2025 EURegionsWeek Reflections

As the newly appointed Head of Partnership & Engagement at the RSA, I went to Brussels for my first European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC), a two-day event with 220 sessions and over 300 speakers, attracting more than 6,000 participants from all over Europe. 

Attending with Alan Kinder, in addition to joining sessions, we arranged meeting with regional leaders from across Europe and colleagues from European Union institutions who have worked with the RSA to gather information on the issues they are dealing with and how they might be assisted by the work of the RSA.

My personal objective was quite simple: to listen, learn, and meet as many people and ask as many questions as possible. With no previous experience of the event, I am extremely grateful to Professor John Bachtler who made time to provide valuable background context ahead of my departure.

A Different Language of Debate

The first thing I noticed was how different the presentation style was from the academic settings I’m more familiar with. Representatives from EU institutions and regional or city administrations naturally delivered structured, policy-focused presentations – sometimes in policy shorthand I wasn’t familiar with. Academics question, unpack, and build argument from evidence. Sessions that combined these approaches brought the debate to life. In the session on ‘The Right to Stay’ Professor Ron Boschma set the wider evidence-based context regarding the importance of local agency, local choice and local opportunity for cross-border collaboration to deliver successful place-based policy. This provided an effective foundation for the following speakers who shared practitioner insights based their experience, demonstrating how evidence-based perspectives can inform and clarify policy discourse.

Cohesion Policy and the Politics of Simplification

Of course, the centre of energy and debate was the proposed remodelling of the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) — particularly the question of who will control the next wave of cohesion funds. The official line is that funds need to be simplified and brought “closer to the beneficiaries.” That sounds fair enough, but the proposed shift toward national-level allocation clearly worries city and regional leaders, who fear losing direct access to cohesion funding. Once I’d sensed the audience sentiment in the opening session, I was later surprised to witness only one hostile intervention from the floor of a session (in the Cities session mentioned below).

Cities – Don’t mess with the driving force of cohesion:

I was especially impressed by Prof. Iván Tosics, who presented evidence from eight European cities showing how urban authorities have successfully used cohesion funds over recent years. His message was clear and cautionary: centralising funds at national level risks turning cohesion policy into a political tool, distancing it from the cities where real change happens.

Regional Voice and Negotiation

A session on how Level 2 regions work with Level 1 regions to lobby upwards really brought the complexity of EU governance to life. Natalia Eremia from Moldova gave an excellent case study showing how her region has built alliances, negotiated patiently, and turned strategy into influence. She made a complex process understandable — and showed that persistence matters as much as policy design.

Innovation Inequalities and the European Gap

The TED-style talk on innovation funding was concise and evidence-driven, highlighting how wealthier regions capture a disproportionate share of innovation support, thereby reinforcing Europe’s innovation gap. It raised a fundamental policy dilemma—whether the EU should prioritise global competitiveness or regional convergence—a question that, while beyond my current expertise, clearly underscores the complexity of EU cohesion objectives

European University Alliances – Promise and Puzzles

I was particularly interested in the session on European University Alliances (BAUHAUS4EU and SUNRISE), having discussed the initiative with RSA members as a promising development the RSA could engage with more directly. However, while the session was engaging, it left me less certain. The concept of connecting universities across borders is compelling in theory, but the discussion focused mainly on student mobility (something Erasmus+ already supports). Less clear was how these alliances involve and incentivise academic staff, especially in linking research to regional innovation. Without structural mechanisms for faculty participation and career progression, such collaborations risk remaining largely symbolic.

People and Connections

One of the best parts of EWRC was meeting people working across the regional policy ecosystem and asking as many questions as I felt I could get away with. Hers’s some of the people I met:

A regional / city assembly leader from Hannover (Germany), working on environment and infrastructure.

A programme lead from City Action Lab, supporting city networks and experimentation.

A senior journalist from Latvia’s national news agency (LETA), focused on regional development reporting.

A director from Euroregion Pomoravi (Czech Republic), coordinating cross-border cooperation.

Two sustainability policy advisers, one from the City of Tampere (Finland) and one from Stockholm (Sweeden), linking research to practice.

A representative from Région Hauts-de-France, managing the region’s interface with EU institutions.

Looking Forward

Each session and conversation opened new questions about what drives engagement at this level — and how organisations like the RSA can connect research with the realities of regional decision-making. I came away with ideas in fermentation — about partnerships, research translation, and the spaces where academic rigour meets policy urgency. What stood out most was how different (and frankly, better) the sessions felt when academic voices were in the mix. Evidence-based discussion, where findings were debated and assumptions assessed, made for the most dynamic exchanges.

So, perhaps the major question I’ve come away with is how I can further help to bring academics and policymakers together in ways that feel natural, productive, and grounded. From experience (and I’m sure you’ll agree) it’s not easy.

So, in summary, this first experience of interacting with EU professionals and wider EU stakeholders was about learning the landscape and discovering where the RSA can help shape it.

And, as you have been interested to read thus far, you can follow the hyperlinks below to delve into the recording of the sessions. There is also the link to the participatory events happening across Europe until December 2025.

Alex Holmes