EUR 51 Million EU Funding Available For Innovative Projects In The Northern & Western Region
• NWRA invites project ideas to avail of €51m fund available via new Interreg NPA 2021-2027 programme
• Funding available to support projects strengthen innovation, climate change adaptation and resource efficiency in NPA region communities
• NWRA supports expansion of NPA area to include counties Roscommon, Monaghan, Cavan and Tipperary
For 20 years, the Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme has provided a framework for regions to work together with a focus on promoting sustainable development in remote and sparsely populated communities.
In Ireland’s Northern and Western Regions, the NWRA is the Regional Contact Point for the Interreg NPA programme. In the NPA’s 2014 – 2020 programme the region benefited from project funding to the value of €17m.
The NPA has now announced details of its 2021-2027 programme and the NWRA are encouraging communities and organisations in the programme area to consider an application. The first call for main projects is planned to open on 17th March and will close on 20th June 2022.
Speaking about 2014 – 2020 Interreg NPA programme, Regional Contact Point for the NPA programme at the NWRA Patrick Devine said ‘the programme has supported and funded 64 innovative projects with participation from 44 Irish organisations with approved budgets worth almost €17m for Irish project partners. The projects give Irish organisations, both public and private, the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with other regions in Finland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden and Non-EU Member States including Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and Norway”.
The NPA 2021 – 2027 Programme Monitoring Committee has announced it will seek to fund projects in the following Priority Categories:
• PRIORITY 1: Strengthening the innovation capacity for resilient and attractive NPA communities
• PRIORITY 2: Strengthening the capacity for climate change adaptation, and resource sufficiency in NPA communities
Assistant Director at the NWRA, Denis Kelly said “the new NPA programme is an excellent opportunity for Irish organisations to address common challenges across the programme area, providing an opportunity to gain experience in creating innovative approaches and to share learnings from a variety of organisations that live in places with similar challenges and opportunities – remote and sparsely populated communities. The programme enables Irish organisations to adopt best practice and to harness their collective knowledge to create innovative solutions for the region. The adoption of innovative solutions helps deliver the ambitions of the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) 2020-2032 to become a Smarter, greener, innovative and sustainable region”.
What’s Different From The NPA 2014-2020?
Northern Ireland, Scotland, and the Norwegian region of Vestlandet (including Rogaland) are no longer part of the programme area. However, as a result of an NWRA intervention, the programme area for the NWRA region has now expanded to include the Irish counties of Roscommon, Cavan, Monaghan, and Tipperary.
More on the differences in the NPA 2021-2027 programme via Interreg here.
How To Apply
The NWRA is now calling on Irish organisations that are interested in participating in the programme as a project partner and have an idea for a project that aligns to the Programme Priorities to get in contact through the Regional Contact Point – Patrick Devine .ei.a1731242166rwn@e1731242166nived1731242166p1731242166
How to Apply Seminars
• Two “How To Apply” webinars are scheduled on 17th March and 11th May to support project applicants develop their application. The NWRA will promote details of those events as they become available.
• A recording of the Webinar will also be made available on the Interreg NPA website after the event.
• A networking event, “NPA in-person”, is also planned to take place on 19th May at the premises of the Joint Secretariat in Copenhagen, further details will become available on this website: https://www.interreg-npa.eu/