Tamara Krawchenko
Dr. Tamara Krawchenko is an internationally recognized scholar, policy expert, and institution-builder whose work spans the fields of comparative public policy, regional development, and sustainability transitions. Her expertise is grounded in a deep understanding of how governance and public institutions shape the lived realities of communities and regions. She serves as a Strategic Research Area lead with the CFREF-funded Accelerating Community Energy Transformation Initiative, as Chair of the Local Governance Hub and as a core team member of the Coastal Climate Solutions Leaders program. Over 2025-2026, she joins the Institute for Research on Public Policy as a Visiting Scholar, contributing to their work on regional development and community transformations.
Dr. Krawchenko’s scholarship is placed-based—focusing on understanding local and regional assets, challenges and opportunities and supporting and engaging diverse communities to meet their development goals. She has led international programs of research in over a dozen countries on regional development policies, sustainability transitions, Indigenous economic development, industrial policy and the governance of land use. Dr. Krawchenko regularly advises governments, including through work with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Bank. She has worked for both the federal and provincial governments in Canada and for research institutes and universities in Canada, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan as a professor and researcher. She is engaged as a Special Advisor to the Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, as an expert with the Canadian Climate Institute’s Clean Growth Panel, is an Affiliate with the Transition Accelerator’s Center for New-Zero Industrial Policy and a Board Member of EcoTrust Canada.
Dr. Krawchenko holds a PhD in Public Policy and Political Economy from Carleton University, a master's degree in Public Administration from Dalhousie University and a bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science from Dalhousie University.
Dr. Krawchenko’s scholarship is placed-based—focusing on understanding local and regional assets, challenges and opportunities and supporting and engaging diverse communities to meet their development goals. She has led international programs of research in over a dozen countries on regional development policies, sustainability transitions, Indigenous economic development, industrial policy and the governance of land use. Dr. Krawchenko regularly advises governments, including through work with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Bank. She has worked for both the federal and provincial governments in Canada and for research institutes and universities in Canada, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan as a professor and researcher. She is engaged as a Special Advisor to the Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, as an expert with the Canadian Climate Institute’s Clean Growth Panel, is an Affiliate with the Transition Accelerator’s Center for New-Zero Industrial Policy and a Board Member of EcoTrust Canada.
Dr. Krawchenko holds a PhD in Public Policy and Political Economy from Carleton University, a master's degree in Public Administration from Dalhousie University and a bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science from Dalhousie University.
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Papers by Tamara Krawchenko
Regional Energy-Economy Planning: A Framework to Accelerate Decarbonization and Support Economic Development draws on international experience to show how energy system transformation can be explicitly tied to regional economic strategies, industrial clustering, and local benefit-sharing.
For Canadian governments, the opportunity is clear: clean energy investment is about more than meeting climate targets. With the right planning framework, it can become a deliberate strategy for regional growth and community well-being.
Our study set out to systematically examine how industrial strategy is being designed and governed across Canada and the United Kingdom. We have explored the state of the academic and policy literature on industrial strategy; developed an analytical framework for evaluating how industrial strategies are structured across dimensions of vision, policy instruments, governance, social justice, and place; and applied that framework comparatively across national, provincial, territorial, and devolved strategies in both countries, identifying leading practices, persistent weaknesses, and priority directions for future research in the process.
growth, while post-secondary institutions face financial pressures that constrain training capacity. Simultaneously, shifts in key sectors, along with an aging workforce and slower population growth, are creating labour market challenges that affect the province’s clean energy
transition.
The provincial policy landscape has evolved, with new emphasis on economic resilience, major
projects, and climate action. However, there exists a fundamental gap: a coordinated workforce strategy to mobilize the labour needed to achieve the province’s climate, energy, and economic goals.
In January 2026, the Pembina Institute and Accelerating Community Energy Transformation
(ACET) convened a multi-stakeholder workshop to explore workforce challenges and potential
solutions for B.C.’s transition to a clean energy economy. Participants included representatives
from government, labour, post-secondary institutions, Indigenous organizations, and civil
society. Discussions focused on three areas: labour supply, training capacity, and job quality and
inclusion.
Key findings
• Labour supply: Widespread shortages, an aging workforce, and limited mobility are
hampering project delivery while skills mismatches persist, contributing to higher
unemployment levels. Youth and new entrants often lack early exposure to careers in
clean energy, while licensing, regional workforce dynamics, and workplace culture are
affecting recruitment and retention.
