Coordinator: Vasiliki Triga (Coordinator), Nicolas Tsapatsoulis, Constantinos Tziouvas

COHESIFY aims to assess the contribution of Cohesion policy to citizens’ identification with the EU and produce a new strategy to communicate EU Cohesion policy to citizens. The goal is to assess how and to what extent EU Cohesion policy affects citizens’ perceptions of and identification with the European Union. The project focuses on three inter-related issues: (1) the identity(ies)of people in EU regions in EU, national, regional and local contexts; (2) the governance, communication and impacts of Cohesion policy, including citizens’ perceptions of the policy and identification with the EU, and (3) what is needed to make Cohesion policy more effective in terms of people’s perceptions of the policy and the EU more generally. A mixed-methods design is adopted to study the relationship between Cohesion policy, policy performance and attitudes to the EU, distinguishing between different levels of governance and types of actors-from those involved in programme design and implementation to final beneficiaries and the wider public. The communication channels of Cohesion policy influence are examined, distinguishing between public communication and political and social communication.

Duration: 01/02/2016-03/04/2018

Website: http://www.cohesify.eu/

Funding: