**10. Discussion and Summary**

The national coal regions have constituted the foundation of economic growth and prosperity at the local and national levels in the EU for decades. The XIXth and XXth centuries show a huge relation between coal mining in six coal regions in Poland (including the eastern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship), the Ruhr region of Germany, Western Macedonia in Greece, and the southwest region of Bulgaria, and the economic and social development. A grea<sup>t</sup> value in performing energy transformation is establishing one region as an example for others. It is said that an example of just energy transformation is the Ruhr region of Germany. The transformation started there earlier and is much more ahead of the curve. The industrial sector of this German region has been restructured and is open for high-tech, tourism, and cultural services. The successful departure from coal mining has its foundation in focusing on the local strategy and authorities. The recommendations and transferable solutions reaccessioned on the Ruhr region transformation

cover (1) the use of the bottom-up approach, (2) focusing on regional disparities, (2) establishing local value chains connected to the reindustrialization, and (3) empowering supra-regional competitiveness.

A transition to RES that is in line with the energy strategy of the EU is inevitable. As it has been mentioned, the comprehensive energy justice framework includes many issues, the first point of which is energy availability and access. RES may create a base of energy independence in coal regions, enabling full green energy availability and access for the local community. The analysis carried out in the study showed that by focusing only on RES resources in the region, the Greater Poland Voivodeship may fully meet the demand for energy with its green resources. The obtained results allow for concluding that in the area of the selected region (Greater Poland Voivodeship), it is possible to achieve climate-neutral energy independence under the European Green Deal. This means that despite the diversity of the energy potential of NUTS 2 regions in the EU, the energy transformation towards RES is justified at the regional level. This, in turn, is a good sign that all member states of the community will be able to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal.

What is even more noticeable and economically important, the Greater Poland Voivodeship may remain energy competitive with other regions, as it may produce more energy than is needed. This means that this region may maintain its energy characteristic and economic power. The Greater Poland Voivodeship has high RES potential, and introducing a fair and just bottom-up strategy may convert the coal energy region to a green energy valley and further obtain the national and EU objectives. As the RES potential is far higher than the needs of the region, open-minded reindustrialization may bring large benefits. RES availability and energy transformation may lead to a diversified production centralization in the region, which, in conjunction with the west–east transition route, may even become a geopolitical hub, empowering the region and even national competitiveness and growth.

Moving towards RES is an enormous challenge, especially for local communities in coal regions. Local and family traditions, individual life choices, and a sense of security are based on coal mining in many situations. Juliette de Grandpré, Senior Policy Advisor, WWF Germany, said that "We need to make sure Europe's transition towards a net-zero emissions economy does not happen at the expense of these regions" [100]. Above and beyond the RES benefits, the Ruhr region is still dealing with a high unemployment rate, double that in other German regions. This is what the Greater Poland Voivodeship wants to avoid. To do so, the local community has to be aware of the region's RES potential, the large possibilities generated by RES, and be sure that the region maintains energy security and that it can be competitive and economically strong. The key roles played here are the local authorities, their financial and educative support, decision-making transparency, trust, equity, and of course, understanding and empathy. This may create a "green" and open-minded community that is able to meet challenges.

In this study, we showed that the Greater Poland Voivodeship has opportunities and resources to become an energy-independent region and become a Green Energy Valley in the near future. This energy independence is planned to be obtained under a fair, just, bottom-up, locally and community-oriented energy transformation. Performing such a region transformation is a milestone in achieving energy neutrality in Poland. There is only one way to move toward RES, and local support is indispensable. The possibility of the Greater Poland Voivodeship to achieve RES independence is an unmediated fact, but the details of how to, in practice, effectively support the local community while maintaining regional differences, still remain under discussion.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, B.I. and M.B.P.; methodology, B.I. and M.B.P.; software, M.S. and M.B.P.; validation, B.I., M.B.P., U.K., M.S., A.G., A.Z. and K.N.; formal analysis, B.I., M.S. and M.B.P.; investigation, B.I., M.B.P., U.K., M.S., A.G., A.Z. and K.N.; resources, B.I., M.B.P., U.K., M.S., A.Z. and K.N.; data curation, M.B.P. and B.I.; writing—original draft preparation B.I. and M.B.P.; writing—review and editing, B.I., M.B.P., U.K., M.S., A.G., A.Z. and K.N.; visualization, B.I., M.B.P. and M.S.; supervision, B.I. and M.B.P.; project administration B.I. and M.B.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Data Availability Statement:** Data available on request due to restrictions. The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
