Between 5 and 8 October 2014, dr. Piotr Idczak was attending the Master Class organised within the framework of the 12th European Week of Regions and Cities - OPEN DAYS. The event, aimed to improve the understanding of EU Cohesion Policy and its research potential, was arreganed by the European Commission's DG for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO), the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the Regional Studies Association (RSA). the Master Class addressed phd students and early career researchers from all over Europe and aimed at

• presenting the latest developments in research on European regional and urban development and EU Cohesion Policy;
• enabling its participants to exchange views with EU politicians, officials and senior academics in the field of European regional and urban development and policy;
• facilitating networking among participants from different countries and with the wider EU policy and academic communities;
• raising awareness and understanding of the research potential in the field of EU Cohesion Policy.

Based on a call for paper proposals, 29 participants from universities in 5 EU Member States and three non-EU countries attended the Master Class to discussed in particular three themes:

• the reform(s) of EU Cohesion Policy and its/their impact on regional and urban development in the EU;
• building administrative capacity and partnerships at local level;
• the challenges for European Territorial Cooperation.

Dr Piotr Idczak submitted the paper entitled „The Jessica initiative as an effective and efficient tool for urban regeneration".

The format of the Master Class included lectures, participation the opening session of the OPEN DAYS in the European Parliament, interactive debates as well as a role play, a World Café session and social events. At total of 35 speakers were involved including then Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn, officials from different European Commission DGs and professors from several universities.