Circular Economy: Green and Just Transitions 2: Greening Regions
Rafael Gonçalves Gumiero
Professor Graduate Program in Regional and Urban Development and Planning in the Amazon (PPGPAM)
Federal University of Southern and Southeastern Pará (UNIFESSPA), Brazil
The 2026 Annual Conference of the Regional Studies Association (RSA) was held from 15 to 18 June at the School of Business, Economics and Law of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The choice of Gothenburg as the host city for the Annual Conference in the RSA’s 61st year was particularly meaningful, given Sweden’s historical role in global environmental governance, notably as the host country of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. In this context, the Conference’s overarching theme, “Regions as Arenas in a Changing World,” provided an important framework for bringing together diverse academic perspectives on the transformations currently reshaping regions across Europe and beyond.
This report provides an overview of the research presented in the session Economy: Green and Just Transitions: Greening Regions, chaired by Professor Fernanda Faria Silva (UFOP). The papers presented in this thematic session addressed a set of interconnected analytical dimensions that shed light on the drivers, challenges, and territorial implications of transitions associated with climate change. Four key concepts were particularly prominent throughout the presentations: green economy, green transition, bioeconomy, and green infrastructure. Taken together, these concepts highlighted the importance of understanding environmental transitions not only as processes of technological and economic change, but also as transformations deeply embedded in regional contexts.
In “From Coalfields to Capitals: Winners and Losers in Europe’s Green Transition,” Bartalucci, Abreu, and Pose examined the green transition as a key determinant of regional development trajectories. At the same time, they raised an important question: at what cost is the green transition taking place across the European Union, and which regions are most vulnerable to its socioeconomic consequences? To address these questions, the authors developed the Regional Green Transition Vulnerability Index (RGT-VI), drawing on the conceptual framework of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The analysis identified regions exposed to the strongest pressures associated with decarbonisation and examined how these pressures may translate into socioeconomic tensions. The index revealed five distinct vulnerability archetypes and highlighted pronounced territorial asymmetries, particularly across Eastern and Southern Europe. The findings suggest that one-size-fits-all policies are insufficient to capture the specific ways in which transition-related pressures are experienced and reproduced across vulnerable regions, pointing instead to the need for place-sensitive and territorially differentiated policy responses.
Borcic and Cvitanovic, in “From Abandonment to Adaptation: Common Pastures in Croatia in a Green Economy Context,” examined the emergence of the green economy paradigm as a response to interconnected climate, energy, and food-system challenges. Their analysis focused on the ongoing depopulation of rural areas and the abandonment of common pastures in Croatia. The authors identified population ageing among farmers and the expansion of tourism as relevant factors potentially influencing migration and land-use dynamics. Their case study of the Eko-Gajna cooperative, located in continental Croatia, illustrated the potential of shared governance arrangements to support the adaptation and continued use of common pastures. However, the authors emphasized that the broader dissemination of such practices depends on appropriate legal frameworks and the recognition of ecosystem services, as well as on improved market access for products generated through common-pasture systems. The case therefore illustrates how community-based governance can contribute to more sustainable forms of territorial development within a green economy framework.
In “Spatial Structure and Location Strategies of Bioeconomy Firms in Asia from Three Concepts,” Yichen, Wang, and Ikejima approached the bioeconomy as a potential pathway for regional development, drawing on the analytical propositions of Kriesch and Losacker (2024) to examine bioeconomy firms in Japan and China. Their analysis emphasized that bioeconomy strategies need to be understood in relation to the specific characteristics of local economies. By mapping the spatial distribution of firms in China and Japan, the study identified regional patterns of agglomeration and developed a typology of bioeconomy firms. The findings shed light on the factors influencing the spatial location of these firms and, more broadly, on the importance of territorial conditions in shaping the development of emerging bioeconomy activities.
Ogai’s paper, “Territorial Anchoring of the Sake Industry: Technological Innovation and Local Embeddedness in Contemporary Japan,” further explored the relationship between bioeconomy, territorial development, and local embeddedness through the revival of sake production as part of Japan’s cultural heritage. The revitalization of traditional production methods and the use of locally sourced inputs, combined with the activities of community-based breweries, contributed to the development of local value chains grounded in circular economy principles. In particular, the reuse of by-products previously considered waste increased the value generated throughout the production process. The case demonstrates how technological innovation, local knowledge, cultural heritage, and regional embeddedness can interact to strengthen local productive systems and generate new pathways for territorial development.
Finally, Zahn and Rehm, in “Urban Greening Dynamics under Heat Adaptation and Socio-Economic Conditions – Evidence from Germany,” highlighted the importance of considering urban areas within broader strategies for climate adaptation and sustainable regional development. Their study examined the dynamics of urban vegetation expansion and soil sealing across 153 German cities between 2018 and 2023. Using data from the Corine Land Cover Plus Backbone, the authors identified a stronger expansion of sealed surfaces than of green areas in the cities analyzed. They argue that municipal financial constraints and indebtedness have limited the capacity of local governments to expand urban green infrastructure, as available financial resources have been largely directed towards servicing existing debt. The study therefore demonstrates that the capacity to implement climate-adaptation strategies is closely connected to the fiscal and institutional conditions of local governments.
Overall, the papers presented in the thematic session “Economy: Green and Just Transitions: Greening Regions” demonstrated that green and just transitions are strongly conditioned by the specific characteristics of territories, including local actors, governance arrangements, productive structures, planning practices, and institutional and financial capacities. Across the different cases, a common message emerged: sustainable development and climate adaptation cannot be effectively pursued through uniform approaches that overlook territorial differences. Instead, they require place-sensitive policies, multi-level governance, community participation, innovation, bioeconomy strategies, circular economy practices, and adequate institutional and financial capacities at the local level. The session therefore reinforced the understanding of regions as active arenas of transformation, where global environmental challenges intersect with local development trajectories, generating both new opportunities and uneven social, economic, and territorial outcomes.
Rafael Gonçalves Gumiero is an Associate Professor of Economics and of the Graduate Program in Regional and Urban Planning and Development in the Amazon (PPGPAM) at the Federal University of Southern and Southeastern Pará (UNIFESSPA), Brazil. He is also Deputy Director of the Institute of Studies in Agrarian and Regional Development (IEDAR) and Associate Editor of Cadernos do Desenvolvimento, published by the Celso Furtado International Center. He holds a Bachelor’s and Teaching Degree in Social Sciences from São Paulo State University (UNESP), a Master’s and PhD in Political Science from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), and a postdoctoral degree in Sociology from the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD). He is a CNPq Research Productivity Fellow, Level 2.