The green transition is changing jobs, skills, and local economies. It poses new challenges but also opportunities, both of which will differ across places within countries. This report, Job Creation and Local Economic Development 2023: Bridging the Great Green Divide, provides novel evidence on those risks and opportunities across regions in 30 OECD countries.

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/nord2023-036/ Green jobs are key to realising our climate goals, but only one in three green workers in the Nordic region is a woman. This think piece – a collaboration between the Nordic Council of Ministers and the International Labour Organization – discusses Nordic gender barriers and opportunities in the green transition. It looks into current definitions of green jobs, who’s ahead and who is falling behind in the green jobs race and which green and sustainable skills that are needed for a sustainable and gender-equal Nordic future. As the Nordic Council of Ministers aims to become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030, this think-piece provides case studies and consolidates some suggestions and lessons learned from the Nordic countries and other parts of the world – for the road ahead.

The Brussels-Capital Region has witnessed significant improvements in its labour market over the past decade. Local job creation has been driven by ample opportunities for highly-skilled workers whom the Brussels-Capital Region attracts from its surrounding regions, the European Union, and beyond.

Over the past few years, the global economy has suffered profound shocks that have had a marked impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs. While government support protected SMEs from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, new threats have emerged.

The Future of Rural Manufacturing provides insights on the transformations that have occurred in manufacturing across rural regions in recent decades. It describes opportunities and challenges in this context, highlighting those relating to climate and demographic change and digitalisation, as well as shifting patterns in globalisation.

OECD countries continue to face persistent gender inequalities in social and economic life. Young women often reach higher levels of education than young men, but remain under-represented in fields with the most lucrative careers.

This report, Regional Outlook 2023 – The Longstanding Geography of Inequalities, provides novel evidence on the evolution of inequalities between OECD regions across several dimensions (including income and access to services) over the past twenty years.