Case-study - The transition of Belgium towards a low carbon society: A macroeconomic analysis fed by a participative approach

We describe a new approach for analyzing the socio-economic impacts of a low carbon transition. It consists in feeding a traditional macroeconomic model of a national economy, namely Belgium, with the results of a participative modelling exercise based on a prospective energy accounting model, the so-called Calculator. While contributing to overcoming important economic modelling barriers, this approach fosters stakeholders engagement and allows for extending the scope of the energy transition impact analysis. •The evaluation of the socio-economic impacts of the low carbon transition requires novel approaches.•We present such a new approach that mixes traditional economic modelling with participative modelling.•This new approach contributes to overcoming important economic modelling barriers.•It also fosters stakeholders engagement and allows to extend the scope of the impact analysis.