REMAKING - REmote-working Multiple impacts in the Age of disruptions: socioeconomic transformations, territorial rethinking, and policy action
Reference
G.A. No. 101132685
Period
February 2024-August 2027
Duration
42 months
Funding body
European Commission
Website
https://remaking-project.eu
Abstract
Remote work (RW) is essentially understood as a modality that allows for the flexible organization of work. However, the REMAKING project argues that RW can be more than that. If the multiple effects that RW has on individuals, business models and the socio-economic sphere are properly understood and addressed by policymakers, RW can contribute positively to ongoing social, economic and spatial structural changes.
The REMAKING project looks at RT taking into account the ongoing megatrends (i.e. digital transformation, flexibilization of production models) that have enabled its continued expansion, as well as the recent shocks (i.e. the pandemic and the war in Ukraine) that have consolidated its diffusion in different formats. From this perspective, the aim is to analyze RT in order to provide policymakers with a more holistic and balanced view of the opportunities and risks associated with this context, specifically in relation to the effects of RT in rural areas and also in cities far from the major urban centers (2nd-tier cities).
With this in mind, the project aims to develop an analytical framework that reflects the new and multifaceted realities associated with RT. This analytical framework should incorporate and facilitate the sharing of good practices associated with RT and help policymakers in the decision-making processes associated with the adoption of balanced and context-appropriate policies taking into account the current scenarios of megatrends and shocks. These objectives will be achieved through participatory research activities associated with four case studies, each related to four specific forms of RT (digital nomadism, post-pandemic, high-skilled workers in high-tech sectors and forced remote workers). The four case studies cover seven countries (Italy, Greece, Portugal, Germany, Czechia, Ukraine and Ireland). In each country, the analysis will be based on a rural location and a second-tier city.
The aim of this project is to provide an impact on the processes of socio-spatial transformation in second-tier cities and rural localities in terms of planning, design and implementation of multi-level policies, promotion of resilience and territorial socio-economic development, and in the advanced understanding of TR associated with all these dimensions.
In this project, CoLABOR leads WP4 "Economic and social effects of RT". This WP has four main objectives:
1. Assess the potential changes in labor market trends brought about by the adoption of different modes of TR and their effects on local employment conditions through the emergence of remote workers.
2. Analyze the impacts that displaced workers have on the socio-economic structure of local host populations, as well as on local demographics. In this context, special attention will be paid to the influx of remote workers and their effects on the local structure of occupations (local and displaced workers) and prices (income and housing prices) in order to understand the emergence of new patterns of social mobility and/or the emergence of new social inequalities.
3. Analyze patterns of economic, cultural and institutional "creative restructuring" potentially brought about by new local demographics. Both the influx of remote workers and the local adoption of teleworking can be expected to alter local supply and demand structures, stimulate entrepreneurial and cultural activities and promote new forms and processes of knowledge sharing. These effects, and related public policy initiatives, are central to this objective.
4. Evaluate potential changes in travel practices, mobility patterns and demand for new mobility services resulting from the increase in RT in the areas under analysis. In this respect, the project also aims to assess the implications of RT in relation to the provision of collective mobility services and the potential environmental gains that result from this.
Results
(ongoing)