Innovative citizen participation for cohesion policy: Lessons from five pilot projects

Join our workshop at EU Week of Regions and Cities 13 Oct 2021

We are taking part in the 19th European Week of Regions and Cities and are happy to invite you to participate in our online workshop “Innovative citizen participation for cohesion policy: lessons from five pilot projects” (13 October, 4:30–6:00 pm).

Registration is now open to all here.

Cities and regions are at the forefront of innovative citizen participation practices. Over the past years, five European regional authorities have worked with the OECD to design and implement ambitious initiatives that give citizens an important role in shaping cohesion policy priorities and local territorial development plans.

The first part of the workshop will focus on practical examples of innovative citizen participation in cohesion policy. Paz Díaz Nieto (Cantabria, General director of the department of EU funds, Regional Ministry of Economy and Finance) will talk about the lessons learned from the Besaya Citizens’ Jury. Bram De Kort (Interreg Flanders –the Netherlands, Director of Joint Secretariat) will then discuss the Cross-Border Citizens’ panel.

The second part of the workshop will zoom into theoretical and practical guidelines developed to support citizen participation in cohesion policy. Four regional representatives will share their experiences developing citizen participation guidelines: Daniela Ferrara (Regione Emilia Romagna, Coordination of programming and implementation of the ERDF and ESF projects, Public manager), Edyta Jaszczuk (CEUTP, Expert in the Department of Transport Analysis and Programming), Simona Vatafu (Interreg Romania-Bulgaria, Public manager), and Bram De Kort (Interreg Flanders –the Netherlands, Director of Joint Secretariat).

The event will be moderated by Claudia Chwalisz, Innovative Citizen Participation lead, Open Government and Civic Space Unit at OECD.

Join us to discuss how citizen participation can improve decision making in cohesion policy and foster trust.

We look forward to seeing you there!