Jiu Valley Coal Miners
Author: Nora Lewis
Suggested citation:
Lewis, N. (2026). Jiu Valley coal miners. Technology Assessment Project Case Study Library, University of Michigan. https://stpp.fordschool.umich.edu/tap-case-study-library/jiu-valley-coal-miners
Jiu Valley Coal Miners
Key Takeaways
- Governance of energy transitions focusing solely on economic factors will alienate communities and overlook important cultural and social impacts that must be addressed.
- Top-down transition efforts can spur local distrust, unrest, and ultimately unsuccessful projects. This is particularly true when these efforts are at the whim of political and economic changes, and make false promises for local communities.
- Giving a voice to local community members and grassroots organizations is crucial for more sustainable energy transitions. Honoring and preserving the heritage of these communities is an important step in ensuring these resilient futures.
The Jiu Valley
Romania's Jiu Valley has undergone dramatic change in the past 30 years. Nestled in the mountains of southwestern Transylvania, the region was a vital coal mining enclave for over a century. While socialism was still in full force, many flocked from all over Eastern and Central Europe to the state-owned mines of Jiu Valley seeking stable salaries and opportunity (Kulbaczewska-Figat, 2024). To accommodate this influx, apartment complexes and mining schools used to train workers were built, injecting new life into the region (Kulbaczewska-Figat, 2024). Dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu made coal Romania's central source of energy after the oil crisis of the late 1970s, further cementing Jiu Valley as an important economic and energy bedrock of the nation (Nicola & Schmitz, 2022). In essence, no life was untouched by coal mining in the Jiu Valley, and beyond a form of employment, the valley's mining tradition was also an indelible part of the regional identity.
Yet with the decline of Romania's socialist government and embrace of capitalism came cheaper imported coal supplies that required immense restructuring of the domestic industry (Nicola & Schmitz, 2022). More recently, Romania's aim to embrace greener energy sources has further contributed to immense declines in industry, employment, and population (Kulbaczewska-Figat, 2024). Of the 14 Jiu Valley coal mines in operation in 1990, only four operate today, but are presently in the process of liquidation (Odobescu et al., 2020). Since the 1990s, roughly 90% of Jiu Valley's coal workers have lost their jobs as the industry battles economic inefficiencies and new climate protections, and the region has lost 40% of its population (Bucată, 2020; LaBelle et al., 2021). In 1997 alone, half of all 45,000 workers actively employed in coal mines were laid off, with officials promising to support new job creation and economic growth in the region to offset this immense loss (Kulbaczewska-Figat, 2024). But support never came to fruition, and today, the Jiu Valley is plagued with widespread poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, and gambling addictions as a result (Kulbaczewska-Figat, 2024; Odobescu et al., 2020).
Workforce Retraining and a "Green Transition"
By 2019, the people of Jiu Valley were still without viable employment opportunities, and had been for several decades. Apartment blocks built to house mining families fell into disrepair, with necessary modernizations stalled by the region's emigration and troubled economic state (Kulbaczewska-Figat, 2024). Local businesses also dwindled with the mass exodus of young people to larger Romanian cities or other European countries, as the loss of the coal industry effectively minimized career options for new generations.
With all these uncertainties came a plan to support the Jiu Valley through Europe's green energy transition and its own economic misfortunes in 2019. National officials partnered with the Romanian Wind Energy Association (RWEA) to kickstart a workforce retraining program for former miners. The aim was to train 5,000 wind technicians and 3,000 electricity network technicians over a decade, seeking to reinvigorate local labor markets while bolstering Romania's transition to renewable energy (LaBelle et al., 2021). Within six months, according to initial plans, any worker could find employment in a Romanian wind farm (Romanian Energy Ministry, 2019). Yet after Romania's ruling coalition government collapsed that same summer, national funding for the program fell through and left the RWEA to steer the pilot program alone. It's safe to say this loss of government support and funding destabilized the project and greatly limited its effectiveness. Ultimately, the RWEA took only 50 applicants on wind farm tours and sent just one applicant for wind power training in Scandinavia, a far cry from visions of thousands of trained workers ready to dive into the wind power industry (LaBelle et al., 2021). Another smaller-scale re-training program started by a mine operator in Jiu Valley was similarly ineffective: the two-week training program for mountain guiding did not result in certification for participants, as workers need nine months of training to receive proper credentials (LaBelle et al., 2021). In 2021, tensions came to a boil when hundreds of Jiu Valley coal miners protested their declining wages, with as many as 60 people barricading themselves inside a mine and threatening to go on hunger strike (Turp-Balazs, 2021).
