What are the benefits of citizen engagement in EU Cohesion Policy?  

• Increase awareness and learning: Direct citizen involvement can serve to enhance citizen awareness and understanding of EU cohesion policy and how it impacts on their daily lives (Dabrowski et al 2019).  

• Strengthen support for policies: Citizen engagement can enhance the acceptance, support and uptake of EU cohesion policy decisions, thereby reducing the potential for public conflict and disagreement (López‐Bazo 2022).  

• Improve quality of policies: The information, ideas, and knowledge provided by citizens can help ensure that policies better address regional challenges, opportunities, and citizen needs (Moodie et 2022). 

• Enhance democratic legitimacy: Citizen engagement can boost inclusivity, equality of access, and the diversity of actors involved in EU cohesion policymaking processes, including increased participation of underrepresented or marginalized societal groups (OECD 2022). 

• Build social capital and trust: Collaborative policymaking approaches can help build trust relationships between citizens and public institutional actors, experts, and other cohesion policy stakeholders/beneficiaries (Capello & Perucca 2019b).    

• Foster civic empowerment: Direct involvement gives citizens ownership of EU cohesion policies by providing them with the capacity to influence the direction of policies that impact on their lives and local areas (OECD 2022). 

• Strengthen sub-national level power and resilience:  A critical mass of citizen support behind policy proposals can strengthen the position of the sub-national level in multi-level governance negotiations with national and EU level actors (Moodie et al 2022).

• Promote European identities and support for the EU project: Direct participation can help increase citizen knowledge and awareness of EU cohesion policy, which can contribute towards building European identities and enhancing overall support for the EU project (Capello & Perucca 2019b).