transition.
