Four researchers from the European Policies Research Centre (EPRC) took part in the 2025 RSA Regional Futures Conference in London on 13–14 November, an event that brought together academics, policymakers, and regional development practitioners from across Europe to discuss emerging trends, challenges, and innovations in regional policy.
Fifty Years of EU Cohesion Policy in Scotland
Professor John Bachtler and Rachel Maguire presented their paper ‘What has Cohesion Policy done for us? 50 Years of Structural Funds in Scotland‘ with research contributions from Rona Michie, in the session “Developments in European Regional Policy.”
Their session explored Scotland’s long engagement with EU Structural Funds, which totalled over £7.7 billion between 1975 and 2020. These funds supported regional economic restructuring, infrastructure development, enterprise, skills, and community programmes, with particularly strong impact in peripheral regions such as the Highlands & Islands. The presentation highlighted Scotland’s innovative partnership‑based governance model, which has enabled coordinated, place-based responses to development challenges, and drew lessons for future regional policy in a post‑Brexit context.
COMMIT Research on SMEs and the Low‑Carbon Transition
Later the same day, EPRC Delft researchers Liliana Fonseca and Rebecca Baugh presented their draft briefing paper ‘Enhancing Access to Finance to Support SMEs in the Low‑Carbon Transition’ during the session “Finance, Trade and Regional Change.”
Their briefing paper, developed within the Interreg Europe COMMIT project, examined the financial barriers that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face as they pursue decarbonisation. Discussion highlighted complex administrative processes and limited funding access for SMEs. Comparative analysis across eight European regions revealed a heavy reliance on public funding, including Cohesion Policy, the Just Transition Fund, and national grant schemes, but identified a “valley of death” in the scale-up phase where traditional financing instruments fail to meet SMEs’ needs. The findings underscore the importance of regulatory simplification, stronger institutional support, and blended finance models to mobilise private capital and better enable SMEs to become active agents in Europe’s low-carbon transition.
Both sessions generated engaging discussion with conference participants, focusing on current challenges and approaches in regional development, finance, and sustainability policy across Europe.