From 3 to 4 June 2025, members of the REGIO Peer2Peer Communities came together in Brussels for the first-ever Festival of Communities. About 150 colleagues from every EU Member State joined to share experiences, celebrate our Champions, and discuss the future of Cohesion Policy. If you could not make it, here is what you missed – and what we might want to do next.
A day before the main festival began, Community Champions met for a dedicated afternoon session. The focus was on how to make Peer2Peer Communities more impactful, how to engage members more actively, and how Champions themselves can best support and inspire their peers. It was an open and honest discussion, with many creative ideas about using new tools, sharing knowledge more effectively, and making meetings more relevant to members’ real challenges.
The main event opened on 3 June with words from Themis Christophidou, Director-General of DG REGIO, and Sofia Alves, Director for Administrative Capacity Building. Their presence underscored how important your work as programme authorities and community members is for Cohesion Policy’s success. This high-level support set an inspiring tone for the festival.
One of the highlights was celebrating the Peer2Peer Communities themselves. We looked back at how much the communities have grown – with 12 communities now active on topics ranging from state aid to circular economy, digitalisation, and citizen participation. Champions were honoured on stage for their dedication; many have been leading their communities for years, helping to connect peers and keep discussions vibrant. It was a long-overdue recognition of their important role.
The Policy Pulse session brought together speakers from several European Commission Directorates-General (DG REGIO, DG BUDG, DG ENV, DG ENER) who discussed new priorities for Cohesion Policy, including STEP, affordable housing, water resilience, and EU competitiveness. These presentations explained what these priorities mean practically for practitioners, and how they might shape future planning. Participants appreciated the candid Q&A, which covered tough questions on the timing of changes and the support regions will receive.
On the afternoon of the first day and morning of the second day of the Festival, participants joined breakout sessions led by Champions and Community Managers. These sessions focused on practical challenges and opportunities within each community’s thematic area.
Participants shared examples, discussed solutions to common problems, and brainstormed ideas for future cooperation. Many said that meeting in person after years of mostly online exchanges helped build stronger connections and made discussions more concrete.
Another standout session was the Innovation Stage on Artificial Intelligence in public governance and Cohesion Policy. Speakers from Microsoft, FARI, DG REGIO and Portugal’s Cohesion and Development Agency shared practical examples of AI tools already supporting public sector, and discussed both opportunities and ethical considerations for using AI in the public sector. Colleagues from Estonian and Estonian State Shared Service Centre showcased how they use design thinking and legal design to help make grant conditions better meet the needs of their users.
A Look Ahead
The Festival shown the energy and passion of practitioners and the true potential of Peer2Peer Communities. Most commonly shared feedback was that they want to continue the momentum by organising more joint events, strengthening links between communities, and exploring new topics together. We plan to follow up on discussions from the Festival and will reach out soon with opportunities for future meetings and activities. Your suggestions on topics or formats you would like to see are always welcome.
Congratulations to everyone who contributed to the success of the Festival – by attending, sharing ideas, or supporting your Community throughout the year. A huge thank you to our amazing Champions for their incredible efforts in organizing the Festival’s breakout sessions and for their unwavering dedication to our Communities throughout the year. Your hard work and passion truly make a difference! Together, we can keep REGIO Peer2Peer Communities a place where practical knowledge is exchanged, challenges are solved together, and Cohesion Policy becomes more effective across Europe.
You can find presentations from the Festival on Futurium – follow this link for the plenary presentations. For presentations from the break-out sessions please go to the library.
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