Proposal to access European Funding Programmes.
DublinNet is a new company formed by the six local partnership companies in Dublin City together with the Ballymun Job Centre. Its purpose is to enable Dublin wide programme participation, in alliance with Dublin City Council and other public authorities, in bidding for EU programme funding.
DublinNet at local and EU levels
DublinNet was incorporated in November 2013 as a company “Limited by Guarantee”.
DublinNet is also becoming a member of MetropolisNet EEIG, a cross-EU company formed by urban local development organisations in large cities as an “urban network for social inclusion and employment”. Other cities in MetropolisNet, as full or associate members, include major organisations in Vienna, Rome, Santander, Madrid, Hamburg, Budapest, Harringey (London) and Tampere (Finland). MetropolisNet has secured and delivered a number of significant EU funded projects over the last five years and has often included additional cities in its projects (see http://metropolisnet.eu).
What can DublinNet offer?
The companies forming DublinNet all have long track records in local development work in disadvantaged urban areas of Dublin, as well as in delivering a range of labour market and employment services, education and training for disadvantaged groups, community development and social enterprise. They were established between 1984 and 1996 and many of them have significant experience in leading or participating in EU funded projects under a variety of programmes and initiatives.
The founding companies are responsible for delivering the major Government funded social inclusion and local employment programmes in Dublin. Jointly these companies cover the full territory of the jurisdiction of Dublin City Council and will increasingly become more aligned with its municipal areas and functions.
Through the structures of a range of programmes, these companies work closely with the education, social protection, local development and employment services.
In forming DublinNet, these companies have created a single entity which will enable their participation on a Dublin wide basis in EU funded programmes in alliance with city and public authorities. Most EU funding programmes are quite complex and highly competitive.
The formation of DublinNet, and its alliance with comparable bodies in a range of key European cities, provides a powerful framework for entering bids for participation in EU funded projects. The companies acting jointly through DublinNet (and, at a European level, through MetropolisNet) are enabled by this alliance to pool their considerable skills and resources to produce high quality programme bids and programme inputs.
Among the skills which the pooling of resources through DublinNet will enable is the expertise available for the complex work of developing and implementing EU projects. These skills include identifying funding opportunities under applicable EU programmes, developing project concepts to fit programme parameters and organising transnational partnerships with selected organisations from other EU countries.
Through its membership of MetropolisNet, DublinNet also has ready access to a range of comparable organisations and alliances in other European cities which have long and proven track records cooperating with Dublin in European projects.
MetropolisNet itself has also developed in-house expertise and resources for identifying project opportunities and has an excellent record of securing project approvals even in very competitive programmes. If resourced at the level required, DublinNet can form a strong ally of Dublin City Council in securing project funding under innovative EU programmes over and above the allocations for the operational programmes financed through the structural funds.
EU funding 2014-20: challenges and opportunities
The EU funding round of 2014-20 will be more challenging than previous rounds. For the first time the overall EU budget is smaller than before. Secondly, Ireland has been designated a “more developed region” and will not benefit as much from structural funds as before. In particular, EU funding will need match funding of up to 50%. This will be provided by the exchequer for the mainstream “Operational Programmes” (including LCDP etc.) but will need to be sourced elsewhere to access special programmes and initiatives.
There are two main sources of EU funding – the structural fund programmes and special and other initiatives. Irish structural funds for 2014-20 will total €1.01bn, to be matched by approximately the same amount from exchequer resources. EU strategy for 2014-2020 – as agreed in 2011 in the joint strategy called Europe 2020 – establishes the policy framework for the 6-year Structural Fund programmes.
The funds are divided between those for regional infrastructure development (ERDF), agriculture and marine (EAFRD etc.), ‘peace funding’ in border areas (PEACE IV), funding for regional cooperation projects (European Territorial Cooperation Fund or INTERREG), and social inclusion and training/educational supports (ESF). “Operational Programmes” will be announced in early 2014 determining the spending of these various structural funds in Ireland, including through programmes that substantially finance the Irish local development and local employment services sectors.
One of the biggest elements of the structural funds is the European Social Fund (ESF). The ESF Operational Programme – to be managed by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) - will focus on increasing participation in employment, reducing early school leaving, increasing third level participation and reducing poverty and social exclusion. 20% of all ESF programmes must be aimed at reducing poverty and social exclusion. The social fund will substantially also finance the Local and Community Development Programme and also local enterprise programmes.
The regulations for the Structural Funds stipulate the importance of providing direct access to those funds for community and voluntary organisations. The ESF in particular specifies that programmes on the ground should be joint activities involving local authorities, social partners and third sector organisations. Global Grants will fund multi-annual budgets meaning under- or overspends will be carried forward at year’s end. The regulations place a strong emphasis on Community Led Local Development, the approach currently used for the LEADER programme. This requires a “Local Action Group” to be established to oversee the delivery of an agreed Local Development Strategy in each local authority, with at least 50% of the voting membership being non-public sector partners. These programmes will be implemented at local authority level through the new Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) and Community Development Committees (CDCs). The EU regulations state:
“Responsibility for implementation of local development strategies should be given to local action groups representing the interests of the community, as an essential principle.”