Once again, Jiu Valley was promised jobs and opportunities that never materialized, and the frustration was palpable. Community members have time and time again expressed feeling alienated from decision making processes on the future of their home (Turp-Balazs, 2021). To begin with, many residents were unaware that the region had slowly been incorporated into the EU's Just Transition Platform, a resource from the European Commission aiming to provide guidance and knowledge-sharing to European nations on how to best navigate just transitions to "sustainable, climate-neutral" economies (European Commission, n.d.; LaBelle et al., 2021). This disconnect can in part be attributed to the lack of tangible change from international development projects in the region, but also the lack of local representation in EU proceedings on Jiu Valley's energy transition. Bucharest politicians instead of Jiu Valley government officials engaged in talks with the EU, limiting the incorporation of local perspectives into existing projects (LaBelle et al., 2021). Interestingly, surveys polling Jiu Valley residents reveal that many feel greater trust in international organizations like the EU and local NGOs, with less trust in local and national authorities, trade unions, and media outlets (Nicola & Schmitz, 2022). These findings show that local communities feel they've been left in the dark on the mechanisms of the transition, and uncover widespread suspicion among residents that their government officials and media sources are motivated by profit rather than sensitivity to local issues (Nicola & Schmitz, 2022). While many respondents agreed that the region had potential for economic diversification, 41% still believe that weak development strategies that fail to attract all available funding for a just transition remain Jiu Valley's biggest challenge (Nicola & Schmitz, 2022). While EU efforts, particularly those targeting European coal communities, have gradually brought a more diverse array of stakeholders to the table, including local activists and NGOs, there is still much work to be done to reverse the harms of past top-down projects.
In interviews, miners have expressed concern over the loss of community identity and local economic power linked to the declining coal industry (LaBelle et al., 2021). Programs like the RWEA's wind power re-training failed to account for this widely-held sentiment for preservation rather than blind dismantlement, with Jiu Valley miners and community members envisioning a future where their coal lineage is not erased, but celebrated. The problem is not abandoned mine infrastructure, but a lack of substantive economic and political change in a region overlooked by industry and national government alike. Jiu Valley residents seek long-term opportunities, not band-aid solutions from distant officials they have historical distrust for. While a lack of funding may have harmed the RWEA's proposed program, its myopic view of what the Jiu Valley community wanted and needed was its biggest pitfall.
A Future of Preservation and Revitalization?
As the Jiu Valley community grapples with false promises and failed transitions, some have worked to both preserve and revitalize from a grassroots perspective. Ion Barbu, an ex-coal miner turned artist and activist, created the organization "Planeta Petrila" in 2012, based in the Jiu Valley town of Petrila (Bucată, 2020; Obršálová, 2017). The organization, made up of Jiu Valley community members and activists, seeks to preserve the cultural heritage of Petrila and other nearby coal towns. Programming from the organization has included tours for local architecture students of historical mine buildings, and workshops on how to plan alternative uses for these structures (Aiano, 2017). Other Planeta Petrila efforts have proposed converting abandoned mine buildings into restaurants, bars, and spaces to hold cultural events (Kulbaczewska-Figat, 2024). In 2016, a documentary was released by Romanian filmmaker Andrei Dăscălescu called Planeta Petrila, which follows the plight of Jiu Valley's remaining miners and highlights broader cultural and social challenges facing the region (Aiano, 2017). Barbu and Planeta Petrila are also centered in the film, particularly the organization's fight to stop local authorities from demolishing the oldest coal mining buildings in Romania. Barbu draws attention to the financial rewards of demolition reaped by corporations and the national government, where "the less they demolish, the less money they get," in contrast with prevailing local sentiments favoring preservation (Dăscălescu, 2016). The film premiered at the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam, as well as several festivals across Europe and Transylvania, acting as a testament to the growing momentum of grassroots activism in Jiu Valley (Obršálová, 2017).
