Mapping the Just Green Transitions in the Socio-political Virtual Space

Abstract

Since the European Green Deal was launched (European Commission, 2019), social media and especially Twitter (now X) has become the one main socio-political virtual space where the European Commission is promoting the European Union’s twinned (Just, Green, and Digital) Transitions. This multidisciplinary exploratory research crosscuts Spatial Planning & Territorial Governance (Nadine et al., 2018; Berisha, et al, 2021), and Social Media Studies and Digital Methods (Rogers, 2018; 2019), investigating the existence of the term “Just Green Transitions” on Twitter, highlighting the potential benefits that social media analysis could add to the disciplines of Governance and Policymaking. Utilizing Social Network Analysis, both Mention Analysis and Co-hashtag- Analysis were applied to capture and analyse three million original tweets over the first twenty months since the Just Transition Mechanism entered into force (European Parliament, 2021). The results highlighted the fragmentation of the terminologies and Twitter user communities, discussing the expected transitions of Europe which are expected to be Just and Green (European Commission, 2021).