Accelerating the ecological transition through worker participation in best-in-class firms in Belgium: Four cases of institutional experimentation

The escalating ecological crisis persists despite shifts in global political priorities. However, current policy frameworks like Just Transition fail to fully recognize and leverage workers’ contribution to the ecological transition. Grounded in contemporary literature that identifies the democratization of work as a means of tackling the ecological crisis, this article presents an exploratory, multi-case study conducted between 2023 and 2025, based on four “best-in-class” firms in Belgium (comprising both traditional firms and cooperatives), analysed as cases of institutional experimentation for better work. Utilizing a novel framework and qualitative methods – including interviews, observations and documentary analysis – we examine how worker participation in decision-making shapes firms’ ecological outcomes. Our findings illustrate that, under specific enabling conditions, worker participation plays a decisive role in consolidating firms’ core ecological activities. This participation takes place outside traditional channels of industrial relations, which currently lack ecological relevance. We conclude that expanding the scope of such channels at the firm level – and thereby deepening democracy at work – is an indispensable strategy for accelerating the ecological transition and achieving better work.