The Zasavje Statistical Region (also the Central Sava Statistical Region) includes the Municipalities of Hrastnik, Litija, Trbovlje, and Zagorje ob Savi and has 57,148 inhabitants, according to the data from the Statistical Office of the RS for 2020. Hrastnik, Trbovlje, and Zagorje ob Savi have been generally recognised as mining environments with a rich coal mining tradition.

The maturity of the coal phase-out process in the region has led the area of influence of the coal mining industry in the area of the three municipalities to be unequivocally recognised and can be defined as the narrow area of influence for a just transition. The wider area of influence also includes the Municipality of Litija, as it is part of the Zasavje Statistical Region. The key strategic goals and further measures of the just transition have been designed to be focused primarily on creating positive impacts on the narrow area of influence, but these impacts can nevertheless be achieved by implementing the measures across the entire Zasavje Region.

In order to gain insight into the current situation in the Zasavje coal mining region, a thorough comparative analysis was carried out during the preparation of the NSCER (National Strategy for Coal Exit and Restructuring of Coal Regions), where all the elements of a just transition were addressed: energy transition, transition of human capital and social infrastructure, economy, and environment. A situation assessment for each of the coal regions was made and the main development needs in each coal region were identified.

The just transition process of the Zasavje Region will support measures that decrease the gap between the supply and demand on the labour market. There are planned programs for lower-skilled workers and unemployed people to gain competencies to enable them to take up more demanding jobs that are being and will be created in the economic sector. Special emphasis will be placed on suitable and goal-oriented programs for young people, so that we can curb brain drain and attract the younger population and adequately trained staff to the region. These projects will also feature supporting programs that will generate new jobs with a high added value. The area of human resource development has identified several areas in the region that need to be supported in order to successfully implement the green transformation. The key elements include improving the local education system, enriching and strengthening students’ key competencies (especially digital competencies, entrepreneurship, transition to a low-carbon circular economy). Special focus will also be placed on transferring the developed solutions in the field of key competencies to educational institutions, spreading and developing innovative ICT-supported study environments in the school environment, and the measures of the other developmental areas (e.g., demonstration centres, robotics, artificial intelligence, transition to a low-carbon circular economy, etc.).

The potential for creating new jobs is evident in the region in both SMEs and large enterprises. By offering the appropriate support, we plan on developing new jobs with a higher added value in both sectors. This will also be followed by specialised training and education programs for suitable staff training. he concluded gap analysis for the region indicates that large enterprises outside the energy sector are an important element of the region’s economic development. These companies are an important stakeholder in ensuring the just transition both for the potential they have in retaining jobs as well as for developing new employment positions. They also play an important role in launching and running start-ups and SMEs, as they interconnect into different ecosystems with them. They will continue to assume this role and even expand on it in the future. In terms of large companies, we will be encouraging the expansion and optimisation of their existing production activities and the construction of a related and diversified ecosystem of economic activities that will include companies of all sizes. It will be of great importance for large companies to attract highly educated individuals from other regions to participate as well. SMEs in the Zasavje Region employ 87% (2019) of the active working population, meaning SMEs have the greatest potential in the sector. meaning SMEs have the greatest potential in the sector. The development potential of SMEs is reflected in new technologies and new materials. Just transition measures will support new production and service activities in the SMEs sector, creating added value and generating new jobs.

The region has shown great potential for strengthening capacities in the area of research and innovation and introducing and developing new research activities. This is an area that on one hand provides higher added value employment and on the other hand, executes educational and research programs that provide specialty knowledge, technology development, and an exceptional environment for human resource development. By collaborating with research organisations and other relevant stakeholders in the region, large companies will be entitled to grants for R&D activities in areas specified in the Slovenian Smart Specialisation Strategy. This support will be combined with education and training measures. RRI actions, including research infrastructure, are planned in the region in cooperation with existing research organisations. The just transition measures will support the research activities of existing operators as well as new potential research activities.

To achieve a more rapid restructuring of the economy in the region, the local economy will need to become more diversified both in terms of sectors as well as enterprises of different sizes. The sector analysis indicates that future investments will need to focus on further developing fields, such as electrical industry, new technologies (IT, no-carbon, space, and measurement technology), metal and non-metal manufacturing and processing, and self-supply farming. The service sector, timber industry, and tourism are also relatively underdeveloped; sustainable tourism has been especially identified as a possible direction for development.

