Heidi Vironen is a Senior Knowledge Exchange and Research Fellow at EPRC. She holds an MA in European Management Studies (1st Hons) from the University of Aberdeen and a Postgraduate Certificate in European Studies from the Centre International de Formation Européenne. She has also worked at a Brussels-based think-tank as a project manager for EU policy debates and publications.
Since joining EPRC in 2006, Heidi has specialised in research on regional development and regional policy with a particular focus on the Nordic countries. Under EPRC’s two research consortia, EoRPA and IQ-Net, she has researched the design and implementation of national regional development policies as well as the implementation of Structural Funds in Finland and Sweden. Heidi is also the Network Manager of IQ-Net.
Heidi has a particular research interest in the Artic and near Arctic regional development policies. She is for instance involved in the Scottish Government's Arctic Strategy Steering Group preparing the Scottish Arctic Policy Concept.
She is also involved in EPRC's research group focussing on European territorial cooperation. This has involved a number of evaluations (e.g. Northern Periphery and the Arctic, North Sea, InterAct) as well as assessments and projects (e.g. ESPON). She is also interested in peripheral issues more generally, with ESRC-funded research and publications on innovation in peripheral regions.
Heidi has also managed a number of other projects on regional policy, including comparative research on European and Latin American regional policies.
