#233 Interreg - An Introduction

Interreg – An Introduction With Viktoria Nilsson from Lund Municipality Check out the episode website for links In this episode I introduce the Interreg funding scheme together with Viktoria Nilsson from Lund Municipality. Interreg is one of the EU’s oldest territorial cooperation programmes, and its core idea is both simple and important: many societal challenges are shared across borders, so neighboring regions should work on them together. We talk about why Interreg exists, how it sits inside EU cohesion policy, and why it has become such a central instrument for cross-border collaboration in areas like innovation, green transition, sustainable transport and labour mobility. We also make the episode practical. Viktoria explains how a typical Interreg project is structured, what kinds of partners usually take part, how funding rates and project types work, what the secretariat does during the application phase, and what applicants should keep in mind around communication, indicators, end users and long-term impact. It’s the first episode in what I hope will become a broader Interreg series, and it is meant as a clear and usable entry point for anyone who wants to understand the scheme better. Time codes: 01:31 Guest introduction and fly in 08:36 EU motivation for the funding scheme 19:16 Structure of funding scheme 36:00 Target group stakeholders 39:47 How to apply 01:01:04 Evaluation 01:05:06 When funding is received 01:09:23 Do's and don't's 01:16:44 The toughest challenge