The set goals will be reached by implementing measures aimed at diversifying the economy and supporting its transformation to low-carbon and circular business models along with a suitable supporting environment for sustainable regional development.

Another important factor of the just transition of the region are adequate transport links with neighbouring regions. In the past, the Zasavje Region did not have a great need to improve transport routes with neighbouring regions, as the intensive coal mining meant that the economy was not diversified. Many companies were reliant on the coal mining company that sold the coal to the local Trbovlje Power Plant. The power plant then sent its main product, i.e., electricity, to other parts of the country via the electrical network. Larger regional employers also utilized the railroad for their operations. The beginning of the phase-out of coal mining in 2000 started the diversification of the regional economy; this however requires modern transport routes connecting it to all its neighbouring regions for optimal operation. The most critical link is the road to eastern Slovenia via regional road G2-108 from Hrastnik to the settlement of Zidani Most, which is the shortest route to eastern Slovenia, but it is completely unsuitable for freight transport (e.g., one-way traffic on certain sections, multiple railway crossings). The freight transport therefore runs through urban centres and over passes, which is inadequate. The reconstruction of the regional road Hrastnik-Zidani Most would therefore provide the region with a modern transport route to eastern Slovenia and create favourable conditions for a faster diversification of the economy.

The development needs of the energy sector have been defined at the national level. Some of the general development needs include: reducing the risk of dependence on imported energy; a larger share of RES in end-user energy use, increasing EE along with the capacities and options for energy storage, including developing hydrogen technologies and by using batteries and system linking projects. Increasing the share of RES in the region is also important because it will help improve air quality. The production and storing energy from RES are the key activities that will catalyse the creation of new jobs and enable the region to remain involved and focused on the energy sector. The investments are designed a pillars of economic ecosystems within promising fields of the future creating an ecosystem of predominantly small and medium-sized enterprises.

Three strategic projects have been designed for a successful implementation of the just transition and further sustainable development in Zasavje, and as such, they have been included in the Territorial Just Transition Plan for the Zasavje Coal Region.

The first is the Centre for Development, Demonstration and Training in Carbon-Free Technologies (DUBT Centre), which will be founded in the Zagorje commercial and industrial cone Kisovec in collaboration with the National Institute of Chemistry. The first scientific research centre of its kind in Zasavje will receive €30 million investments and the laboratory surfaces will span over 1,600 m2. Two independent laboratories will operate as part of the centre: the Laboratory for battery development and testing and the Laboratory for demonstration of H2 and CO2 technologies.

The centre will develop high-tech research infrastructure, participate in international research flows, pilot test innovations for the needs of the industry, as well as provide education and training for no-carbon technologies. The centre will focus on development and innovation in the field of no-carbon technologies, which will then be distilled from the laboratories and dispersed to the industry and the market itself.

The second strategic program marking the just transition of Zasavje will be revitalising degraded sites (brownfield land) and equipping areas intended for business and commercial infrastructure; the largest concentration of degraded areas in Slovenia is precisely in Zasavje. A whopping 42 brownfield sites have been documented with a total area size of 135.13 hectares. The rehabilitation of brownfield sites and the change of use will enable new business areas to develop.

Two important factors here will be establishing business incubators and municipal utilities in commercial and industrial zones in Zasavje: OC Rudnik in Hrastnik, OIC Kisovec in Zagorje ob Savi, and OIC Lakonca in Trbovlje. Only by providing the appropriate municipal utilities can we make these business zones appealing for the development of micro, small, medium-sized and large enterprises, create new employment opportunities, and limit the workforce leaving to neighbouring regions.

The third and final project of strategic significance will be the reconstruction of the road G2-108 connecting Hrastnik to Zidani Most. Once this road has been reconstructed, Zasavje will be much better connected to other regional centres in eastern Slovenia and to the planned third development axis. The reconstruction will also alleviate the existing road infrastructure and increase traffic safety. The reconstruction of the road G2-108 will be financed with a combination of returnable funds from the European Investment Bank and grants for investments in the public interest.