Professor John Bachtler was an invited speaker at the Open Days workshop on 'The secrets of EU funds management: administrative capacity as a key ingredient for an effective and efficient implementation of the European Structural and Investment Funds' organised by the European Commission and held in Brussels on 9 October 2013.
Drawing on EPRC research under the IQ-Net programme, and its evaluation of ERDF and Cohesion Fund interventions, John's presentation explored the definition and importance of administrative capacity, the factors influencing capacity and the challenges of managing Cohesion policy programmes in 2014-20. John also chaired parts of the Open Days University Masterclass, organised jointly by the Regional Studies Association, European Commission and Committee of the Regions, in particular a World Café debate on the challenges facing Cohesion policy which involved over 70 PhD students and early-career researchers as well as senior officials from European institutions and leading academic experts.
Among the Masterclass participants were two EPRC postgraduates, Dr Eleftherios Antonopoulos and Dorine Boumans, both of whom won places on the Masterclass in an international competition and attended a programme of lectures, debates and networking events during the Open Days.
Now in its 11th year, the Open Days is a week of seminars, workshops and other events for European regions and cities.