North West Europe Interreg Programme

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North West Europe Interreg Programme

• What the programme does
• What projects do
• NWE programme
• Nuts and Bolts
• Where next
• Michael Sanders - NWE Programme
• UK National Contact Point

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What do Transnational programmes do?


Transnational (Interreg) Programmes help
organisations within Europes regions to tackle
issues and problems which go beyond national
borders. The programmes support regions who
want to develop joint innovative solutions to
transnational and common issues by sharing
expertise and development costs.
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What do projects look like?

• URBAN WATER
• 7 partners from France, Germany, Holland and the
  UK.
• Total cost - 12.5 million.
• Five different pilot projects tested methods to
  optimise the design of urban water systems to
  minimise sewage overflows and flooding risks and
  improve water quality.
• The partnership developed effective
  organisational, financial and legal instruments
  to better integrate urban water systems into
  spatial planning processes and has influenced
  legislation.

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What do projects look like?

• Streets for Living
• 4 partners from UK, France and the Netherlands
• Total cost 5.6 million.
• aimed at planning of public areas to reduce
  crime, increase safety and accessibility through
  close co-operation between local authorities,
  local residents and police.
• also to exchange experiences, to learn from each
  other and then to use these experiences and
  resulting ideas for the restructuring of other
  deprived neighbourhoods across EU

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Transnational Programmes

• Who can apply ?
• Applications may come from any transnational
  partnership with expertise of relevance to the
  strategic objectives of the Programme.
• All public and private actors (national,
  regional or local administrations, public bodies,
  research bodies, universities, NGOs) can apply (
  rules apply) -for funding if they are located
  within the eligible area.
• Project development
• Projects are developed by a transnational and
  cross sector partnership
• Project ideas must fall within the scope of the
  relevant Programmes priorities and measures.
• Projects should generally attract partners from
  at least two member states within the cooperation
  area.
• Projects should involve appropriate national,
  regional and local authorities and other relevant
  organisations.
• One partner will be the Lead Partner to manage
  the project partnership
• Hints!
• Do not start by regarding the transnational
  programmes as a simple funding source for a local
  investment.
• Instead
• identify an issue facing your organisation where
  transnational cooperation is essential, or where
  transnational experience would bring about a
  better solution

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North West Europe IIIB Programme

• Current Programme
• 330m ERDF allocated/committed
• 5 priorities
• 500 ideas - 217 applications
• 99 Projects approved
• (25 UK Led 48 others with UK partners)
• Average project - 3m ERDF
• (grant rate varied but c50)

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NWE Transnational Programme 2007-2013(Interreg
IVB - NWE)

• 355m
• 4 priorities
• Same area all CH
• Secretariat is in Lille (France)
• Working Language English
• Network of NCPs retained
• Grant rate up to 50
• Final Draft OP published
• Launched March 2007
• First Call - early Summer 2007?
• First Call closes late Autumn 2007?

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NWE Transnational Programme 2007-2013-
Priorities and Strategic Initiatives -
Priority 1 Developing the NWE knowledge-based
economy by capitalising on our capacity for
innovation Priority 2 Natural resources and
risk management Priority 3 Improving
connectivity in NWE by promoting intelligent
and sustainable transport and ICT
solutions Priority 4 Promoting strong and
prosperous communities at transnational
level and Strategic Initiatives of key
transnational relevance to NWE territorial
development
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Priority 1 Developing the NWE knowledge-based
economy by capitalising on our capacity for
innovation

• Objective 1 promote entrepreneurship and
  facilitate the transfer of innovations and
  knowledge into marketable products, processes and
  services to strengthen NWE competitiveness
• Objective 2 to develop new and strengthen
  existing growth clusters and SME networks by
  building on the endogenous potentials of NWE
  cities and regions
• Objective 3 to use and improve territorial
  cooperation in order to strengthen the
  institutional and territorial framework for
  innovation and the transfer of knowledge within
  NWE

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Within each Priority Objective are examples

• Priority 4 Promoting strong and prosperous
  communities at transnational level
• Objective 1 to promote transnational actions
  that will enhance the economic and social
  performance of cities, towns and rural areas
  including the economic potential of local and
  regional assets
• Examples of possible actions
• actions that will promote transnational
  cooperation between local and regional
  authorities to create better conditions for
  economic growth
• actions aimed at realising and using the economic
  potential of regional assets (natural and
  business assets) through transnational
  cooperation by cooperating across the NWE
  territory
• actions aimed at improving transnational
  cooperation for organisations representing urban
  interests in order to improve economic
  performance and social cohesion
• actions aimed at strengthening the role of
  secondary towns and cities in NWE in order to
  develop counterweights to the dominant
  metropolitan areas
• actions aimed at developing and implementing
  joint pilot actions to identify solutions that
  will help to reduce the transnational impacts of
  commuting between cities, towns and rural areas

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Key questions?

• What do you want to do which requires actions by
  or collaboration with other interreg IVB
  programme countries?
• Will it be innovative?
• Will it have a territorial impact at an NWE
  level?
• Who will take the lead to bring the local
  partnerships together to scope and shape Project
  Ideas?
• Who in Wales will join and match fund Project
  Ideas?

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Identifying potential projects

• Your own organisations ideas and plans
• RSS and RES
• Regional/sub regional/local priorities
• Relate NE priorities to programme priorities
• Remember Lisbon and Gothenburg!!
• Read approved projects on-line
• Set up NE support machinery
• Be innovation no retreads, please!

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Finding partners

• Local Partner Networks twinning?
• Regional Networks WLGA Brussels
• Contact Points network leading or joining
• Programme websites PIs (old and new)
• Use other programmes (eg FP6) to help identify
  new transnational projects
• Set up info dissemination routes

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HINTS and TIPS

• Be flexible with your initial idea
• Dont simply package local investments in a TC
  wrapper
• Know why you want transnational input
• Look for projects which create long term
  practical alliances
• Look for innovative projects which test ideas for
  future roll-out
• Balanced partnerships locally and
  transnationally
• Marching organisations size and function
• Be inclusive organisational, political and
  community engagement and support and buy-in

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Benefits

• Transnational collaboration brings added value
  profile, image, ideas, talent, benchmarking,
  fresh thinking
• Transnational links and relationships adds an
  international dimension to the social capital of
  a region
• Projects help cross sector and vertical
  organisational integration ie better local
  governance and delivery
• Benefit from best practice developed elsewhere in
  Europe
• Test innovative solutions through pilot
  investments, share risks

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Next Steps?

• Getting involved
• Download the OPs now on-line
• Logging Project Ideas via programme websites
• Guidance Beginners guide and RESP
  practitioners guide April 2007
• Events Programme, national and regional
• www.nweurope.org
• Generating PIs for 2007-13
• Identify top-down regional projects
• Identify and mentor bottom-up projects
• Regional Support
• Regional machinery?
• Finding Match Funding and NE priorities
• Partner searches

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The Programme is friendly!
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Getting more information
www.nweurope.org NE Regional resources NWE
Contact Point NWE Secretariat Beginners Guide -
website And those whove gone before