Maja Bučar, Head of Centre of International Relations at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, was one of the panellists discussing opportunities for evidence-based policy-making in regions and cities at this year’s Science meets Regions conference. The event entitled ‘Maximising the Impact of Science for Regions and Cities in Current and Future EU Policies’ was organised by Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and STOA (The Science and Technology Options Assessment) department of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, on 29 September 2017. The aim of the conference was to bring together representatives of EU regional authorities and scientists, who exchanged views on evidence-informed decision-making process at local and regional levels. In their discussions participants ar the event focused on the role of science within the next EU multiannual financial framework (MFF) and the role of regional partnership and research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation (i.e. RIS3 strategies) for various local stakeholders (public authorities, academia, business and citizens) in particular.