"In this paper the author refers to the decades-long transformation of the Ruhr region as one of the exemplary cases for managing change from traditional industry-based, resource- and material-intensive economic activity towards a knowledge-based, resource-efficient economy. The major question this necessary restructuring poses to trade unions is how to manage it in a socially balanced way where the inevitable burdens and costs are shared by all major actors in an equitable manner. The Ruhr experience also offers a lesson from the point of view of “just transition”. The economic diversification of the once mining-dependent Ruhr region was actively managed by the federal and regional governments and restructuringprocesses were embedded in an industrial relations culture marked by the strong role of worker participation.The paper follows up on the changes in employment, the applied structural and industrial policies and social plans, and takes a look at the role of the main actors. The case of the Ruhr delivers lessons not just because of its outcome and the difficulties faced during the process, but even more so through the ways it happened, in close coordination and cooperation between the major actors."

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