Showcasing innovative EU-funded projects and good practices, the 11-14 October event highlighted how cohesion policy and funding has helped communities navigate the COVID-19 crisis in countless ways – and how these are crucial for promoting long-term growth once the pandemic eases.
Co-hosted by DG REGIO and the Committee of the Regions, the 19th annual forum took place online for a second year in a row and drew more than 17 600 participants. Under the motto ‘Together for Recovery’, sessions – held on a user-friendly platform encouraging interaction – covered four themes: cohesion, green transition, digital transition, and citizen engagement.
Emphasising partnerships and results – and looking to local EU-supported success stories for inspiration – participants targeted practical measures to promote new investment in these areas to keep creating jobs and improving lives.
With a new Eurobarometer survey showing that overall awareness of EU-funded projects has risen to 41 %, up from 34 % a decade ago, engaging with citizens was another focal point of the event. Promoting and supporting a free press, with a spotlight on young journalists who have an interest in EU matters, was also on the agenda.
Kick-off: from emergency to recovery
Kicking off the event with a high-level debate, the opening session focused on transitioning from an emergency to a sustainable recovery.
‘We have historical support for a long-term recovery that has got to be more future-oriented, more digital, more cohesive and also more environmentally sensitive,’ said co-host Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms.
‘So, what we have to do, all together, is to make the best of this incredible opportunity and to make it come down to the citizens – through the regions, through local entities – so that everybody can share this stimulus for more sustainable growth.’
Set up as a TV talk show on a bright set complete with sofas and a small studio, other contributors included co-host Apostolos Tzitzikostas, President of the Committee of the Regions, elected representatives from regions around Europe, MEP Younous Omarjee, and members of youth organisations.
Throughout, examples of EU-funded projects framed the session’s fruitful exchanges.
These included the Interreg Salute-Zdravstvo project, which shows the benefits of cross-border healthcare cooperation to reach some of society’s most vulnerable people. The project provides access to services to pregnant women and new mothers, young people with mental health issues and autistic children living in Gorizia, Italy, and the nearby Slovenian cities of Nova Gorica and Šempeter-Vrtojba.
Speaking from the French city of Grenoble, municipal councillor Claus Habfast meanwhile hailed EU funding for helping to make local heating more environmentally friendly. The city cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 25 % between 2006 and 2016 and was named the European Green Capital for 2022.
Citizens’ Dialogue
Rounding out the first day of the event with an ear to the ground, Commissioner Ferreira met for a Citizens’ Dialogue with eight young journalists – all alumni from the EU’s Youth4Regions media training programme.
The reports and exchanges that followed revealed the flexibility and impact of cohesion policy as the pandemic raged – and its importance going forward.
Among the EU-funded initiatives spotlighted was a unique mobile hospital used to administer COVID-19 vaccines in Spain, developed as part of the EGALURG project. Another project enabled Polish schoolchildren from lower income homes to take part in online learning during lockdowns thanks to laptops provided through EU funding.
Throughout the session, Commissioner Ferreira answered questions both from the journalists and from online participants.
During one poignant exchange on the green transition, Croatian journalist Tea Mihanović said it was difficult to motivate people in parts of her home country and neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina to think green since it raised existential concerns.
‘How can the EU make sure that this will be a fair transition, not only on paper, but actually tangibly in these people’s lives?’ she asked Commissioner Ferreira in a frank follow-up.
The commissioner responded that refitting buildings could lead to new job opportunities. She also highlighted the role of the Just Transition Fund and said the EU was looking at good examples of new businesses that could start in impacted areas to create new, well-paying jobs.
‘Because without that, you cannot retain the young talent that we have, fortunately, in Europe,’ Commissioner Ferreira added.
In her video, Mihanović reported on how the Interreg EU-funded Smart Schools project is making schools more energy-efficient in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
During the Citizens’ Dialogue, Commissioner Ferreira also launched a survey that enabled participants to have their say on the event’s themes.
The Megalizzi-Niedzielski Prize
In a ceremony underscoring the importance of a free press in upholding EU values, two young journalists – Jack Ryan from Ireland and Irene Barahona Fernández of Spain – were chosen as recipients of this year’s Megalizzi-Niedzielski prize.
Launched in 2019, the award for aspiring journalists honours the memory of reporters Antonio Megalizzi and Bartek Pedro Orent-Niedzielski, who died from injuries sustained in a terrorist attack in the French city of Strasbourg in December 2018.
The winners were among six finalists still at the start of their careers, who were lauded for their commitment to quality journalism. They were selected from a pool of more than 350 applicants of the Youth4Regions programme.
