LOTREC
O projekte
LOTREC (Lost in transition: Regions aiming for clean energy)
The project addresses questions related to regional governance, energy transition, and climate policies in Central Europe. It aims to contribute to the understanding of regional governance practices, identify best practices, and provide policy recommendations for improving energy and climate governance in the region. LOTREC aims to investigate the involvement of regions as sub-national entities in the energy transition process and to empower Slovak regions to implement policies supporting energy transition and climate neutrality. Energy and climate policies are interconnected and cover vast areas. Given the central role of energy transition in reaching climate neutrality, the project will especially examine the regions' approaches towards clean energy sources, while ensuring synergy with other climate policies of the regional governments.
The governance landscape faces a complex challenge with climate change, requiring not only horizontal cooperation across various sectors but also vertical collaboration involving national, regional, and local actors. Local and regional governments are therefore in a unique position to deliver on the net-zero emissions agenda. While regions and municipalities play vital roles in energy savings, climate mitigation, and adaptation, their contributions to research are still undermined. Therefore, by adopting the framework of multi-level governance, the project aims to investigate and address the challenges and opportunities related to energy transition and climate neutrality in Slovak regions. It focuses on understanding regional governance, engaging civil society, and implementing best practices from neighbouring countries. The main objective of this project is to examine regional strategies adopted by regional governments in Central Europe (Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia) in a comparative perspective to identify best practices and provide specific recommendations for Slovak regions.
Duration period: august 2024 - july 2026
Principal investigator: Veronika Oravcová
Supported by: This project is supported by the NextGenerationEU project from National Recovery and Resilience Plan under contract 09I03-03-V04-00229.
Publikácie/ Publications
1. Legislatívny a inštitucionálny rámec klimatickej a energetickej politiky samosprávnych regiónov v krajinách strednej Európy (Policy paper č. 1), Author: Veronika Oravcová (pomoc so zberom dát: Dóra Csernus, Zuzanna Nowak, Adam Pápay, Tatiana Tokárová), Year: 2025 (január), Katedra politológie, Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave, Filozofická fakulta, 15p.
2. Legislative and institutional framework of climate and energy policy of self-governing regions in Central European countries (Policy paper no. 1), Author: Veronika Oravcová, Year: 2025 (January 2025), Department of Political Science, Comenius University Bratislava, Slovakia, 14p.
3. Planning Approaches Towards Climate and Energy Policy of Self-Governing Regions in Central European Countries (Policy Paper No. 2, English version), Author: Veronika Oravcová (data collection assistance: Dóra Csernus, Zuzanna Nowak, Adam Pápay), 2025 (June), Department of Political Science, Comenius University Bratislava, Slovakia, 20p.
4. Prístupy k plánovaniu klimatickej a energetickej politiky regiónov v krajinách strednej Európy (Policy paper č. 2, slovenská verzia), Veronika Oravcová (pomoc so zberom dát: Dóra Csernus, Zuzanna Nowak, Adam Pápay), 2025 (jún), Katedra politológie, Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave, Filozofická fakulta, 20s.
5. The Role of Paradiplomacy in Achieving Climate Neutrality: Insights from Central Europe (Policy Paper No. 3, English version), Veronika Oravcová, 2026 (January), Department of Political Science, Comenius University Bratislava, Slovakia, 16p.
6. Úloha paradiplomacie v oblasti politík pre dosiahnutie klimatickej neutrality v krajinách strednej Európy (Policy paper č. 3, slovenská verzia), Veronika Oravcová, 2026 (január), Katedra politológie, Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave, Filozofická fakulta, 16s.
7. Čím sa môžeme inšpirovať u susedov: zelená transformácia v regiónoch – Príklady dobrej praxe zo strednej Európy, Veronika Oravcová, 2026 (Júl 2026), Katedra politológie, Filozofická fakulta, Univerzity Komenského v Bratislave, 134s.
