Towards Industrial Transition in Silesia

Silesia is characterised by a coal mining and energy intensive industrial heritage and is undergoing a transition to exit coal that has significant impacts on its industry, employment and communities. In the context of the changing regulatory context for cohesion policy under the next Multiannual Financial Framework, and the transition pathways of the industrial ecosystems developed by DG GROW, a pilot exercise was undertaken: firstly, to track the key development indicators in the region and, secondly, to determine the extent to which the needs of transitioning ecosystem actors in Silesia were being met by current EU financial resources and programming in the region. The research concluded that, partially as a result of the significant amount of funding directed to Poland and the breadth of its focus, the majority of the challenges were being addressed. Nevertheless, some remaining investment gaps and bottlenecks to territorial and ecosystem development were identified, most significantly, that the transition to renewable and energy sources is occurring too slowly, and rapid investment in renewable energy with a long-term perspective is needed in the region.