Hosted in Brussels every year since 2003, the European Week of Regions and Cities 2017 continues to showcase the capacity of cities and regions to create growth and jobs, implement European Union Cohesion Policy and evidence the importance of the local and regional level for effective European governance. Drawing on findings submitted by convenors from selected workshops, organized by different institutions, on different but related topics this paper provides an overview of the key issues and conclusions of the workshop debates for the future of Cohesion Policy.
Four key pillars emerged:
- the increased importance of involving EU citizens;
- the renewed significance of institutions;
- the potential of new tools;
- and the importance of Cohesion Policy relaunch.
The images in this pamphlet were drawn by artist Matthew Buck during the workshop at which these findings were presented and the #CohesionAlliance was launched. The workshop was moderated by Sally Hardy, Chief Executive of the Regional Studies Association. The authors are Marsida Bandilli, a PhD researcher at the University of Antwerp and Ugo Fratesi, Associate Professor of Regional Economics at Politecnico di Milano.
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