Accelerating Sustainability in Telecoms (AST) Project

Funded by the European Social Fund+ and SocPL, the Accelerating Sustainability in Telecoms (AST), is dedicated to accelerating the twin transition—combining digital and green innovations—within the telecom sector. Spearheaded by ETNO and UNI Europa ICTS, and supported by Visionary Analytics, the project aims to promote sustainable practices and foster technological growth.

The AST project focused on integrating new digital technologies and workplace reforms to achieve environmental sustainability while ensuring that telecom companies and workers are well-prepared for the future. As the industry undergoes a transformation due to the twin transitions—digital and green—the AST project plays a crucial role in supporting telecom companies and social partners to navigate this shift effectively.

Over two years, it generated a unique body of evidence, tools, and policy proposals that demonstrate how technological innovation, environmental performance, and social inclusion can reinforce each other.

What are the key objectives of the AST project?

Raise Awareness

The AST project seeks to increase understanding and awareness of the innovative technologies driving the twin transitions. By doing so, it aims to help telecom companies, workers, and social partners recognize the benefits and opportunities that come with these advancements.

Capacity Building

A core objective is to strengthen the ability of social partners—unions, employers, and other stakeholders—to support the adoption of these new technologies. This involves enhancing their capacity to manage change, protect workers' rights, and ensure that everyone is equipped with the necessary skills for the future.

Practical Guidelines

AST will develop and distribute comprehensive guidelines on how to implement new technologies within the telecom sector, manage their effects on the labor market, and address skills gaps. These guidelines will serve as a tool for companies and workers to adapt to the ongoing transformation.

Social Dialogue

Fostering effective communication between social partners is another central goal. Through this dialogue, the AST project seeks to ensure that the workforce's needs and concerns are addressed, and that the twin transition is managed in a way that is fair, inclusive, and benefits all stakeholders involved.

1. AST Final Stakeholder Conference (4 June 2025, Brussels – Pentahotel)

The AST Final Stakeholder Conference gathered representatives from telecom operators, unions, EU institutions, and research organisations. The event marked the culmination of two years of collaboration and served as a platform to validate results, debate future priorities, and endorse the Joint Declaration on Accelerating Sustainability in Telecoms.

Agenda & Joint Declaration

The official programme of the day highlighted the sessions, speakers, and endorsement of the Joint Declaration, which formalises the long-term cooperation between Connect Europe and UNI Europa ICTS on sustainability, skills, and fair transition.

Opening Remarks and Keynote Messages

Alessandro Gropelli (Connect Europe) and Oliver Rœthig (UNI Europa ICTS) opened the event by reaffirming that technological progress must advance together with social progress. They emphasised that social dialogue is not a constraint to innovation but a governance mechanism for a fair and human-centred twin transition.

Keynotes by Franca Salis Madinier (EESC/CFDT-Cadres) and Annick Starren (EU-OSHA) connected the telecom debate to Europe’s broader digital and Green Deal agendas, stressing inclusion, equality, and worker well-being.

Presentations

“Technological Disruption, Skills, and Social Dialogue in the Telecom Sector”

Speaker: Greta Pozzo (Visionary Analytics)

Her presentation summarised AST’s analytical findings across 5G, AI, IoT, and other emerging technologies. It mapped how these technologies influence environmental efficiency, employment, and governance, and proposed three future scenarios for Europe’s telecom ecosystem — highlighting that shared governance and co-regulation offer the most sustainable path forward.

Anchoring Sustainability in Social Dialogue – Company and Union Practices

Moderator: Odysseus Chatzidis (Deutsche Telekom/ver.di, UNI Europa ICTS)
Speakers: Florian Feillet (Orange), Marijo Kožić (Hrvatski Telekom), Lina Nardone (European DIGITAL SME Alliance)

This session showcased concrete company experiences integrating sustainability and social dialogue:

Orange presented its ESG model linking circular economy, climate action, and employee empowerment.
Hrvatski Telekom illustrated how dialogue platforms anticipate reskilling needs amid automation.
The European DIGITAL SME Alliance highlighted the importance of SME inclusion in skills partnerships and sustainable innovation ecosystems.

Together, these cases demonstrated that sustainability in telecoms requires collective intelligence and shared responsibility across employers, unions, and innovators.

Policy Debate – Social Dialogue as a Driver of ESG Transformation

Moderator: Paolo Grassia (Connect Europe)
Panelists: Elke Maes (ACV-Puls), Jana Kovandzic-Pataky (A1 Group), Sigurt Vitols (ETUI)

This high-level debate explored how ESG and collective bargaining are converging in the telecom sector:

Trade unions emphasised embedding ESG goals in collective agreements.
Companies showed how sustainability KPIs are integrated into corporate governance and staff engagement.
Research experts underlined that worker participation enhances companies’ sustainability performance and trust.

The discussion confirmed AST’s central message: dialogue transforms ESG from compliance into transformation.

Presentation of the Joint Declaration

Speaker: Grégory Gillet (BT, Connect Europe)

The declaration, endorsed by Connect Europe and UNI Europa ICTS, sets out three shared priorities:

Embedding sustainability and ESG into collective bargaining.
Developing lifelong learning and reskilling mechanisms for the twin transition.
Establishing permanent cooperation under the Telecoms Social Dialogue Committee.

