• Galway hosted international project partners as part of an EU Project
• The Interreg Europe funded UrbanCOOP Project supports multilateral cooperation amongst local government actors
• Galway County and Galway City Council showcased Good Practice examples of smart urban planning around Galway City

The Northern and Western Regional Assembly were excited to welcome a group of European project partners involved in the Interreg Europe EU funded URBANCOOP project to Galway for a two day event on 6^th and 7th November 2024. URBANCoop strives towards better cooperation governance to attain urban sustainable development and this interregional learning event to facilitate this aim, will bring partners and stakeholders from all over Europe to Ireland. The event in Galway facilitated collaboration and learning between EU regions, which is a central element of all Interreg Europe funded projects.

Over the course of two days, the project partners from 7 different countries (Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, Estonia, Romania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Ireland) heard from local and regional representatives, as well as from actors involved in urban development and regeneration. The 2- day visit also included visits to sites of significance around Galway  City.

On Day 1 Senior Planners from Galway City Council and Galway County Council presented how their local authorities cooperate under the Galway Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan (MASP), which forms part of the Northern and Western region’s Regional and Spatial Economic Strategy. The process of sustainable urban planning and examples of good planning practices and regeneration projects was also highlighted. In addition, the process by which communities are involved in local planning and decision-making will be also be explored in a presentation by a representative of the Galway City Community Network, the Public Participation Network in Galway City.

A further suite of presentations on urban regeneration projects was delivered by representatives from the Land Development Agency, the Port of Galway and the Northern and Western Regional Assembly. These presentations were followed by site visits that will take place in the afternoon of Day 1. The participants will be given a tour of the Port of Galway and an overview of its planned regeneration. Next, the participants were taken to Nun’s Island Theatre and Cultural Centre, in the heart of the city, which has recently secured funding to revive the site under the NWRA THRIVE Town Centre First Heritage Revival Scheme. This Scheme is managed by the NWRA and is delivered as part of the region’s European Regional Development Fund Operational Programme. Lastly, the participants got to visit the recently developed and award-winning ERDF funded Pedestrian Bridge, ‘Droichead an Dóchais’.

Day 2 of the event is comprised of a workshop element to hear from the guests and exchange ideas in an interactive session. The focus on these meetings will be on achieving the outputs of the project and fulfilling its deliverables. The 2 day event was conclude with a Steering Committee meeting amongst project partners to discuss the management of the project and next steps.

More information on the UrbanCoop meeting visit: https://www.interregeurope.eu/urbancoop

The Cathaoirleach of the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, Cllr Jarlath Munnelly, and Director Denis Kelly launched the new NWRA website at the October Assembly meeting on Friday, 25th of October 2024.

The redesign of the website aims to improve accessibility and engagement for all stakeholders in the region. The revamped site features an intuitive layout, user-friendly navigation, and a wealth of information and regional statistics tailored to meet the needs of citizens, local authorities, and stakeholders.

The new website includes enhanced sections on regional planning and economic development, European Regional Development Funding (ERDF), corporate governance, EU affairs and ongoing EU projects, making it easier for visitors to find information and stay informed about the Assembly’s activities and work programme.

On launching the website, Cathaoirleach of the Assembly Cllr Jarlath Munnelly said

”I welcome the redesign of the Assembly’s website and commended the cross-departmental group within the Assembly for all their work collating all this information onto the one platform with a focus on accessibility and improved user experience.

Our work is complex and wide ranging, the website is a vital tool in communicating our work in regional planning and investing EU funding into the region and increasing our transparency and opportunities for collaboration”.

The NWRA encourages everyone to explore the new website and stay updated on the latest news and developments. If you have any questions on the work of the assembly or on the website, please email ei.ar1752077754wn@of1752077754ni1752077754

 

The NWRA also published new Brand Guidelines for staff and stakeholders which is available to download here: NWRA-Brand-Guidelines-2024.

On 25^th  September 2024, the Irish partners (NWRA and WestBIC) of the Interreg Europe LOTTI Project hosted the 4^th LOTTI Interregional Metting (LIM 4) in Galway Ireland.

On the morning of 25^th  September, the project partners from Finland (Regional Council of Päijät-Häme) Lead Partner, Italy (Apulia Region – Department of Economic Development), Poland (Marshal’s Office of the Silesian Voivodship) and Spain (European Projects Office of the Government of Cantabria) met in Platform94, in Galway. Dragana Mitrovic from RESOLVO Responsible Solutions, the project management partner was also in attendance and two Discovery Partners from Serbia (Regional Economic Development Agency for Šumadija and Pomoravlje) and Albania (Regional Council Durres) joined the event online via Teams.

Councillor Declan McDonnell, the Leas-Cathaoirleach of the Northern and Western Regional Assembly (NWRA) opened the proceedings and remarked on the importance of the regions collaboration with our EU partners and the learnings achieved through Interreg Projects.

Mary Ryan, Deputy CEO of WestBIC welcomed the guests, followed by an overview of region by James Donlon, Programme Manager in WestBIC.

Conall McGettigan, Assistant Director of the NWRA gave an overview of the NWRA, its role and purpose and showcased the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy highlighting the economic and demographic trends within the region.

