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Hakutermit: local authorities, European Union, external aid, transnational city, focused interview, narrative analysis The aim of this study is to understand why the local authorities of the European Union (EU) participate in projects, funded by a special programme of the European Commission, in which they are not the final beneficiaries themselves but where the final beneficiary is a less developed city outside the EU. The topic is approached from the point of view of the political actorness of a European transnational city at the turn of the 21st century. The processes of globalisation and Europeanisation are acknowledged as reshaping the arena of international relations. These processes have created a situation where cities are ever more independent actors in transnational relations, often acting local-to-local manner, i.e. local authorities from different nation-states form networks of common action. The empirical material of the study concerns two local-to-local projects funded through the Tacis programme of EU external aid. These are cooperative projects of the cities of Tampere (Finland) and Nizhni Novgorod (Russia) and Turku (Finland) and St. Petersburg (Russia). The projects are approached in the light of general city strategies and official documents, as well as four focused interviews made in both of the Finnish cities. The material is analyzed from the historical-hermeneutic perspective through narrative analysis. The result of the analysis is two "stories from the field" ­ the stories of how Tampere and Turku participated in Tacis projects. According to the analysis, the reasons for the participation of EU local authorities in Tacis projects are manifold. The case of Tampere represented a separate project connected to the strategic goals of the city. The connection to a third, European partner was an important motivating factor. The case of Turku represented a series of three projects, where the reasons for participation varied during cooperation. At the outset the motivating factor was to learn the EU project application techniques; in the long run personal contacts became crucial. In both cases the twinning agreements between the Finnish and Russian local authorities created the basis for action. All in all, the reasons for participation depended on the status of the interviewees. The two cases studies showed that there is a lot of coincidence in the scheme of participation. In the end these projects of international solidarity are connected to the ideology of sustainable development. This could open up interesting perspectives for further studies, which are much needed as the EU external aid remains an understudied area of EU affairs.

The key political message arising from the WaVE case studies is the crucial relevance ofreligion (as subject matter) and locality (as the key framework in which to operate) in thedomain of welfare provision, if this is viewed from the perspective of majority/minorityrelations in Europe. a) Concerning the former, issues related to religion are clearly on the agenda in thedomain of welfare in both majority and minority communities. The role of religionis dual: it offers considerable potential but also involves a degree of risk. Thus,greater sensitivity, know-how and information on these questions are urgentlyneeded. This relates closely to the level of action, where more attention should bepaid to religion. Thus the message from our studies is: to raise awareness byimproving the level of information (see Figure 1 below). b) Concerning the latter, locality (specifically the local) emerges as the primarycontext of action in the domain of welfare. Thus, power, resources and support, aswell as information are needed at the local level. The role of religion is also evidentin the various elements of locality. Thus the second core message from our studiesis: to increase effectiveness by improving the action (see Figure 1 below). Noting the significance of religion and locality, several interrelated improvements ininformation and action are needed in order to build social cohesion and to preventtensions or conflicts between majorities and minorities in Europe. In this process, thevalues of each community (majority/minority) and their social, economic and politicalresources should be acknowledged in both constructive and critical ways.Thus, information and action provide the main themes of our policy recommendations atEuropean, national/regional and local level. These are summarized in the cycle of socialcohesion set out in Figure 1 and in the paragraphs that follow (pp. 6-7); each recommendationis then considered in more detail. ; Welfare and Values in Europe: Transitions related to Religion, Minorities and Gender

Participatory approaches and co-research are increasingly employed in the current moment for exploring barriers to equality. Co-research treats research participants as experts in their own lives and as equal research partners. Research conducted with this orientation is based on research problems drafted by the research participants themselves from their aspirations regarding the research process and an active partnership that considers the interests of all parties involved. Participatory methods are used in co-research, particularly for the purpose of deepening the contextualisation of research knowledge about structurally vulnerable or subordinated groups and to challenge the power positions associated with traditional research designs. In co-research, the role of the people involved in the research is more central than in more traditional research. One of the key principles of co-research is that co-investigators (a) can participate in various roles, (b) have the opportunity to participate in different phases of the research according to their own interests and resources, and (c) co-investigators' participation can take many forms, including differences in intensity. The idea is to provide more people with opportunities to contribute to the knowledge production about themselves and their communities from their respective perspectives and interests. Co-research is also seen as an opportunity to improve the relevance and usefulness of scientific knowledge. It aims to genuinely increase interaction and openness and extend science's societal responsibility. In this book, we approach co-research as a means to promote social justice, as an action with a societal impact contributor to social impact and as a means to promote the societal responsibility of science. We discuss and evaluate the ideals of the co-research process concerning the everyday challenges and practices in research. Above all, we offer the knowledge and experience generated by our own projects to support those planning or already implementing co-research projects.