It stands as AST’s most tangible legacy and a roadmap for future collaboration.

Final Takeaways and Closing Remarks

Speakers: Eva Zehetner (A1 Group) and Ian McArdle (CWU Ireland)

They concluded that AST’s most valuable achievement is creating a common language between employers, employees, and policymakers. They called for institutional continuity beyond the project, turning AST into a living platform for cooperation and innovation.

Conference Recording

The AST Final Conference Recording offers a complete audiovisual overview of the discussions, presentations, and outcomes from the event held on 4 June 2025 at the Pentahotel Brussels.

The video captures all key moments of the day — from the opening remarks by Connect Europe and UNI Europa ICTS to the research presentation, company panels, policy debate, and the signing of the Joint Declaration.

AST Publications

AST Final Report (2025)

The AST Final Report, developed jointly by Connect Europe and UNI Europa ICTS with analytical input from Visionary Analytics, serves as the core synthesis of the project’s research, dialogue, and outcomes.

It consolidates findings from the entire project cycle — from the first research phase and roundtables to the final stakeholder conference — offering a panoramic view of how social partners can steer the twin digital and green transition in Europe’s telecom sector.

The report explores:

Key drivers of change in ICT and telecoms, including digitalisation, sustainability imperatives, and new forms of work.
Emerging disruptive technologies (AI, 5G/6G, IoT, cloud, quantum, blockchain, edge computing, xRAN, etc.) and their environmental and social impacts.
Skills and labour market transformations, analysing new competencies required for sustainable telecom operations and digital inclusion.
The role of social dialogue, showing how structured cooperation between employers and unions can mitigate risks and maximise benefits of innovation.
Lessons learned and recommendations, defining how the Telecoms Social Dialogue Committee (SDC) can institutionalise sustainability objectives through collective bargaining, governance, and ESG integration.

The report positions telecoms not just as service providers but as key enablers of decarbonisation, capable of driving sustainability across multiple sectors (energy, transport, manufacturing).

It concludes with policy directions for aligning the telecom industry with EU frameworks while fostering fairness, upskilling, and worker participation.

Infographics & Policy Guidelines Package (2025)

The Infographics & Policy Guidelines Package is a strategic and visual synthesis of the AST project’s results, combining ten data-rich infographics with a companion Policy Guidelines Report.

It was designed to make the project’s complex findings accessible to policymakers, social partners, companies, and researchers.

Each infographic translates a key dimension of the AST dialogue into an actionable insight — from skills for the green-digital transition to responsible AI, inclusive innovation, and measurable sustainability.

The linked guidelines elaborate practical steps for implementation across four main pillars identified by social partners:

Skills, Employability, and Lifelong Learning – embedding upskilling and reskilling in collective agreements and EU-funded training ecosystems.
Responsible Use of Technology – defining ethical boundaries for AI, data governance, and automation.
Environmental Sustainability at the Workplace – integrating measurable energy and carbon targets in social dialogue.
Social Dialogue and Governance of the Twin Transition – evolving from consultation to co-decision mechanisms through joint committees and permanent SDC working groups.

Additional sections feature case studies (A1, TIM, Orange, Altice), cross-cutting principles on diversity and inclusion, and recommendations for EU and national policymakers to align telecom ESG performance with the CSRD, ESRS, and EU Taxonomy.

The publication encapsulates AST’s vision of a “fair and participatory twin transition,” where innovation and sustainability advance hand in hand through structured dialogue and shared governance.

Joint Social Partner Declaration on Accelerating Sustainability in Telecoms

The Joint Declaration, co-signed by Connect Europe and UNI Europa ICTS during the Final Conference, stands as the political and strategic legacy of the AST project.

It formalises the long-term commitment of employers and workers to embed Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles at the heart of industrial relations and telecom policy.

The declaration defines three concrete pillars of future cooperation:

Embedding Sustainability into Collective Bargaining and Company Strategies – ensuring ESG objectives are negotiated and monitored jointly between management and workers.
Developing Skills for the Twin Transition – creating permanent mechanisms for digital and green upskilling, promoting inclusion, and addressing gender and age gaps in the workforce.
Institutionalising Dialogue and Governance – establishing permanent working groups on sustainability, skills, and digitalisation under the EU Telecoms Social Dialogue Committee, ensuring continuity and measurable outcomes.

By transforming AST’s insights into actionable governance principles, the Joint Declaration sets a benchmark for how European social partners can operationalise sustainability, strengthen social cohesion, and ensure that innovation remains human-centred and inclusive.

3. AST Sustainability Strategy Toolkit (2025)

The AST Sustainability Strategy Toolkit is the final strategic deliverable of the AST project, ensuring that its results remain visible and actionable beyond the project’s lifetime.

It provides a roadmap for institutionalising sustainability within the Telecoms Social Dialogue Committee (SDC) and across national affiliates.

The Toolkit sets out:

Mechanisms for long-term governance and follow-up under the SDC.
Plans for pilot sustainability initiatives in telecom companies and unions (e.g. circular networks, energy efficiency, ethical AI, reskilling).
Guidelines for continuous dissemination, including digital repositories, multilingual materials, and case studies.
A funding coordination framework to align future EU projects with AST’s objectives.
Monitoring and evaluation principles ensuring accountability and adaptability as the EU twin transition evolves.