Work like that of Planeta Petrila takes a refreshing, bottom-up approach to tackling Jiu Valley's simultaneously deep connection to coal and its need to bolster new futures for residents. With these local voices at the table, there is greater hope for Jiu Valley's self-determination. What remains the clearest takeaway from this case is that truly just transitions can't be successful without local vision and governance. There must be an eye for longevity in communities, and an attention to honoring heritage rather than wiping it clean, to ensure local communities are brought along into better futures.
Relevance to Advanced Nuclear Energy
The Jiu Valley case sheds light on not just the economic challenges of an energy transition, but also the cultural impacts that can unsettle fossil fuel communities as they turn to "green" energy economies. In the Jiu Valley, a total lack of community engagement from decisionmakers, as well as economic and political vulnerabilities of workforce training programs, minimized virtually all public benefits for locals. As proponents position advanced reactor projects as a potential savior for former coal communities (particularly those with precarious economic and employment situations), the takeaway from Jiu Valley, that transitions divorced from local wants, needs, and contexts will be ineffective, remains relevant.
Key Sources
Bucată, R. (2020, May 29). Ailing Romanian coal region sees new hope in EU Green Deal. Balkan Insight.
Dăscălescu, A. (Director). (2017, May 31). Planeta Petrila: Official trailer. [Video recording].
Kulbaczewska-Figat, M. (2024, February 19). Romania's Jiu Valley: Is there life after coal? Balkan Insight.
LaBelle, M., Bucată, R., & Stojilovska, A. (2021). Radical energy justice: A green deal for Romanian coal miners? Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 25(2), 142-154.
Nicola, S., & Schmitz, S. (2022). Discordant agendas on a just transition in Romanian coal mining areas: The case of the Jiu Valley. Moravian Geographical Reports, 30(4), 257-269.
References
Aiano, Z. (2017). Andrei Dăscălescu on Planet Petrila. East European Film Bulletin.
Bucată, R. (2020, May 29). Ailing Romanian coal region sees new hope in EU Green Deal. Balkan Insight.
Dăscălescu, A. (Director). (2017, May 31). Planeta Petrila: Official trailer. [Video recording].
European Commission. (n.d.). About the Just Transition Platform. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
Kulbaczewska-Figat, M. (2024, February 19). Romania's Jiu Valley: Is there life after coal? Balkan Insight.
LaBelle, M., Bucată, R., & Stojilovska, A. (2021). Radical energy justice: A green deal for Romanian coal miners? Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 25(2), 142-154.
Nicola, S., & Schmitz, S. (2022). Discordant agendas on a just transition in Romanian coal mining areas: The case of the Jiu Valley. Moravian Geographical Reports, 30(4), 257-269.
Obršálová, M. (2017, June 12). Success of Planet Petrila at Transilvania International Film Festival. Institute of Documentary Film.
Odobescu, V., Thoman, F., & Bigano, A. (2020, October 27). Romania's mining towns gamble future away. Balkan Insight.
Romanian Energy Ministry. (2019, July 10). 5.000 de mineri din Valea Jiului vor fi pregătiți ca tehnicieni în sectorul producerii energiei eoliene și a distribuției electricității.
Turp-Balazs, C. (2021, February 22). Why Romania's miners make the country's government anxious. Emerging Europe.
Photo: Panait Istrati with miners from the Lupeni area, 1929. Staff of Lupța newspaper / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
