Background and objective
Norway’s oil and gas regions have long been central to national exports and growth. As the country moves towards a low-emission future, these regions face major structural change. The energy transition will affect jobs, local communities, and industrial structures. The RENOVATE project aims to identify which regions are most vulnerable, understand how skills and labour markets are changing, and co-develop strategies that support fair and sustainable adaptation. A key objective is to build the Regional Energy Transition Vulnerability Index (RET-VI), a tool that shows where challenges are greatest and where support is most needed.
Research work
RENOVATE combines national and regional statistics, firm registry data, and text analysis of millions of job advertisements. This allows the project to track how demand for skills has shifted over the past two decades and to identify possible mismatches between available skills and future needs. At the same time, RENOVATE works closely with county councils, industry clusters, vocational colleges, and universities. Through workshops and dialogue, these partners help shape indicators and outputs, ensuring that results are directly useful for regional planning and decision-making.
The energy transition involves technological, regulatory, and behavioural shocks that impact national, regional, and local economies. RENOVATE, in collaboration with regional stakeholders, will facilitate the co-creation of transformative energy transition policies and strategies by identifying necessary adjustments in existing actors and institutions and supporting the development of new regional actors, resources, networks, and institutions in the restructuring towards more low-carbon industries.
Expected results
The project will deliver RET-VI as an open, interactive tool that visualises regional vulnerabilities and strengths. It will also provide policy briefs and recommendations to support training programmes, workforce adaptation, and innovation efforts. By highlighting how different groups, such as women, young people, and older workers, are affected by the transition, RENOVATE will support inclusive solutions.
In sum, the project will give regional actors practical tools to manage change and to build more resilient and sustainable local economies. By creating a deeper understanding of vulnerabilities to the energy transition in specialised oil- and gas-dependent regions, RENOVATE will—through co-creation and user-oriented tools—provide local, regional, and national policymakers and stakeholders with an evidence base for designing and implementing successful policies and practices for a more socially and place-based just energy transition.
