INTERREG

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) seeks to influence the economic challenges that are being encountered in order to address and help meet the ambitious targets and economic growth as stated in the Lisbon Agenda. The aim is to improve regional competitiveness across the EU by tackling the challenges facing regions as a whole, particularly with regard to the enterprise sector and its key sources of competitiveness as well as distinct local challengers.

European Regional Development Funding funds the territorial co-operation programmes, more commonly known as INTERREG. There are three strands to INTERREG:

INTERREG A is used for cross-border cooperation. Aberdeenshire is not eligible for this funding.
INTERREG B is used for transnational cooperation using defined areas of Europe. Aberdeenshire is eligible for this funding.
Finally, INTERREG C is for interregional cooperation based on the whole of Europe. Aberdeenshire is eligible for this funding.

There are three INTERREG programmes that Aberdeenshire is eligible to access. These are:

INTERREG IVB North Sea Region
INTERREG IVB North West Europe
INTERREG IVC

Aberdeenshire Council has been a partner in a number of projects in the 2000-2006 Programme.

Further information on past projects and the new programmes

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INTERREG IVB North Sea Region

The overall aim of the INTERREG IVB North Sea Region (NSR) programme is to make the North Sea Region a better place to live, work and invest in. The North Sea Region Programme has a role in enhancing the overall quality of life for residents of the North Sea Region by ensuring that there is access to more and better jobs by sustaining and enhancing the acknowledged environmental qualities of the region, by improving accessibility to places and ensuring that our communities are viable, vibrant and attractive places to live and work.

Programme Priorities

There are four distinct Priorities within the Programme:

Priority 1 - Building our capacity for innovation

Priority 2 - The sustainable management of our environment

Priority 3 - Improving the accessibility of places in the NSR

Priority 4 - Promoting sustainable and competitive communities, creating places to live and work in

Aberdeenshire is eligible to apply for any of these Priorities.

Priority 1 – Building on our capacity for innovation seeks to promote transnational cooperation activities that will strengthen the North Sea Region’s capacity for innovation. The objectives that are addressed are:

To encourage the introduction and development of new and improved products and processes within the Region’s businesses and services
To stimulate innovation within identified clusters and research and innovation networks
Creating the right conditions for an innovation orientated environment
To encourage the adoption and use of ICT applications across the North Sea Region.

Priority 1 allows intervention on the following themes:

Building the innovation-capacity of businesses and services
Building the transnational dimension of clusters and research and innovation networks
Strengthening the capacity of institutions and society for innovation
Promoting the adoption and use of ICT applications.

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Priority 2 – Promoting the sustainable management of our environment seeks to promote transnational actions for the sustainable management of the common environmental resources of the North Sea Region, both to maintain and enhance the quality of the environment for the benefit of future generations and to secure associated social and economic benefits. The objectives and themes to be addressed by Priority 2 are:

Sustainable development of the coastal land and sea areas through integrated coastal zone management
Developing preventative and response measures to address marine acute and chronic pollution
Adapting to and reducing risks posed to society and nature by a changed climate
Promoting environmentally-responsible energy production practices.

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Priority 3 – Improving the accessibility of places in the NSR seeks to promote transnational cooperation activities that contribute to improving the accessibility of places in the North Sea Region and deliver economic and social benefits. The objectives and themes to be addressed by Priority 2 are:

To promote accessibility strategies
To promote the development of multimodal transport corridors
To promote the development of efficient and effective logistics solutions.

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Priority 4 – Promoting sustainable and competitive communities: creating attractive places to live and work in seeks to promote transnational cooperation that promotes attractive and viable communities which help to strengthen the competitiveness of the North Sea Region and contribute to its balanced sustainable development. The objectives that are addressed are:

To secure solutions to the needs of areas in decline to ensure that they contribute to the economic and social wealth of the North Sea Region
To promote and manage sustainable growth in expanding areas in order that they achieve their full economic and social potential
To implement energy-efficient solutions for settlements.

Priority 4 allows intervention on the following themes:

Tackling the needs of areas in decline
Promoting sustainable growth solutions for expanding areas
Promoting energy-efficiency in urban and rural communities.

Further information on INTERREG IVB North Sea Region can be found at the following external website:

INTERREG North Sea Region

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INTERREG IVB North West Europe

The overall aim of the INTERREG IVB North West Europe (NWE) programme is to capitalise on the cooperation between key actors to address territorial issues across the NWE area. This is in order to contribute to the NWE’s economic competitiveness while equally promoting regionally balanced and sustainable development.

Programme Priorities

There are four distinct Priorities within the Programme:

Priority 1 - Developing the NWE knowledge-based economy by capitalising on our capacity for innovation

Priority 2 - Managing our natural resources efficiently

Priority 3 - Improving connectivity in NWE by promoting intelligent and sustainable transport solutions

Priority 4 - Promoting sustainable and dynamic communities

Aberdeenshire is eligible to apply for any of these Priorities.