The next part of the morning was dedicated to the workshop elements of the LIM4, focusing on evaluation. The Stakeholders each presented their Good Practices by providing a short pitch explaining the policies and projects. Using the interactive online for collaboration, ‘Mentimeter’, the workshop participants provided commentary and evaluated aspects of the Good Practice which were grouped according to their thematic process and the group discussed adding these to the Interreg Policy Platform. One of the LOTTI project outputs it is the addition of 12 Good Practices to the Platform.

Then workshop participants then briefly discussed the survey of the capacity needs required for projects to adequately capture industrial transitions that have a local influence. It was decided that this assessment would be conducted online using the Mentimeter survey tool. The process of drafting the High Road maps for each region was also briefly discussed.

Having concluded the interactive workshop of the LIM4, the remained of the day comprised of  site visits. The CEO of WestBIC, John Brennan gave a tour and presentation of Paltform94. The partners were given a brief history of Platform94, which was  previously know as the Galway Technology Centre. Platform94 is a non-for profit business and technology centre that supports scaling businesses in the west of Ireland to incubate and grow. The organisation was established by the Digital Task Force in 1994 to encourage the development of technology-based industry in the West, along with acting as a soft-landing site for established multinationals looking for a base in the region. Since 1994, the organisation has grown significantly and has supported over 300 companies and facilitated 3,000 jobs, generative substantial revenue for the region. Mr. Brennan gave a tour of the facilities, the highlight of which was the Media suite the companies can use to support their marketing plans.

Next on the Itinerary was a on site visit, further along the west coast or Ireland, to Údarás na Gaeltachta, Furbough, Spiddal, Co. Galway. Here we met with Ultan O’Faharta, from Údarás na Gaeltachta, the regional authority responsible for the economic, social and cultural development of the Gaeltacht (Irish speaking regions/communities). There are currently seven Gaeltacht regions in Ireland with an Irish speaking population of approx. 70,000 people.  This regional body offers a range of support services at local, regional and national level which focus on enterprise development and job creation, promotion of the Irish language and culture, and community development.

The final site visit of day 1 of LIM4 the group was to a local business supported by the Údarás in the GTEIC Innovation Centre in Spiddal, FeelTect. During this visit the partners learnt about this local company’s innovative work in connected health, particularly its focus on improving wound care through technology. FeelTect is developing cutting-edge solutions to monitor and manage compression therapy for chronic wounds. By utilising wearable devices that provide real-time data, they aim to enhance the accuracy of treatment, ultimately leading to better patient outcomes and more efficient healthcare practices. Údarás work to support indigenous businesses such as FeelTect and to preserve the identity of the region by promoting the use of the Irish language in these small businesses. One means by which this is done is to devise a language plan for businesses and community organisations in the region to preserve the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Gaelic speaking communities.

Day 2 of the LIM4 commenced with a steering committee meeting at the Portershed in Galway City Centre. Key discussions focused on communication activities and stakeholder engagement led by WestBIC as well as a project management, reporting and the planning of upcoming activities, managed by RESOLVO Responsible Solutions.

The project management meeting was followed by a presentation by Dushyant Singh, Programme Manaher at the Portershed. Dushyant gave a presentation on the evolution of the Galway City Innovation District and highlight the key success stories of members of the Portershed ecosystem.

Partners were then bought via bus eastwards, to Athenry to visit the Bia Innovator Campus. This not for profit centre supports the local food industry from start-up food entrepreneurs – who may not have the initial seed capital to invest in a start-up facility of their own to growing SMEs – to established food businesses who want to develop a product and increase sale volumes. In addition to the centre offering fully equipped units/kitchens, lecture chamber, meeting/product selling rooms; the campus offers grants, funding, administrative support and training to support the local food sector. Many local farm businesses and producers are supported by BIA. This support structure has also prompted the establishment of a local farming cooperative, to explore new partnerships and business opportunities to jointly secure the future viability of the farming sector.

Following a tour of the campus, the group were given a presentation of a new initiative by Bord na Móna (formerly Irelands leading peat extraction company). Finally, we heard from Elaine Negi Programme Manager of the company’s Accelerate Green Programmes explained that it has formally ended all peat harvesting on its lands and that its ‘Brown to Green’ strategy has involved the transformation of Bord na Móna from a traditional peat business into a climate solutions company. The company is now fully focused on renewable energy generation, recycling and the development of other low carbon enterprises and delivering on Ireland’s objective to become carbon neutral by 2050. The Accelerate Green Programmes supports small businesses that offer ‘green’ products and services to scale up though learning courses and networking and pitching sessions.

This bought the LIM4 to a close which was a successful event, the partners and stakeholders involved were very engaged and learnt a lot about Irish supports for local enterprises.

The participants experienced first-hand how our Irish connections with international partners, developed through a large diaspora as a result of demographic history, have shaped many local industries. They also discovered how the region is ensuring that our local identity and heritage is preserved by promoting businesses and culture through the Irish language. Farming is an integral aspect of Irish life and its traditions, to support the sustainability of the farming sector and a congruent transition into more profitable markets, the partners witnessed the impact of our most recent initiatives. Many experiences were shared and a cross-fertilisation of ideas took place. The partners early discussed and began planning the bilateral meetings for further, deeper learning exchanges.