TU Dublin highlights FITTER-EU on World Day of Social Justice
On World Day of Social Justice, a day that promotes equality, dignity, and opportunity for all supporting the 2026 theme ‘Empowering Inclusion: Bridging Gaps for Social Justice,’ TU Dublin are highlighting the role of research and innovation in building fairer, more inclusive societies.
At TU Dublin, the theme is strongly reflected in the work of Dr Sara Clavero, Research Fellow at the EDI Directorate and Deputy Director of the Research Centre on Inclusive and Equitable Cultures (RINCE) and Dr Maria Chiara Leva, Lecturer and Principal Investigator at the Sustainability and Health Research Hub (SHRH). Their work in research and innovation focuses on understanding how policy and societal change affect different groups, and on developing real-world solutions that reduce inequality rather than reinforce it.
A key example of this work is the FITTER-EU project, funded by the European Union and coordinated by TU Dublin. FITTER-EU responds directly to the social justice challenge posed by Europe’s green and digital transitions. While cleaner mobility, energy-efficient housing, and renewable energy create new opportunities, their benefits and costs are not always shared equally. Without inclusive policy design, these transitions risk placing greater pressure on certain communities and widening existing social gaps.
FITTER-EU aims to address this risk by developing a comprehensive, practical approach to understanding how digital and green transition policies affect different societal groups. The project brings together advanced research, data analysis, stakeholder engagement, and modelling to create an interactive, gamified digital platform powered by an Intelligent Predictive Decision Support System. This platform will help policymakers identify at-risk groups and test policy options in advance, enabling them to design mitigation measures that are socially informed and grounded in evidence.
Working with stakeholders across six European countries, the project ensures that local experiences and realities shape its outputs. By translating research into tools that can be directly used in policymaking, FITTER-EU demonstrates how research and innovation can bridge gaps between ambition and impact.
Through projects such as FITTER-EU, TU Dublin’s Research and Innovation community is helping to ensure that Europe’s green and digital ambitions are pursued in ways that empower inclusion, reduce inequalities, and support fair and dignified lives for all.
The FITTER-EU conference will take place on Thursday, 26th November, at the Joint Research Centre in Seville, Spain. Further details will be announced in due course.