Citizen participation is a strategic asset for governments to design and implement better and more effective and responsive policies while strengthening public trust. Findings from the 2023 OECD Survey on the Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions underscore the importance of political agency, which combines the confidence of being able to participate in politics and the confidence of one’s voice being heard, as the strongest driver of citizens’ trust in government, namely at the local level. Moreover, government currently operate in a context of wide-ranging and rapid chances that require effective and responsive actions. In this context, putting citizens at the centre of policy and decision-making allows governments to better target policies to address citizens’ needs and act more efficiently, while enhancing the legitimacy and acceptability of policy decisions.
EU Cohesion Policy is the largest investment strategy of the European Union to promote the development of its Member States and regions. Its nature is rooted in the principles of effective multilevel governance and partnership with local stakeholders to ensure that investments are targeted and in line with citizens’ needs and priorities. Since 2020, the OECD and the European Commission – Directorate General for Urban and Regional Policy (DG REGIO) have partnered to support EU regions and cities in improving their capacity to involve citizens and stakeholders in shaping, prioritising, and implementing EU Cohesion Policy funding instruments. A first cohort of five territories and related pilot initiatives assessed the opportunities and challenges of leveraging citizen participation processes to shape Cohesion Policy at the subnational level. Findings from the first cohort can be found in the OECD report Engaging Citizens in Cohesion Policy (2022). Since 2022, the OECD-DG REGIO collaboration has focused on designing and implementing tailored citizen participation processes in 11 territories across 7 EU Countries. The present report takes stock of this experience and showcases evidence from three deliberative processes implemented in France, Romania and Poland; one multistakeholder forum in Spain; a Student Assembly in Italy; an ‘ideathon’ in the Slovak Republic; a hybrid consultation in Romania; budget consultations in Spain, a civic monitoring exercise in Italy, and the development of tailored participatory methodologies and related capacities in Belgium and Poland.
The conclusions of this report align with the ongoing debate on the future of Cohesion Policy within EU institutions, which highlights the key role of meaningful stakeholder engagement as part of good governance and administrative capacity to enhance policy effectiveness.