The additional regulatory provision that 20% of ESF funding be allocated to “promoting social inclusion and combating poverty” will benefit programmes clearly aimed at integrating disadvantaged groups into training and the workplace, including social enterprises.
The LCDCs in the local authorities from 2014 will be expected to draft and deliver their action plans for local enterprise and local community development on the basis of the Community Led Local Development model (CLLD), with the task of achieving “the Europe 2020 Strategy goals of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth [and] fostering territorial cohesion”. The EU Regulations for this stipulate that plans:
· encourage local communities to develop integrated bottom-up approaches ... where there is a need to respond to ... local challenges calling for structural change;
· build community capacity and stimulate innovation (including social innovation), entrepreneurship and capacity for change, by encouraging the development and discovery of untapped potential from within communities and territories;
· promote community ownership by increasing participation within communities and build a sense of involvement and ownership ...; and
· assist multi-level governance by providing a route for local communities to fully take part in shaping the implementation of EU objectives in all areas.
In Ireland the new Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) of the local authorities will be the “Local Action Groups” overseeing this local development process.
In addition to the Structural Fund programmes, the recently agreed EU budget for 2014-20 will include additional programmes open to public authorities, private institutions and community sector groups. This is an additional and substantial source of potential development funding for Dublin which over the period 2014-20 could provide up to €10m additional funding into Dublin if applied for and successfully drawn down. As with the structural fund programmes, access to these special programmes will also mostly (though not always) involve a match funding component of up to 50%.
These programmes are as yet in the development stage though some, e.g. the research programme HORIZON 2020, are already in place. Others will target various priorities of Europe 2020, e.g. lifelong learning, employment, neighbourhood management, poverty, social enterprise and regional development.
A new transnational (or inter-regional) programme will replace the current INTERREG programme. Under INTERREG IV (2007-14), for example, delivered through the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), resources were provided to “address economic and social problems, which have been exacerbated by the existence of land and maritime borders and promote greater territorial cohesion.” This included several projects promoting social inclusion and the development of the social enterprise sector. A programme to deliver the employment, skills development and enterprise aspects of Europe 2020 will be called the Programme for Social Change and Innovation, combining the previous PROGRESS, EURES and Micro-Finance programmes, and designed to meet the objectives of the New Skills for New Jobs initiative under Europe 2020. A “Call for Proposals” under the Programme for Social Change and Innovation has already been issued (Call no. VP/2013/010 closing date: 14th January 2014).
This aims to facilitate partnership projects to develop the labour market and job and skilling opportunities. This Call is open to public authorities, social partners and non-profit and civil society organisations, must involve a transnational programme and will be funded up to 80% by the Commission (with average project funding of about €200,000). A further Call under PROGESS has also appeared (Call no. VP/2013/012 closing date: 16th December 2013), covering research and experimental projects under the heading “social innovation”.
The lead partner must be a public authority (at national, regional or local level) and the project must involve several EU member states. Project budgets are a minimum of €700,000 and, given a total EU budget of €3.5m for this programme, this would mean approval of a maximum EU-wide of just 8 projects.
In other words, such programs are highly competitive and require high value preparation and high quality applications to have a realistic chance of securing access.
In general, involvement in these programmes is thus highly competitive and applying to them requires the building of strong partnerships of public authorities and civil society organisations and alliances with similar groupings in several member states. DublinNet can act as the vehicle for creating a strong base for realistic bids by Dublin consortia to maximise the draw-down of special EU programme funds for Dublin.
In relation to the financing of this initiative it is anticipated that each partner would make a contribution to this cost which is estimated to be in the region of € 25,000 for 2014. The main cost will be the hiring of a an EU funding expert to support the objectives of the initiative
The outcomes to be expected in the period (to end 2014) will be as follows:
· Involvement in two European networks;
· Participation in five funding bids;
· Massive expansion of EU involvement and horizons of staff;
· Information on the EU funding scenario and programme opportunities;
· Links to statutory agencies at Dublin/Region level;
· Possible success in two/three project applications.
Striving to access different forms and sources of funding (including the EU) will be an important role of the Dublin City Local Community Development in the years ahead and it is essential that the concept of partnership and consortia becomes more embedded in our strategies and action plans. It will also be essential that suitable structures and relevant expertise is applied to the complex task of sourcing EU funding. Therefore it is proposed that Dublin City Council should become a key partner with DublinNet and make a financial contribution of €12,500 to the initiative for 2014, with the objective of sourcing EU funding and Community related programmes for Dublin City.
This initiative will report into the Dublin City Community Development Committee (LCDC)
Bernie Doherty,
Chief Officer
LCDC
9th January 2014
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