Belval, Luxembourg, February 9, 2024

The WinWin4WorkLife project has set sail on a groundbreaking journey under the Horizon Europe program[i], initiating a 3.5-year exploration aimed at comprehensively understanding and addressing the impacts of Remote Work Arrangements [ii](RWA) in Europe. This interdisciplinary initiative brings together experts in economics, geography, sociology, urban planning, health, and law to identify key conditions for a healthy work-life balance, develop forecasting models, and formulate evidence-based policies for sustainable RWA.

Mission: Enriching Interdisciplinary Understanding of RWA's social, economic, and spatial impacts

At the core of the WinWin4WorkLife project is a mission to enrich interdisciplinary understanding of RWA's social, economic, and spatial impacts. By amalgamating the perspectives of both employers and employees, the project aims to pinpoint essential living and working conditions that foster a healthy work-life balance and gender equity. This mission spans diverse environments, encompassing urban, rural, and cross-border areas.

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us changed our work practices and now combine office work with working from home. But it is not always clear how to do this while maintaining productivity and a healthy work-life balance. Moreover, in some areas, we see companies and households rethinking their location and moving out of cities. Remote work can thus become a threat to the vibrancy of our cities and increase pressure on rural areas. At the same time, remote work can also be a solution for these rural areas, some of which are facing a shrinking and ageing population. The WinWin4WorkLife project therefore aims to provide a better understanding of such social, economic, and spatial impacts.” - Veronique Van Acker, WinWin4WorkLife coordinator.

Data-Driven Exploration Across Europe

To achieve these ambitious objectives, WinWin4WorkLife will gather novel and comprehensive data in five European countries—Germany, Finland, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Slovakia. These countries have been strategically chosen to represent distinct welfare systems, housing and labor markets, and cultural norms related to remote work.

Collaborating closely with stakeholders and citizens, WinWin4WorkLife is poised to produce tangible outcomes that will shape the landscape of remote work. This includes the development of a shared vocabulary, an updated conceptual diagram of private and work life interactions, and the creation of open datasets sourced from employer surveys, employee surveys, time-use diaries, and qualitative interviews conducted in the case studies.

Establishing Typologies and Spatial Forecasting Models

Furthermore, the project aims to establish typologies of employers and employees based on RWA support and intensity, offering multilevel perspectives. Considerations encompass urban compared to rural companies, skills shortage, willingness to downsize or relocate, health, productivity, inequalities, and the digital skills divide.

The project's extensive plan includes delivering five multi-scale spatial forecasting models, providing representations of various RWA adoption scenarios and projections of their spatial and environmental impacts. These models will cover urban, rural, regional, and cross-border areas, offering valuable insights for policymakers, researchers, and the broader community. With co-creation with stakeholders and citizens, these models will lead to the development of evidence-based spatial policies.

We are excited to lead WinWin4WorkLife, bringing together expertise to shape the future of remote work in Europe.     
- Veronique Van Acker, WinWin4WorkLife Coordinator.