Realising a locally-embedded just transition: Sense of place, lived experience, and social perceptions of industrial decarbonisation in the United Kingdom

Communities and workers in England, Scotland and Wales are facing historic local transitions amid a rapidly changing climate and growing political and economic inequality. Those within industrial clusters seeking better treatment of workers, vulnerable and marginalized groups, and the environment demand that action to combat the climate crisis contribute to “just transitions.” Yet what constitutes a just transition is subjective, involving competing claims and tensions between key advocates about what has been (un)just and what is required to advance more fair and equitable outcomes. This study brings into view the perspectives of those not typically at the decision-making table. We build from previous projects collecting the “lived experiences” that aim to lift-up diverse voices from local communities. Our approach uses original semi-structured interviews (N = 24), focus groups (six with N = 45 total participants), participant observation in England, Scotland and Wales coupled with local surveys in three clusters (n = 600) and nationally representative survey data (N = 1,178 respondents), all of which were conducted from June 2022 – November 2024. We identify five themes arising from these data: place-based perceptions and local identities, potent lived experiences of injustice, technology-specific concerns, issues of trust and awareness, and issues concerning policy and governance. We then discuss these five themes considering recent literature on recognition justice and sense of place, procedural justice and community engagement, and distributive justice and localising benefits. The resulting evidence provides insight as to how net-zero industrial transitions are perceived by local communities, and data from the national survey allows us to show how local perspectives align and resonate with UK publics on a national scale.