Contemporary Social Science

Global Perspectives on Just Transitions: Integrating Industry 4.0, Net Zero and Skills

Aims and Scope

This special collection aims to explore how economies and places can make a ‘triple transition’ re Industry 4.0, Net Zero and Skills in a just and equitable manner while dealing with the complexities of rapid economic growth, social equity, and environmental sustainability.

In particular, this special collection calls for multi-disciplinary contributions (economics, politics, industrial relations, regional studies, planning, sociology…) to understand change processes in the Triple Transition across multiple scales (international, national and regional).

We seek global perspectives on such issues across a range of economies. Emerging economies for example are at the forefront of efforts to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies focusing on humans and sustainable approaches to industrial development. This special collection will deal with how these transitions can be managed in ways that are just and inclusive, ensuring that all sections of society benefit in an equitable fashion from improvements in technology and environmental sustainability.

We invite submissions addressing on the following themes, amongst others:

• Just and Triple Transitions.
• Achieving a balance between technological innovation, social equity, and environmental sustainability.
• The social and economic dimensions associated with the adoption of technologies developed under the umbrella term of Industry 4.0 in relation to job creation, workforce dislocation, and skill development.
• How can Industry 4.0, focused on more human-centred and sustainable industrial practices, be part of the fairly growth strategies for emerging economies?
• The role of digital transformation in just transitions: Lessons on the digital divide and its consequence on social justice.
• Challenges and opportunities that the rapid digitalization of industries and services brings in terms of disparities and access to technology.
• Achieving net zero goals in a just way while being responsive to existing social inequalities.
•  Tensions and trade-offs across economic growth, carbon reduction, and social equity in the process of regional development.
• The role that renewable energy, green technologies, and sustainable practices can play in driving a just transition toward net zero carbon.
• Embedding skills and education in the triple transition.
• Collaborative research on the interface between the humanities and social sciences in addressing the triple transition.
• How interdisciplinary frameworks might help us better understand the synergies and tensions between technological innovation, social equity, and environmental sustainability.

Papers submitted to this special collection should make substantive contributions to relevant scholarly debates, and show relevance to broader intellectual debates that resonate with wider social science research.

This special issue provides a special opportunity for authors to contribute, via their article, to a more profound understanding of how economies can navigate the complexities of Industry 4.0, digital transformation, skills and the transition towards net zero carbon in a just and equitable manner.