The conversation started in Bitola, close to the places where the just transition is already personal: schools, workplaces and communities whose future has long been connected to coal. From 5–8 October, 15 young people from across the Western Balkans came together to explore what a just transition should mean for their generation. Selected through a public call that attracted more than 70 applications, they came from communities dependent on coal or other extractive industries.
The workshop was a joint initiative of GIZ, within the Regional Climate Partnership between Germany and the Western Balkans, and the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO). Contributions from CEE Bankwatch Network, the Energy Community Secretariat, Bitola Municipality and the Regional Cooperation Council helped connect local experiences with regional policy.
Visits and exchanges with a technical school, youth organisation and trade union in Bitola brought practical questions into the discussion. What skills will lead to work? How can new businesses grow locally? What happens to a community’s identity when its main industry changes? The participants turned those questions into recommendations, then reviewed and validated them through two online follow-up meetings.
On 20 October, their work reached the main stage of the Just Transition Forum in Podgorica.
They presented the group’s shared priorities: skills that lead to employment, investment that benefits communities, and decisions young people help shape. Their proposals included reskilling before jobs disappear, support for young entrepreneurs, and participation in designing and monitoring transition measures.
They addressed a Forum bringing together more than 100 representatives of governments, local communities, trade unions, young people and financial institutions from South East and Eastern Europe.
On 21 October, the journey continued with the “Youth Leadership for a Just Transition” capacity-building workshop in Podgorica, linked to the Just Transition Young Voices Awards.
From learning in Bitola to presenting recommendations and continuing to build their skills in Podgorica, these young people are developing the knowledge, proposals and connections to influence what comes next.
The next step is to carry their recommendations into planning and keep them involved as decisions become action.
