JETSKIR partners map just, low-carbon industrial transition in Avilés

JETSKIR project partners met in Avilés, Spain, on 13–15 October to exchange practical solutions for a just industrial transition that balances competitiveness with changing workforce needs. The three-day meeting, hosted by the City of Avilés, brought together Business Tampere and six European partner organisations.

The programme centred on the energy transition, circular economy and skills development. Thematic roundtables and site visits illustrated different local approaches. Participants took a hands-on approach.

Delegates visited La Curtidora innovation hub to study start-up support and workspace services, toured the Port of Avilés to review sustainability measures in port operations, and met at Centro de Empleo Innova to examine employer-linked training models aimed at boosting employability.

Partners examined industrial research and low-carbon innovation at IDONIAL and at ArcelorMittal’s research and development centres, focusing on decarbonisation in the steel sector. They highlighted microcredentials (short, targeted learning modules) as a promising way to reskill workers quickly for new industrial demands and identified the topic as an area for future cooperation.

Business Tampere highlighted its own contribution to the exchange: the Tampere Circular Energy Ecosystem has been published as a Good Practice on the Interreg Europe platform. The example shows how renewable energy, hydrogen production, CO₂ utilisation, waste heat recovery and district heating can be connected into a circular energy system to support decarbonisation and industrial competitiveness.

The meeting builds on Tampere's earlier work to prepare for hydrogen investments site selectors' scrutiny of Tampere's hydrogen readiness and the region's growing focus on battery and energy solutions the Nordic Battery Summit in Tampere.

The JETSKIR project, co-funded by the Interreg Europe programme, aims to surface transferable practices that help regions combine environmental, economic and social goals during industrial transformation.