PACT - Past And Current Transitions (PACT): A new pact for fair and resilient European regions

Europe’s twin green and digital transitions are unfolding on a landscape scarred by the legacies of past industrial and energy restructurings. Coal decline, steel closures, automation, and offshoring left deep territorial divides and eroded trust in institutions - legacies that continue to shape today’s vulnerabilities. PACT responds to this challenge by bridging evidence from past transitions with present realities and translating it into actionable pathways for fair, territorially sensitive, and politically feasible transition strategies. It pioneers an integrated, mechanism-based methodology that connects transitions, impacts, drivers, and responses across time and space. The project delivers four major innovations: (1) historically aligned indicators that maximise comparability across time and space, (2) integrated datasets linking labour, firms, governance, and discourse, (3) anticipatory tools such as the Transition Complexity Index and a Policy Co-Creation Laboratory to stress-test policy mixes, and (4) participatory governance models embedding fairness and legitimacy. By combining historical depth, methodological innovation, and participatory foresight, PACT equips policymakers with robust, territorially sensitive pathways to ensure the twin transitions foster resilience, prosperity, and cohesion rather than division.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency (REA) Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them