The prize was jointly awarded on the second day of the event by Commissioner Ferreira and MEP Omarjee, who chairs the European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development and knew both slain journalists personally.
The winners each received a statuette and a camera.
‘I’m just overwhelmed … this is an inspiration,’ Barahona Fernández said. ‘We need to think local, national and international. Our mission is to just work for the citizens and to make society a little bit better.’
Ryan, noting he knew early on that journalism was his calling, said he aimed to tell stories of substance.
During the ceremony, Commissioner Ferreira launched a fifth call for proposals for independent reporting on cohesion policy. The Media Programme has an overall budget of EUR 7 million. The deadline for applications is 11 January 2022.
‘You will have full, I repeat – full, editorial independence,’ Ferreira pledged. ‘Europe needs good friends. But sometimes the best thing a friend can do is to point out a mistake.’
Eurobarometer results are in!
A new Eurobarometer survey on public awareness and perception of EU regional policy was released to start the third day of the event. Among the findings was that of the 41 % of Europeans aware of EU projects, 80 % believe that these have a positive impact on their regions or cities. Meanwhile, 69 % – or nearly 7 in 10 people – are aware that regional policy supports the post-COVID-19 recovery.
Technology as communication tool?
Could technology hold the key to further boosting awareness of EU-funded projects while also increasing transparency? One of the sessions explored that very question with the presentation of two EU innovations: Kohesio.eu and the Horizon 2020-Interreg Matchmaking Tool. Both allow for project data visualisation on maps, as well as data analysis.
Kohesio, which is still in test and pilot mode, is expected to be officially launched in March 2022 with information from all 27 EU countries. Using open-source tools, it aims to create a publicly accessible knowledge base of EU co-funded projects and their beneficiaries. It also intends to promote both visibility and transparency. It currently covers the Cohesion Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund, with plans in place to integrate Interreg projects.
Users can search for projects by clicking on a country on a map or on a ‘Projects Near Me’ tab to see initiatives in their immediate neighbourhood and beyond. Projects can also be explored by themes or keywords and other filter options.
‘Our first target audience is the general public,’ said Anne Thollard, knowledge management team leader at DG REGIO. She added that journalists, policymakers and regional policy experts might also find the tool useful.
As the name suggests, the Horizon 2020-Interreg Matchmaking Tool is an interactive dashboard integrating data from the Horizon 2020 and Interreg programmes.
Incorporating different ways of classifying EU project data, it gives visual insights on EU research and innovation (R&I) at European, national and regional levels. In particular, the tool allows for comparison of projects, notably their regional and R&I thematic dimension.
The audience for the tool includes regional authorities, beneficiaries and policymakers, Daniel Szmytkowski, project officer at DG Research and Innovation, told the session.
RegioStars
This year’s REGIOSTARS Awards include a special category to celebrate 2021 as the European Year of Rail. Speakers from that category’s five finalists were joined in a session by one of the jury members to discuss the projects’ innovations in safety and sustainability, not only for rail travel but also for multi-mode transport.
Winners will be announced on 2 December 2021.
E-democracy
EU funding is helping local administrative authorities rise to the challenge of implementing e-democracy measures and the COVID-19 crisis confining people to their homes has accelerated their need, according to a workshop on the topic.
While some were well on their way to putting measures in place before the pandemic hit, others are just starting out.
For example, Adrian-Ioan Veștea of the Braşov County Council in Romania said his country was still in an early phase of digitalising the local public administration and that EU-funded projects would help boost the quality of the public services provided.
‘Therefore, citizens and private organisations will benefit from a public service at European standards,’ he said via video message.
André Viola is a member of the Departmental Council of Aude in France that implemented several e-democracy measures before the pandemic. With support from the European Social Fund, the Departmental Council was able to tackle digital divide issues in the city of Carcassonne and elsewhere, including raising awareness among young people about internet use, he said.
Sharing valuable advice with his counterparts, he noted it was important to have the proper infrastructure – broadband internet – in place before implementation of any measures.
#VoiceOfTheWeekSurvey
Results from the first-ever #VoiceOfTheWeekSurvey launched during the Citizens’ Dialogue were unveiled during the closing ceremony. In total, there were more than 1 300 respondents.
A snapshot of results, outlined by category:
Cohesion: from emergency to resilience
Green transition
Digital transition
Citizens’ engagement
In her closing remarks, Commissioner Ferreira turned her focus to young people, praising them for their engagement and energy in bringing about positive change in the areas covered during the week.
‘I just thank them for being interested in these kinds of topics because it is their future that we are shaping,’ she said.
Find out more:
European Week of Regions and Cities 2021
