Just Twin Transition

An engineer sits on a windmill, he wears a white hardhat, orange harness, and brown clothing. He overlooks a landscape with multiple windmills in the horizon.

“We need to make the world a better place for everyone. There are no exceptions, it concerns everyone.”

Investing in the twin transition

The Nordic countries are among the frontrunners in clean energy systems and innovative approaches to society’s digital and green transition. There is a strong focus on the twin transition in the Nordics, which is highly dependent on innovation and skills in private businesses and research institutions. ANE strives to share Nordic engineers’ know-how both in the EU and globally to address climate change challenges.
The just twin transition is a solidarity project, helping each other speed up the transition towards a more sustainable way of living and acting.
A successful twin transition requires concerted efforts by all levels of society, and social dialogue is a prerequisite for it to succeed. It requires a mix of policies, long-term provisions, investments, and political will to capitalise on best practices, new and existing technologies, and increased reuse of resources. A key focus will be securing the professional skills needed to support further digitalisation and a transition to societies based on circular economies.

This includes an increase in STEM professionals in the labour market and an up- and re-skilling of the existing workforce.

Coordinating efforts on the Circular Economy

As an organisation of trade unions representing the profession of engineers, who are the holders of specific know-how, we are obliged to contribute to the green transition. Engineers have hands-on experience when it comes to developing new business models and finding solutions to ensure the products are designed for circularity and promote the right to repair and re-use of resources.

ANE’s member organisations have committed to coordinate efforts to eliminate the linear economy and the “use and throw away” culture.

The aim of our dedicated Circular Economy Working Group is:

  • Provide a platform for circular economy experts in ANE member organisations to exchange best practices and align input to the policy processes at the Nordic and EU level.
  • Promote the Nordic know-how and map good practices.
  • Conduct outreach events and mobilise multidisciplinary stakeholders in a debate on circular economy.
  • Develop policy papers based on technological solutions to advance the transition towards the circular economy.

Publications

Towards a Circular Economy – Skills and competences for STEM professionals

The benefits of transitioning to a circular economy outweigh the disadvantages, but it requires a political commitment and the right business mindset. It also requires prioritisation and investment in innovation, the utilisation of new technological solutions, and the right set of skills and competences.

This report provides an overview of the future need for STEM and engineering skills in the transition to and during a circular economy.

The report also introduces a Circular Economy Competence framework with the recommendation to implement the framework across all STEM education in the Nordic countries.

Letters to the Ministers in the Nordic countries

Letter to the Ministers in charge of industry in the Nordic countries

Investing in the green transition, strengthening the Nordic ties, and establishing a multi-stakeholder Green Transition Forum, are some of the ideas proposed in our input to the Nordic Recovery strategy to be developed in the coming months by Nordic governments.

Letter to the Research Ministers in the Nordic countries

If we want to buckle down to green transition, we better prioritise innovation and R&D. In our letter, we pinpointed the areas of promising potential in our region, such as AI, 5G, Power2X, carbon capture and storage, renewable battery technology, and Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology, which must benefit from investments to boost R&D activities!