The Director of our Centre, the Academic Coordinators of the Latin American and South African Hubs, and the Principal Investigators (PIs) of the Latin American Hub participated in TAFF 2026 in Santa Marta, Colombia
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TRAJECTS network contributed to the First Conference on the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, bringing years of research on coal regions, labour transitions, and governance to the global stage.
In 2026, the Colombian coastal city of Santa Marta hosted a landmark gathering: The First Conference on the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels (TAFF). Researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and civil society actors came together around one of the most pressing questions of our time: how do we move beyond fossil fuels in ways that are genuinely just, territorially grounded, and politically viable?
TRAJECTS was there, and we didn't just attend. We contributed.
Members of our network participated across academic panels, thematic workstreams, and breakout discussions. Across these spaces, TRAJECTS members brought perspectives shaped by years of research on coal regions, labour transitions, and governance.
Transitions don't follow a straight line
One of the questions TRAJECTS members raised across different conference spaces was about sequencing, the when of transformation, not just the what.
Should regions start diversifying before coal phase-out intensifies? In theory, yes. But the evidence TRAJECTS researchers brought to these discussions told a more complicated story. Diversification often only accelerates under real pressure. Incumbent actors find ways to delay or reshape transition processes. Workers face barriers that go beyond skills, wages, identity, and how new industries are perceived all play a role. And what's "feasible" is always shaped by infrastructure, institutions, and political economy, not just by plans.
<<Transitions cannot be reduced to technical exercises. Timing matters, but so do power, territory, and who gets to decide>>
South–South cooperation: beyond the rhetoric
TRAJECTS members also brought a grounded and sometimes uncomfortable perspective on South–South cooperation to the discussions they took part in.
Yes, collaboration across the Global South is politically important: it strengthens collective bargaining in global negotiations, enables regions facing similar challenges to learn from one another, and roots transition knowledge in shared territorial realities. But the structural picture is harder. Funding remains concentrated in the Global North. Smaller organizations closest to local realities often struggle to access resources directly. Complex intermediary structures slow down knowledge exchange and implementation.
Raising these tensions, rather than simply celebrating the idea of South–South collaboration, was part of what TRAJECTS members contributed to the conversation.
A network built for exactly these discussions
Participating in TAFF reinforced something we already believe: the experiences of coal-dependent communities, workers navigating transition, and researchers from the Global South are not peripheral to global debates on fossil fuel phase-out. They are essential to them.
Through our hubs in Latin America and South Africa, TRAJECTS has built spaces for exactly this kind of exchange, research stays, joint learning processes, master's programmes, and PhD opportunities that connect researchers and practitioners across regions. The goal isn't just knowledge-sharing. It's creating the conditions for transition pathways that are more inclusive, more territorially informed, and more socially grounded.
We're grateful to everyone who made TAFF a space for honest, rigorous dialogue, and we look forward to continuing these conversations across our network and beyond.