European Policies Research Centre

Starting soon ⌛

Join us for our first autumn webinar with Julia Bachtrögler-Unger from the Austrian Institute of Economic Research as we examine how administrative capacity influences the effective use of Cohesion Policy funds 💡

Register here🔗 strath.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬❓🤔

You can catch up on 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬 from the most recent series (and more!) on our YouTube channel 🎞️👉 www.youtube.com/@eprcstrathc...

Small towns – big challenges? - EPRC Small and medium-sized towns (SMST) have often been overlooked by both policymakers and academia. They can get caught in the middle between urban development policy and rural development policy. Howev...

🏘️ Small & medium-sized towns matter more than ever. Caught between rural & urban policy, they’re key to cohesion across Europe. Stefan Kah's blog highlights how countries support them—and the challenges they face.
🔗Read now: eprc-strath.org/small-towns-...

🗣️This morning 𝗜𝗤-𝗡𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 joined our coffee break workshop '𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗴' 🍵

𝗜𝗤-𝗡𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝘀 are a regular series of interactive sessions where partners exchange ideas and tackle key policy implementation challenges together🤝

Find out more ➡️🔗https://shorturl.at/4yMOr

#IQNet

Conclusions show that the narrative of the "places that don't matter" is effective in explaining the anti-system voting behaviour in lagging-behind regions. But social values, beliefs and wealth distribution help explain political discontent in regions not characterised by economic decline.

Based on a survey with over 351 thousand respondents, the following picture ⬇️ of life and political discontent emerges in European regions.

There is a positive association between life discontent and EU scepticism, and further research by the authors has demonstrated the geographic reality is complex. While discontent regions base this on economic opportunities, political-discontent regions base this on cultural values.

Giovanni Perucca and Camilla Lenzi explore this, and under which conditions protest voting manifests.

From the early 1990s there is an upsurge of #populist and #antisystem movements, leading to the emergence of the study of the #geography of #discontent and the "revenge of the places that don't matter". However, #lifediscontent remains a latent and unobserved element.

🖥Our webinar on "At The Roots of the #Geography of Life and #Political #Discontent" is going to start soon!

🧵 Follow this thread for key messages ⬇

🌊 EPRC’s Dr Irene McMaster spoke at the first Developing Irish Sea Co-operation (DISC) symposium in Belfast, sharing EU insights on the value of long-term cross-border collaboration post-Brexit. A key step in strengthening Irish Sea co-operation!
🔗Read more: bit.ly/3FFwlKj

From insightful sessions and hands-on workshops to local project, we are looking forward to learning, sharing, and shaping smarter, more efficient ways to deliver impact on the ground. More updates to come!

#EPRC #IQNet #CohesionPolicy #RegionalDevelopment #SCOs #FNLCs

Together, we will explore ways to improve the financial management of 𝗖𝗼𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆, with a focus on 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 (𝗦𝗖𝗢𝘀) and 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 (𝗙𝗡𝗟𝗖𝘀). This is a great opportunity to share experiences, challenges, and ideas with colleagues in other countries and regions.

🎉 We're about to kick off the 𝟱𝟴𝘁𝗵 𝗜𝗤-𝗡𝗲𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 here in beautiful 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸-𝗼𝗻-𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗻, 𝗜𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱! Over the next three days, we will be bringing together IQ-Net colleagues from across Europe, the European Commission and our research centre, EPRC Delft.

#CAP and #LEADER are benefitting #nonurban areas and #CCIs the most, even though they are not at the core of measures. LEADER programmes support projects based on the choices and actions of local populations, funding #social and #institutional #innovations.

Andre Torre presented on Developments in CCIs. He argues that #CohesionPolicy has devoted many programmes for the development of #peripheralareas, but very few to CCIs. #SmartSpecialisation focuses investment on technological innovation, and this is not the core of #CCIs.

As recommendations, it is crucial to embed strategies with local knowledge and actors for these to be sustainable. Network organisations can be a bridge between #EU #culturalpolicy and regional experts. And programmes like ECOC, LEADER and others should be better connected.

Programmes supporting this include #CreativeEurope, #ERDF, #INTERREG, #LEADER programme, and #VoicesofCulture.

IN-SITU project findings argue there is no clearly defined strategy toward #culturalpolicy for and in #nonurban territories.

Regarding European Cultural Policy in general, it has a symbolic task of representing a European #identity. This has been developed top-down but attempts have been made to develop a bottom-up strategy. #Nonurban areas are still often marginalised in #EU #culturalpolicy.

In each of the 6 lab areas, they selected 2 initiatives or entrepreneurs that applied to creatively address local issues. They are witnessing a shift in how these areas and work is being viewed as the project progresses. These places are being reframed as places where culture and innovation is made.

They have also created a #RuralPactCommunityPlatform that aims to create a robust collaboration network: ruralpact.rural-vision.europa.eu/index_en

The project areas and partners are detailed in the snapshots below.

The IN-SITU project delves into a gap in research and policy in what concerns innovation in non-urban areas. Its goal is to better understand forms, processes and #governance needs of #cultural and #creative actors located in #nonurban areas of #Europe, and to enable these actors as #innovators.

🖥Our webinar on Place-based #Innovation of #cultural and #creative work in #nonurban areas is going to start soon!

🧵 Follow this thread for key messages ⬇

🎤 EPRC at #RSA25 - Thu 8 May cont.

👨‍🏫 David Clelland & Dr Liliana Fonseca, The University Civic Mission in Peripheral Regions: Exploring the Role of Branch Campuses in Regional Development

🎤 EPRC at #RSA25 - Thu 8 May
👨‍🏫 Prof. John Bachtler (Plenary Panel), The Future of Regional Policy, with Duarte Rodrigues (PT), Renata Calak (PL), & Dr Raphael L’Hoest (DE)

👨‍🏫 Prof. John Bachtler & Dr Martin Ferry, The Changing Paradigms of Regional Policies and Implications for Governance

🎤 EPRC at #RSA25 - Wed 7 May

👩‍🏫 Rachel Maguire & Liliana Fonseca, Cohesion Policy and Regional Innovation: Governance and Implementation of Smart Specialisation Strategies, 2022–2026

👨‍🏫 Martin Ferry & Stefan Kah, The Value of Territorial Instruments in Embedding Cohesion Policy's Urban Dimension

📍 EPRC at #RSA25 | 6–9 May 2025 | University of Porto
We're joining 840 participants to debate regional transformation at the RSA Annual Conference, hosted by Universidade do Porto.

Prof. John Bachtler, Dr Martin Ferry, Dr Liliana Fonseca & Rachel Maguire will share insights across 5 sessions.

✅See image for key takeaways!

📎 Presentations and other workshop resources available on the EPRC website: bit.ly/3YSVGqw

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🗣️ Listening to practitioners: new ideas for reforming #CohesionPolicy
On 28 April, Polish EU Council Presidency, Wielkopolska & EPRC co-organised a workshop with EU, national & regional actors to discuss simplification, performance-based budgeting & the evolving governance of Cohesion Policy.
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