An exploratory research journey on the EU green transition
This report summarises the outcomes of an expert workshop on scaling green innovation in support of the EU green transition. Bringing together practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and innovators, the workshop explored barriers and enablers across six key domains: finance, social equity, knowledge systems, technology, regulation, and governance. The working tables were organized according to five key transition domains, namely bioeconomy, circular economy, clean and affordable energy, climate-neutral and resilient cities, net-zero industry.
Discussions revealed that innovation is often not hindered by a lack of ideas, but by systemic misalignments, institutional inertia, and fragmented policy landscapes. Participants highlighted the importance of enabling environments that combine long-term direction, adaptive regulation, and collaborative infrastructures. The report introduces a fourfold scaling typology — deep, out, up, and big — to capture the multi-dimensional nature of transformation and proposes cross-cutting policy levers to support systemic change. Emphasising the role of policy as a platform rather than a constraint, the findings call for a next generation of governance that is participatory, flexible, and capable of translating ambition into action.
MARELLI Luisa;
BORCHARDT Steve;
GASTALDI Chiara;
BARBERO VIGNOLA Giulia;
FRONZA Verdiana;
MOLTENI Tania;
LUCCHITTA Benedetta;
BAGAINI Annamaria;
CROCI Edoardo;
TRANE Matteo;
2026-02-03
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC144794
978-92-68-36568-7 (online),
1831-9424 (online),
EUR 40619,
OP KJ-01-26-043-EN-N (online),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC144794,
10.2760/5834496 (online),
