This report examines the current understanding of local government capacity constraints and capacity-building approaches in the context of country-level implementation of programs within the Cohesion Policy landscape of the European Commission (EC). The work is informed by practitioner engagements in a limited set of newer member states, including Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovakia, as well as an in-depth case study of a recently completed capacity building program in Greece. The observations and lessons are largely drawn from a focus on regional development policies and approaches, in the general context of what can be generically referred to as Regional Operational Programs Funded through the EU Cohesion Policy. The report will start with a literature review to situate the work within the realm of current public administration academic literature, approaches by development agencies, and the complexity of the responsibilities of local governments. Next, the focus shifts to the EU context with an overview of capacity building in the context of the Cohesion Policy and an in-depth case study on the design, implementation, and lessons learned from a city-level advisory engagement in Greece.Finally, a proposed framework or methodology to support policy makers and development practitioners in designing systemic capacity building approaches is presented.