Ethnographic Research as a Tool for More Inclusive Just Transition Policies
Lessons from Mpumalanga, South Africa
This report examines how ethnographic research can make South Africa's just transition more inclusive and participatory. Focusing on Mpumalanga's coal communities, the study highlights how ethnography—through long-term engagement and co-production—helps bridge trust gaps, capture lived experiences, and amplify marginalized voices often overlooked in top-down policy design.
Policy Recommendations
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This report recommends institutionalizing co-production, allocating dedicated transition engagement funds, and strengthening replicable capacity.
South Africa's energy transition presents opportunities for low-carbon growth but also deep social risks in coal-dependent provinces like Mpumalanga. This report investigates how ethnographic methods can strengthen procedural justice and local participation in just transition policy-making.
Using immersive fieldwork and a pilot co-production study in communities, such as Komati, Phola, and Emalahleni, the research identifies information gaps, exclusion of women and informal workers, and declining community services following coal plant closures. It demonstrates that ethnographic approaches—rooted in trust, lived experience, and long-term presence—yield deeper insights than one-off consultations.
The report recommends embedding ethnography and co-production into just transition frameworks, establishing dedicated funding for inclusive engagement, and training government officials and community leaders in participatory research methods. Doing so can help ensure that vulnerable groups, particularly women and youth, are not left behind as South Africa advances its just energy transition.
Read more publications from this project:
- Beyond Irrigation: Turning sunlight into supper for Kenya's women and farmers | A pilot of secondary use of solar irrigation power for clean cooking
- Beyond Irrigation: Harnessing the untapped potential of solar pumps | Lessons from a solar-powered milling pilot in Uttar Pradesh
- Coal Transition Impacts and the Approach to Inclusive Just Transition Policies in Indonesia
- Indonesia's Next Cooking Transition: Shifting to non-fossil cooking
Participating experts
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