The programmes supported by cohesion policy should target resources on the following three priorities:

Improving the attractiveness of Member States, regions and cities by improving accessibility, ensuring adequate quality of services, and preserving the environment
Encouraging innovation, entrepreneurship and the growth of the knowledge economy by increasing research and innovation capacities, including new information and communication technologies, and
Creating more and better jobs by attracting more people into employment or entrepreneurial activity, improving adaptability of workers and enterprises and increasing investment in human capital.

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Priority 1 – Developing the NWE knowledge-based economy by capitalising on our capacity for innovation seeks to "improve the global competitiveness and territorial cohesion of NWE by strengthening the innovative potentials and knowledge-based economy and the mobilisation of regional and local potentials through transnational co-operation". The three defined objectives that are addressed are:

To promote greater entrepreneurship and facilitate the translation of innovations and knowledge into (marketable) products, processes and services that strengthen the competitiveness of NWE
To develop new and strengthen existing growth clusters and SME networks by building on the endogenous potentials of NWE cities and regions
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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Priority 2 – Sustainable management of natural resources and of natural and technological risks seeks to promote an innovative and sustainable approach to natural resource management, risk management and the enhancement of the natural environment through transnational cooperation. The three defined objectives that are addressed are:

To promote an innovative and sustainable approach to natural resource management, including water, landscapes, biodiversity and energy, and waste management
To promote an innovative approach to risk management and prevention, in particular water management (effects of the high concentration of human activities in coastal areas and river valleys; impacts of sea level rise on coastal areas and flood risk; the marine environment) in the context of climate change
To promote a transnational and spatial approach to improving the quality of soil, water and air, to minimising greenhouse gas emissions and to reducing noise pollution.

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Priority 3 – Improving connectivity in NWE by promoting intelligent and sustainable transport and ICT solutions seeks to improve the functional integration of NWE through improved connectivity and accessibility by promoting sustainable transport connections for both passengers and freight on rail, waterways, sea and air, and to develop innovative approaches to the use of ICT, for the transnational territory and beyond. The three defined objectives that are addressed are:

To manage transport growth through optimisation of the capacity of existing (uni-modal) transport infrastructure for both passenger and freight transport
To support effective and innovative multi-modal strategic actions and efficient inter-operable systems on land, water and air
To develop innovative approaches to the use of ICT in order to improve connectivity, including approaches aimed at reducing the need to travel and at replacing physical mobility through virtual activity for both passenger mobility and freight transport.

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Priority 4 – Promoting strong and prosperous communities at transnational level seeks to strengthen the attractiveness and performance of cities, towns, rural areas and regions through joint actions that will encourage sustainable economic activity and social cohesion. The three defined objectives that are addressed are:

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
To identify and develop collective actions that will improve the environmental quality and attraction of towns and cities including the sustainable use of the cultural heritage, tourism, the creative economy and sustainable and innovative energy practices
To promote transnational responses to the impacts of demographic change and migration on the NWE territory.

Further information on INTERREG IVB North West Eupre can be found at the following external website:

INTERREG North West Europe

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INTERREG IVC

The overall objectives of the INTERREG IVC programme is to improve, by means of interregional cooperation, the effectiveness of regional development policies in the areas of innovation, the knowledge economy, the environment and risk prevention as well as to contribute to economic modernisation and increased competitiveness of Europe.

There are five sub-objectives that the programme seeks to address. These are:

To improve regional and local policies in the field of innovation and the knowledge economy, more specifically focusing on regional capacities for research and technology development, support to entrepreneurship and SMEs, support to business development and innovation initiatives, promotion of the use of ICTs and support to employment, human capital and education.
To improve regional and local policies in the field of environment and risk prevention, more specifically focusing on prevention and management of natural and technological risks, water and coastal management, waste management, biodiversity and preservation of natural heritage, energy efficiency and renewable energies, clean and sustainable public transport, and cultural heritage.
To enable actors at regional and local levels from different countries across the EU to exchange their experiences and knowledge.
To match regions less experienced in a specific policy field with regions with more experience in that field, with the aim of jointly improving the capacities and knowledge of regional and local stakeholders.
To ensure that the good practices identified within interregional cooperation projects are made available to other regional and local actors and are transferred into Convergence and Competitiveness programmes.

Programme Priorities

There are two distinct Priorities within the Programme:

Priority 1 - Innovation and the knowledge economy
Priority 2 - Environment and Risk Management

Aberdeenshire is an eligible area for interventions through both of these Priorities.

Priority 1 – Innovation and the knowledge economy focuses mainly on the sub-themes innovation, research and technology development, entrepreneurship and SMEs, the information society, and employment, human capital and education.

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Priority 2 – Environment and risk management addresses the sub-themes' natural and technological risks, water management, waste management, biodiversity and preservation of natural heritage, energy and sustainable transport, and cultural heritage and landscape.

Further information on INTERREG IVC can be found at the following external website.

INTERREG IVC

2000-2006 Aberdeenshire INTERREG project involvement

Aberdeenshire Council has been extensively involved in INTERREG projects in the 2000-2006 programme period. Below are links to some of these projects.