Heidi Vironen is a Senior Knowledge Exchange and Research Fellow in the European Policies Research Centre, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. She is the Network Manager of the European Regional Policy Research Consortium (EoRPA), one of EPRC’s major research programmes. Her research focuses on the design and implementation of national regional development policies, and the implementation of Structural Funds in Finland and Sweden. In addition, she specialises in research on territorial cooperation with a particular emphasis on the Nordic countries. The views expressed in this article are personal.