About this policy brief
Proactively engaging citizens in European Union Cohesion Policy
John R. Moodie
© Nordregio 2025
Layout: Kotryna Juškaitė
Cover Photo: Werner Nystrand/imagebank.sweden.se
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Horizon Europe DUST project partners Verena Balz, Marcin Dabrowski, Martin Ferry, and John Bachtler for their helpful feedback and comments on earlier versions of the paper. The Horizon Europe DUST Project develops and operationalises novel regional participatory instruments for proactive and strategic citizen engagement in sustainability transition policymaking (
https://www.dustproject.eu/).
Nordregio
Nordregio is a leading Nordic and European research centre for regional development and planning, established by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 1997. We conduct solution-oriented and applied research, addressing current issues from both a research perspective and the viewpoint of policymakers and practitioners. Operating at the international, national, regional and local levels, Nordregio’s research covers a wide geographic scope, emphasising the Nordic and Baltic Sea Regions, Europe and the Arctic.
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Stockholm, Sweden
www.nordregio.org