• Training capacity: Financial pressures and the concentration of training providers in
urban areas is limiting the ability of institutions to offer responsive, high-quality
programs. Programs are sometimes misaligned with labour market needs, while midcareer workers transitioning between roles face barriers related to time, accessibility, and
recognition of prior experience.
• Job quality and inclusion: Precarious work, unequal access to benefits, and
unwelcoming workplace environments for equity-deserving groups are constricting
recruitment and retention. Tools such as community benefit agreements and project
labour agreements are underutilized, representing a missed opportunity to strengthen
social and economic outcomes.
Executive summary
Workshop participants identified both near-term and longer-term (structural) solutions to
address the above challenges.
• Near term: Establish earlier and clearer exposure to trades; provide more responsive
and accessible options for training; reduce bottlenecks, prioritizing instructor
recruitment and retention; provide wraparound supports; and offer skills mapping for
workers in transition.
• Longer term: Develop stable policy and multi-year workforce plans; strengthen
coordination and governance by convening regional workforce planning tables and
putting in place structures for knowledge transfer; strengthen job quality and
accountability through measures such as community benefit agreements; and enhance
the training system by maintaining the full-scope credentialled system while
supplementing with upskilling and incorporating international best practices.
The workshop also revealed significant research and policy gaps, namely limited regional labour
market data; lack of established principles on effective training approaches; insufficient analysis
of the financial pressures facing post-secondary institutions; and inadequate understanding of
workforce participation and career perceptions. There is also a need to examine models that
support Indigenous- and community-led workforce planning. Closing these gaps and developing
an integrated workforce strategy would enable B.C. to maximize the economic, social, and
climate benefits from a worker-centered clean energy transition.
There is no singular industrial and energy transition, rather there are multiple and diverse transitions across scales, sectors, and places. Effective support requires coordination across public, private, and social actors alongside consideration of people and place specific vulnerabilities. This paper develops a typology of industrial and energy transitions and policy responses: new and emerging industries, transformation of existing industries, industry phase-out and replacement, industry phase-out with economic diversification, and industry phase-out with no alternatives. Each type requires specific policy interventions and has distinct implications for community wellbeing, employment, and environmental sustainability.
The study underscores the importance of place-based policies, acknowledging that regions and communities have unique economic, social, and environmental characteristics that influence their ability to manage transitions. It advocates for policy complementarity and the use of policy mixes to address the equity impacts of decarbonization, ensuring that policies are both reactive and proactive. This requires a blend of regulatory, employment, industrial, and place-based policies. Key actions include engaging citizens and stakeholders to foster support, protecting affected groups, and implementing targeted interventions for vulnerable sectors and regions. Effective public engagement is crucial for building consensus and understanding the impacts of transitions. Countries with strong tripartism, such as Denmark and New Zealand, are well-positioned to manage these transitions through coordinated efforts among unions, industries, and governments. However, broader public engagement, as seen in Canada's regional dialogues or New Zealand's Taranaki Roadmap, is also vital. Transitional assistance policies vary, from compensation and structural adjustment to comprehensive adaptive support, and require robust education, training, and social protection systems to be effective. Long-term interventions focus on creating new economic opportunities, such as Denmark's transition to renewable energy, emphasize the need for coordinated, context-specific strategies to ensure just and equitable outcomes.
The paper concludes by outlining several key lessons for effectively managing just transitions. First, defining a "just transition" requires a negotiated and inclusive process that involves a wide range of stakeholders, including unions, communities, businesses, and Indigenous rights holders. Second, establishing robust framework legislation is crucial for setting the right incentives and ensuring that social justice is integrated into transition efforts. Such legislation can provide legal protections for workers and communities, addressing potential risks and past failures in industrial transitions. Third, regional development policies play a vital role in identifying and leveraging the assets and opportunities of transitioning regions, ensuring that strategic investments support the future economy while considering the broader community impact. Fourth, transitional assistance policies should be inclusive and responsive, targeting vulnerable groups and adapting over time to meet their needs effectively. Fifth, successful just transitions require coordinated efforts across sectoral and regional policies, with mechanisms in place to align government actions and investments. Sixth, governments can promote just transition objectives by embedding criteria such as fair work terms and living wage standards into public funding programs, ensuring that new job opportunities meet high-quality standards. Finally, developing accountability frameworks and regularly reporting on just transition outcomes are essential for maintaining transparency and assessing the impact of transition policies on affected communities.