ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the implementation of Just Transition (JT) strategies in Saxony-Anhalt, East Germany—a region emblematic of the socio-economic challenges posed by the coal phase-out and broader structural changes under the European Green Deal. Despite significant public investment to stimulate innovation and decarbonization, many local communities—particularly marginalized groups such as women, youth, and migrants—remain underrepresented in decision-making processes.
Drawing on photovoice workshops, semi-structured interviews, and multi-actor focus groups in towns like Halle, Zeitz, and Pödelwitz, the study identifies a disconnect between top-down policy mechanisms and the lived realities of affected populations. The chapter highlights how existing participatory models often fail to account for historical injustices, demographic decline, and institutional distrust—barriers that are particularly pronounced in the post-socialist context of East Germany. The research further reveals that current participatory mechanisms often reinforce rather than alleviate exclusion. For example, public consultations have been mostly technical and tailored to municipal or corporate stakeholders, leaving out the perspectives of those most affected by climate change and socio-economic precarity. This has created deep skepticism among local actors, many of whom compare today’s restructuring to the dislocations following German reunification.
At the same time, the chapter foregrounds emerging civic innovations: local initiatives in Pödelwitz that reclaim abandoned spaces for ecological transition and co-creation labs in Zeitz that use cultural placemaking to foster community resilience. These cases demonstrate the potential of place-based, community-led strategies to complement and reshape the broader JT agenda.
The chapter concludes by advocating for a more inclusive and dialogical model of transition, one that recognizes local knowledge, addresses structural inequality, and strengthens civic ecosystems as foundational to climate justice.
