To successfully navigate the digital and green transitions, all EU regions must capitalise on funding opportunities and participate in strategic networks at the European level. Many EU funds are available for regional stakeholders—both public and private—such as Horizon Europe, LIFE, Creative Europe, Erasmus+ or the Just Transition Fund, each with their specific eligibility criteria.
However, many EU regions face significant barriers in accessing these resources due to limited awareness of available opportunities, inadequate capacity to respond to funding calls or weak participation in European networks that enable joint applications for funding. As a result, the EU regions involved in this project—Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium), Silesia (Poland), Thuringia (Germany), and Wallonia (Belgium)—display relatively low rates of engagement in key EU initiatives and funds.
To address these challenges and increase the use of EU initiatives and funds, there is a clear need to build robust governance mechanisms and support networks to facilitate the mobilisation of EU initiatives and funds. Maximising these funding opportunities is essential to ensuring that the digital and green transitions are pursued justly, efficiently, and competently.
