Mr Stefan Kah
Knowledge Exchange Fellow
European Policies Research Centre
Personal statement
Stefan Kah is a Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the European Policies Research Centre (EPRC). His work focuses on EU Cohesion Policy and territorial development, with particular expertise in the design, implementation and evaluation of place-based and integrated territorial policies across urban and rural contexts. Stefan’s research centres on the territorial dimension of regional development policy, especially within EU Cohesion Policy. He is widely recognised as a leading European expert on EU-funded territorial instruments, notably Integrated Territorial Investments (ITIs) and Community-led Local Development (CLLD). His work combines policy analysis, programme evaluation and applied knowledge exchange, bridging research and practice at European, national and local levels.
Policy evaluation and international engagement. Stefan has extensive experience in the strategic design and practical implementation of Cohesion Policy programmes. Between 2023 and 2025, he co-led a two-year, in-depth ex-post evaluation of the territorial dimension of EU Cohesion Policy for the European Commission. In 2025, he was invited to act as a peer review expert for the European Urban Initiative (EUI), contributing to the development of sustainable urban development policies in cities across the EU.
Comparative and country expertise. Stefan has country expertise in Austria, Germany and Slovenia. He is fluent in German, English and Italian.
Knowledge exchange and professional experience. A significant part of Stefan’s career has been dedicated to knowledge exchange and mutual learning in EU regional policy, including his former role as Network Manager of the IQ-Net knowledge exchange programme. His prior professional experience also includes work with the INTERACT Programme in Vienna, a regional development agency in Switzerland, and the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA) in Liechtenstein.
United Nations Advisor. In parallel, Stefan works as a Capacity Building Advisor on integrated territorial development for the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Serbia, where he supports the pilot implementation of territorial instruments.
Prize And Awards
Publications
- What future for EU Cohesion Policy? Reform ambitions and realities
- Mendez Carlos, Kah Stefan
- IQ-Net Thematic Paper IQ-Net Thematic Paper, Vol 59, No. 2 (2026)
- https://doi.org/10.17868/strath.00095319
- Territorial Instruments of National Policies as a Tool for Territorially Sensitive Policies
- Ferry Martin, Kah Stefan, van der Valk Odilia, Arena Virginia, Jabri Elena, Dabrowski Marcin, Balz Verena, Sahu Megha
- (2025)
- Territorialising Development Policies in Europe : a Review of Current Practice
- Kah Stefan, Ferry Martin
- (2025)
- Ex post evaluation of Cohesion Policy programmes 2014-2020 financed by the ERDF : Work Package 13: Integrated territorial development
- Ferry Martin, Kah Stefan, Georgieva Neli, Dabrowski Marcin, Makarevičienė Alina, Bachtrögler-Unger Julia, de Bruijn Martijn, Nowotny Klaus
- (2025)
- Final study on the potential national ISTD model for Serbia
- Kah Stefan, Karadimitriou Nikolaos, Servillo Loris, de Bruijn Martijn, Čolić Ratka, Sretić Zoran, Veljović Viktor, Kosić Marija, Vujačić Marko, Kostić Olivera
- (2025)
- Integrated territorial investments : place-based cohesion policy in practice?
- Ferry Martin, Kah Stefan, McMaster Irene
- Public Policy Portuguese Journal Vol 9, pp. 10-23 (2024)
Professional Activities
- IQ-Net Coffee Break Workshop
- Speaker
- 28/10/2025
- 46th Annual Meeting of European Regional Policy Research Consortium (EoRPA)
- Speaker
- 5/10/2025
- LDnet Webinar 'A new architecture of EU policies and funds post-2027 – what place for local development?'
- Participant
- 19/2/2025
- Starke ländliche Räume in Deutschland und Europa
- Keynote/plenary speaker
- 6/12/2024
- 45th Annual Meeting of European Regional Policy Research Consortium (EoRPA)
- Speaker
- 6/10/2024
- Cohesion policy tools for integrated territorial development: CLLD and ITIs in rural areas
- Speaker
- 19/9/2024
Projects
- Territorial instruments of national policies as a tool for designing territorially sensitive policies - €54,900
- Ferry, Martin (Principal Investigator) Kah, Stefan (Principal Investigator) van der Valk, Odilia (Co-investigator) Dabrowski, Marcin (Co-investigator) Jabri, Elena (Co-investigator) Arena, Virginia (Co-investigator)
- EPRC staff seconded to Stichting EPRC Strathclyde University (EPRC Delft). The territorial study examines and benchmarks territorial instruments which are used by national public policies in Europe to intervene in areas undergoing socio-economic transition, primarily by drawing on the Polish experience with OSI (areas of strategic interventions) and by examining the implementation of the Dutch Novex programme. In addition to these, the study looked at further cases from France, Italy and Germany.
- 01-Jan-2025 - 30-Jan-2025
- Collecting and analysing data for the post-27 INTERREG - €127,835
- McMaster, Irene (Principal Investigator) Vironen, Heidi (Co-investigator) Georgieva, Neli (Co-investigator) Kah, Stefan (Co-investigator)
- EPRC staff seconded to Stichting EPRC Strathclyde University (EPRC Delft). The ESPON project “Collecting and analysing data for the post-27 INTERREG“ (Core-IB) is implemented within the framework of the ESPON Thematic Action Plan (TAP): Living, working and travelling across borders. The aim is to provide evidence-based analyses that contribute to the definition and the future orientation of the next generation of INTERREG post-2027. It addresses a multitude of stakeholders across the multi-level governance system, including the member states and the European Commission. The spatial focus of the project covers all EU internal cross-border regions across the entire ESPON Programme area, including regions on inland borders with Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
- 13-Jan-2025 - 12-Jan-2026
- Regional Policy in Europe: A Comparative Assessment (EoRPA_CH_25_27)
- Mendez, Carlos (Principal Investigator) Bachtler, John (Co-investigator) Downes, Ruth (Research Co-investigator) Kah, Stefan (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2027
- Regional Policy in Europe: A Comparative Assessment (EoRPA_AT_24_26)
- Bachtler, John (Principal Investigator) Mendez, Carlos (Co-investigator) Downes, Ruth (Research Co-investigator) Kah, Stefan (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2026
- Transnational LEADER project "Our Common Future"
- Kah, Stefan (Principal Investigator)
- Research into the potential future development of the EU rural development framework LEADER. Work Package 1: Innovative LEADER approaches
- 01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2024
- EU Cohesion Policy and its Urban Dimension: training for the permanent secretariat of the European Urban Initiative
- Kah, Stefan (Principal Investigator) Ferry, Martin (Co-investigator) Bachtler, John (Co-investigator) Mendez, Carlos (Co-investigator)
- 1-day on-site training on EU Cohesion Policy for the permanent secretariat of the European Urban Initiative in Lille (France)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 01-Jan-2023
Contact
Mr
Stefan
Kah
Knowledge Exchange Fellow
European Policies Research Centre
Email: stefan.kah@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 3955