10059038Post-Coal Future LabClosedEU-FundedHorizon Europe GuaranteeThe Post Coal Future Lab (PCFL) initiative was formed by WISE-Europa, Climate Strategies, ERFC and Impact Hub, with support of EIT Climate-KIC. The PCFL was established to address the complex challenges of the energy transition, facilitating collaboration within and between the Southern, Central and Eastern regions of Europe. The PCFL aimed to become a practical, experimental and participatory pillar of the Just Transition, complementing existing mechanisms, like the financial resources of the Just Transition Mechanism and the technical support of the Just Transition Platform. The purpose of the PCFL was to build a space for dialogue and cooperation amongst stakeholders, experimenting and learning how to achieve a Just Transition in European coal regions, becoming a partner for decision makers and stakeholders and developing a body of knowledge and expertise to support policy and practice. The PCFL consisted of two sets of labs: • Mini Labs, regional centres located in Southern, Central, and Eastern European coal regions adopting a place-based approach to the challenges of each specific territory and producing learnings relevant for the local ecosystems. • Main Lab, a transnational virtual space, focused on engagement, insights generation, knowledge sharing and dissemination, supporting cross-pollination of the individual Mini Labs and sharing locally relevant insights with national and European decision-makers responsible for the Just Transition, seeking to support high-level decisions. In 2022, the PCFL established the Main Lab and four Mini Labs in the coal regions on Silesia and Greater Poland (Poland), Silesia-Moravia (Czech Republic) and Western Macedonia (Greece), holding virtual and in-person workshops building communities of practice and engaging diverse stakeholders at the local, regional, national and international levels. The PCFL gathered information on the challenges and potential solutions which the main stakeholders of the RIS coal regions face, undergoing coal transitions and mapped the key unaddressed challenges within the Just Transition ecosystem (both at the level of the European Commission, as well as the regions of focus) and potential innovation opportunities which could address those challenges and developing relationships with potential partners to continue and expand the mini labs with in 2023 and beyond.