New Framework Links Green Energy Jobs and Sustainable Employment in Amsterdam Zuidoost
New Framework Links Green Energy Jobs and Sustainable Employment in Amsterdam Zuidoost
New Framework Links Green Energy Jobs and Sustainable Employment in Amsterdam Zuidoost
Study focuses on Amsterdam Zuidoost's Energy Transition and Labour Market Challenges
As Amsterdam races towards its climate goals, a new study by researchers from Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam argues that the success of the energy transition will depend as much on people as on technology.
Published in the Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, the study by Amy Abdou, Isaac Adu Acheampong, Peter van der Sijde and Siavash Mirsadeghi examines how job training programmes in Amsterdam Zuidoost can help create sustainable employment while supporting the shift to a low-carbon economy.
The research focuses on one of the city’s most vulnerable districts, where residents are more likely to face labour market insecurity, lower incomes and barriers to long-term employment.
Abdou said the aim of the study was to understand how different organisations contribute to sustainable employment in the energy sector.
“This paper compares the strengths and weaknesses of different types of enterprises that provide job training and entrepreneurship initiatives in the energy sector and the role of the government in supporting different types of initiatives,” she said.
The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for policymakers, employment social enterprises and other institutional actors to further develop sustainable employment opportunities in the district Amsterdam Zuidoost.
The study finds that private sector training programmes offer the strongest pathway into long-term employment, particularly because they combine technical training with recognised certifications and clear career progression routes.
Acheampong said the research highlights this mismatch between employer demand and resident access to training.
“Our findings indicate that private sector training programmes place greater emphasis on technical skills and career pathways and therefore appear to offer stronger prospects for sustainable employment,” he said. “At the same time, they are often inaccessible to jobseekers with low levels of secondary education.”
The study shows that community enterprises and non-profit organisations play a critical complementary role by widening access and supporting groups that are often excluded from mainstream training routes.
Community enterprises are particularly important in connecting residents with housing corporations, employers and local government, while also supporting practical, locally rooted initiatives.
Non-profit organisations, meanwhile, are described as key drivers of scalable innovation and cross-sector collaboration.
“Community enterprises play an important role in facilitating contact between residents, housing corporations and local government,” Abdou said. “Non-profit enterprises have an advantage over community enterprises in that they pioneer scalable sustainability initiatives, demonstrating value that neither the private nor community enterprises create.”
The researchers argue that these differences matter for policy design. While private companies are best placed to deliver technical training and formal career pathways, they are less accessible to vulnerable groups. Community and non-profit organisations, by contrast, improve inclusion and strengthen local networks but often struggle with scale and long-term funding.
The study also highlights a broader governance challenge. The government plays multiple roles across the system, acting as regulator, funder, participant and in some cases customer through public procurement programmes linked to sustainability goals.
The authors argue that better coordination between these roles is needed if Amsterdam is to meet both its climate and employment ambitions.
More broadly, the research calls for a shift away from short-term “work-first” approaches towards what it describes as sustainable employment, meaning work that enables long-term progression, skills development and meaningful participation in the labour market.
The authors suggest that combining Social Cost Benefit Analysis (SCBA) and Social Return on Investment (SROI) could help policymakers better understand the full value of training programmes, including social and environmental impacts that are often overlooked in traditional evaluation models.
They conclude that no single actor can solve the challenge alone. Instead, achieving inclusive green growth in Amsterdam Zuidoost will require closer collaboration between government, employers, educational institutions and social enterprises.
As the energy transition accelerates, the study suggests that the most important infrastructure may not be physical at all, but the systems that connect people to opportunity.
WUP 18/06/2026
by Erene Roux
©WUAS Press
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#ResearchCentre
#Impact Statement
#climatechange
#SDG13: Climate Action
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