ERDF co-funded regional programmes will invest over €800million in the next 7 years. URBACT can help Ireland develop project ideas which are eligible for ERDF urban development funds. URBACT’s purpose is to help policy makers learn from (and in turn inform thinking on) best practice in the design of integrated and inclusive urban development policy. The purpose of this event was to introduce the URBACT scheme, to inform delegates about the process of applying for URBACT funds, and in particular, to show the benefits for Irish partners joining URBACT networks and projects.
Colm Downey, Department of Environment, Community and Local Government opened the event by welcoming everyone and taking delegates through the purpose of the day.
Melody Houk, Projects Manager, URBACT Secretariat explained about URBACT's main objectives and activities and how important networking is between cities with common problems and later in the morning presented the timelines for URBACT III funding call.
There was a very informative panel discussion with Dave Lawless, Project Officer, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council; John O’Hara, Planning Officer, Dublin City Council; Councillor Malcolm Noonan, Kilkenny County Council; Padraig Maguire, Regional Planner, Border Midlands & Western Regional Assembly. This session was superbly moderated by Peter Ramsden, URBACT Thematic Pole Manager. He asked excellent questions of the panel who gave their experience of the day-to-day impact that URBACT II projects had in their local.
Peter Ramsden's presentation detailed how important it is to have an integrated approach to urban development and what can go wrong when these principals are ignored. Gerry Finn, Director of Northern and Western Regional Assembly chaired the next session in which Stephen Blair, Director of Southern Regional Assembly focused on the National Framework for Sustainable Urban Development in Ireland 2014-2020 and the details of how the URBACT III funding call should be managed. There was a brief questions and answers session with the audience which raised a number of key questions.
Professor Mark Boyle closed the event and invited delegates to attend the networking lunch which enabled further discussion among the delegates about URBACT III and the next steps to be taken towards applying for the funding. There was an opportunity for the delegates to write questions which couldn’t be answered on the day and these will form the basis of a FAQ sheet regarding the URBACT III funding call. The event was well attended by representatives from County and City Councils both North and South and various different community and voluntary interest groups.
Please check www.urbact.eu for more information or contact Professor Mark Boyle on tel: 00353 1 7083756 or mark.g.boyle@mu.ie