On 24–25 September, members of the DeCrises team took part in the ESA RN12 Environment and Society Mid-term Conference and the 7th International Joint Conference of the Energy and Society Network, held in Kaunas, Lithuania.

The conference was organised by the Civil Society and Sustainability Research group at KTU, led by researchers who are partners in the DeCrises project.

Giga Mukutadze, a doctoral researcher at the University of Jyväskylä, presented the DeCrises project in a session dedicated to the theme of just energy transition. In his presentation, he highlighted the importance of identifying both theoretical and practical gaps in the existing multi-level governance (MLG) framework in the context of the twin climate and digital transitions. He introduced the project’s central objective: to propose pathways toward a just twin transition - one that minimizes current inequalities and prevents the emergence of new ones.

Mukutadze’s talk particularly emphasized the four cross-regional social innovation initiatives in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) that the project investigates: Green Region Vestland (Norway), Fingrid Datahub (Finland), the Municipality of Potęgowo (Poland), and the City of Riga (Latvia). He further elaborated on the project’s multi-methodological and multidisciplinary approach to understanding and advancing just transitions.

During the conference, DeCrises partners from University of Jyväskylä and LUT have met with DeCrises team members from Kaunas university of Technology to discuss the project.

In addition, DeCrises team members actively contributed to the broader conference program. Tapio Litmanen (Vice Dean and Professor of Sociology, University of Jyväskylä), Matti Kojo (Associate Professor of Social Sciences, LUT University), Aistė Balžekienė (Professor of Sociology and Principal Investigator of the Civil Society and Sustainability Research Group, Kaunas University of Technology), Audronė Telešienė (Professor of Sociology, Kaunas University of Technology) and Jonė Vitkauskaitė – Ramanauskienė (Assistant Professor, Kaunas University of Technology) each presented their individual research projects and/or chaired sessions.

The conference provided valuable opportunities for networking and meetings. A DeCrises team meeting, alongside the ESA Energy and Society Conference Social Dinner, enabled project members to exchange updates on their respective work packages, strengthen collaboration, and share perspectives on the project’s future directions.

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