Dr. Kevin Connolly (p)

Achieving a just and economically productive energy transition requires more than technological deployment; it demands institutional and industrial alignment. This paper explores how supply-chain limitations and cross-sectoral competition can constrain the economic benefits of renewable energy investment. Adopting the “energy quadrilemma” as a conceptual lens—encompassing sustainability, affordability, security, and economic development. We add to the literature by operationalising the energy quadrilemma within an ex-ante Computable General Equilibrium CGE framework by explicitly modelling cross-government competition for scarce industrial capacity. A purpose-built CGE model for Northern Ireland is employed to illustrate these dynamics, focusing on a 1 GW offshore wind target. Under ideal conditions, offshore wind development generates £285 million in Gross Value Added (GVA) and 2,630 person-years of employment; however, when regional fabrication capacity is diverted to national defence contracts, gains fall by over 50%. The model is not used to optimise energy deployment, but to reveal how governance and institutional constraints shape economic narratives around the transition, and the case study highlights how institutional fragmentation and competing strategic priorities undermine the promise of green growth. The paper argues for a more integrated policy framework that recognises industrial capacity as a critical enabler of the renewable transition and provides recommendations for aligning energy and industrial strategies in smaller economies.

Dr. Nona Nenovska (p)

This paper examines waste management in Mayotte through an ongoing research-action project conducted in the municipality of Tsingoni, with a focus on territorial vulnerability and institutional capacity in peripheral island regions. As a French outermost region characterized by rapid demographic growth and structural development gaps, Mayotte faces increasing ecological pressures combined with limited waste treatment capacity: in 2021, less than 1% of collected household waste was recycled, while landfill sites are approaching saturation.
Rather than interpreting these dynamics solely as infrastructure deficits, the paper conceptualizes waste management as an indicator of territorial vulnerability in a structurally dependent regional economy. From this perspective, waste governance reveals structural constraints in the region’s capacity to internalize environmental externalities. Environmental and sanitary costs are unevenly borne by the most precarious populations, often concentrated in informal settlements exposed to pollution and health risks. Waste thus emerges as a synthetic indicator of territorial vulnerability, reflecting both institutional fragility—limited coordination capacity, fragmented governance, and difficulties in adapting policy instruments to local configurations—and persistent socio-spatial inequality.
Based on ongoing qualitative fieldwork conducted in Tsingoni (68 semi-structured interviews and field observations), the paper presents preliminary findings on the social construction of waste. The analysis reveals a central semantic distinction between “Tzama”, referring to a form of dirt perceived as natural and “Plastiki”, associated with sanitary threat, contamination, and mosquito-borne diseases. In addition, preliminary results indicate that the symbolic roles of the river and fire are central to local waste practices: the river is perceived simultaneously as a sacred living entity and a site of disposal, while fire operates as a means of purification and elimination. These symbolic dimensions structure everyday waste practices and reinforce territorially embedded patterns of vulnerability.
In a peripheral island economy characterized by structural dependence and limited institutional capacity, waste is not merely a technical externality but a socially embedded category shaped by lived conditions and exposure to risk. The case of Mayotte contributes to regional science debates by questioning the territorial adaptability of ecological transition models and by emphasizing the need to account for vulnerability, institutional capacity, locally embedded representations of environmental risk.

Prof. Henri L.F. de Groot (p)

The Dutch energy intensive industry is confronted with the need for a fundamental transformation in view of the climate goals to which the Netherlands has committed itself. A structural transformation is required to meet the ambition to be climate neutral by 2050. This transition is hampered by relatively high electricity prices, severe competition from countries outside Europe and changing comparative advantages. The need to fundamentally reflect on the position of the Dutch energy intensive industry is further strengthened by the geopolitical tensions and the ambitions of Europe to enhance strategic autonomy to which Dutch industry can potentially make a contribution. This paper presents evidence on the evolution of comparative advantages of the Dutch energy intensive industry and continues to reflect on the implications for a Dutch industrial policy that can strike a balance between economic, social and sustainable goals of Dutch policy.