Training Programme: Skills development in coal mining regions

The transition away from coal is accelerating globally as countries pursue climate and energy transition objectives. While essential for environmental sustainability, the decline of coal mining poses significant labour market and social challenges, particularly in developing countries where coal regions often face high unemployment, informality, limited economic diversification and weak skills systems.

For workers and communities dependent on coal mining and related value chains, coal phase-down directly affects livelihoods, local economies and social cohesion. Skills development is a critical enabler of a just transition, supporting workers in moving into new employment, helping communities diversify economically, and enabling institutions to plan and manage change in a coordinated and inclusive way.

This online training programme, offered in the framework of the Innovation Regions for a Just Energy Transition (IKI JET) project responds to the growing demand for practical guidance, tools and real-world examples on how to design and implement effective skills development strategies for coal mining regions undergoing transition.

Objectives

The programme aims to strengthen participants’ ability to design, coordinate and implement skills development strategies that support labour market transitions in coal mining regions, with a strong focus on just transition principles.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the labour market and skills challenges associated with coal phase-down in developing country contexts
• Analyse policy and institutional responses used by countries and regions that are facing – or have undergone – coal phase-down
• Apply skills anticipation and labour market intelligence tools to inform transition planning
• Design and assess reskilling, upskilling and recognition of prior learning (RPL) initiatives for affected workers
• Address skills needs at the community level, including informal economy workers and actors along coal value chains
• Engage effectively with workers’ and employers’ organisations in shaping inclusive skills responses
• Use practical tools and frameworks such as skills audits, skills matrices and skills needs identification instruments

Target groups

The programme is designed for professionals involved in, or supporting, just transition processes in coal mining regions, including:

• Government officials at national, regional and local levels
• Workers’ and employers’ organisations
• Skills development practitioners and training providers
• Civil society organisations and development practitioners
• Researchers and consultants working on labour markets, skills and just transition

The programme particularly welcomes participants working in and around coal mining regions in Indonesia, India, Mongolia, South Africa, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

Content

The key topics covered in the online training programme are:

• Framing the challenge: skills and just transition in coal mining regions
• Skills anticipation and labour market intelligence
• Reskilling, upskilling and recognition of prior learning
• Foundational skills and community-level skills development
• Tools for skills planning and implementation
• Role of workers’ and employers’ organisations in skills for just transition

Programme structure

The programme is delivered fully online through the ITCILO e-campus and combines self-paced learning with live interactive webinars. The programme requires an estimated total learning commitment of approximately 30 hours. The programme features case studies from a range of countries, highlighting diverse approaches and experiences in managing skills development for coal transition.

Certification

Participants in the training programme will receive an ILO/ITCILO/IKI certificate of participation upon successful completion of the training programme. The certificate will be awarded through digital credentials using blockchain technology that protects participants’ data and prevents fraud.

Further information can be found in the document below: