| East of England joins the European Regional and Local Health Authorities (EUREGHA) Network
The East of England officially joined the EUREGHA network at an inauguration ceremony in Brussels on 27th January 2012. The East of England Local Government Association (EELGA) was represented by Cllr Colin Noble, Suffolk County Council Portfolio Holder for Adult and Community Services who is chairman of EELGA’s Adult Services and Health Portfolio-Holder Network. Cllr Noble was also elected by the EUREGHA General Assembly to be one of its Vice-Chairs.
EUREGHA is a Brussels based, fee-paying association – 10 members from 7 different EU member states - representing the interests of local and regional health organisations at the EU level. It also facilitates the exchange of best practice between members and will support them in accessing the broad range of EU funding programmes available to support health related initiatives.
Whilst health policy is decided at national level, public health is determined by many elements, recognised by the EU through its Health in all Policies (HIAP) approach, i.e. obliging all policy makers to carry out a health impact assessment when designing policy. Therefore the EU is open to the input of local and regional authorities during the policy making process to ensure that its policies have the most positive impact at the local and regional level.
EUREGHA, which has been operating informally since 2006, will continue to work with the EU institutions to ensure that its members’ views are represented in future EU health policy and funding initiatives. Since the East of England Brussels Office will be hosting the secretariat, there is no fee payable by East of England partners and they will benefit from the full range of membership advantages.
Please visit the EUREGHA website or contact Paul Laffin for further information.
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EU Connects Seminar: EU Funding Opportunities for Health Related Projects
EU Connects is the East of England LGA’s new resource for local authorities, the voluntary sector and Local Enterprise Partnerships, to improve access to and the take up of EU funds in the East of England. EU Connects next free seminar will provide an introduction to the EU funding programmes available to support health related projects and is taking place on 30th January 2012, 09:30 – 15:30, at Shire Hall, Chelmsford, Essex.
The seminar will feature detailed presentations from the UK National Contact points from a number of different programmes – including the Ambient Assisted Living Programme (AAL) and the Information Communication and Technology Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP) – who will also present case studies of successful funding applications to provide participants with an understanding of how these funding streams can be accessed to help meet organisational objectives.
In addition, the seminar will feature a representative from the Enterprise Europe Network, who will talk about the partner brokerage service and the support they offer in developing European funding applications, and Paul Laffin, EU Policy Adviser specialising in health policy and funding programmes, from the East of England Brussels Office.
Registration details and further information about the seminar are available here or by contacting Michelle Armstrong, Associate EU Funding Adviser, on 07709 483445 or Julia Searle, Events Organiser, on 01284 729405.
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PROGRESS 2WARDS HEALTHY AGEING IN EUROPE: Suffolk secures €375k of EU funding to promote healthy and active ageing.
A Suffolk County Council led consortium – including partners from Spain, Denmark, Germany and Italy –has been awarded €375k from the EU’s PROGRESS Programme to improve understanding of how best to help 45 – 65 year olds maintain their good health.
The consortium was supported throughout the bidding process by the East of England Brussels Office and the EU Connects service.
The PROGRESS 2WARDS HEALTHY AGEING IN EUROPE project will involve universities, public authorities & health services from across Suffolk working with international partners to develop and uncover innovative approaches to healthy ageing.
The project has already begun to identify businesses to help deliver the project goals through the promotion of workplace based health initiatives. Planning is also underway for a transnational conference to be hosted in Suffolk in 2012.
Please contact Paul Laffin for further information.
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Get Involved - EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW): Dates now set for 2012
The European Commission, European networks, regions and cities will come together once
again for a series of high profile events in Brussels from 18-22 June under the umbrella theme of sustainable
energy. Last year’s EUSEW programme included events showcasing best practice from Essex and Peterborough in
the field of renewable and energy efficiency. Why not showcase your best practice in the field of sustainable
energy at the 2012 edition of EUSEW? Contact the Brussels Office to discuss seminar ideas or opportunities to exhibit
your ambitious and innovative sustainable energy projects.
In addition, if you manage a project with outstanding results in sustainable energy,
why not compete for a European Award? The European Commission will reward best-in-class initiatives in the fields of renewable
energy and energy efficiency.
The theme for EUSEW 2012 will be announced shortly so register on
www.eusew.eu for regular updates.
Please contact Jenny Carson for more
information on how to get involved in EU Sustainable Energy Week 2012.
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Open Days 2011: Delivering Smart Sustainable and Inclusive Growth for the East of England
Organisations and individuals from the East of England featured prominently at Open Days 2011,
the key annual event for Europe’s cities and regions, which took place in Brussels from 11th-13th October 2011.
The Open Days 2011 theme was Investing in Europe’s Future: Regions and Cities delivering
smart sustainable and inclusive growth, and involved approximately 100 sessions – workshops, debates and
exhibitions - for circa 6,000 participants in total. Open Days is organised by the European Commission in partnership with
regions and cities from all over Europe, and includes contributions from companies, financial institutions, international
associations and academic organisations.
Professor Terry Mughan, Anglia Rushkin University, spoke about improving access to the care
market for SMEs and described early findings from the CURA B project (ERDF, 2 Seas cross border co-operation programme)
at the East of England led Innovation for a Healthy Future seminar.
The seminar was followed by a facilitated project partnering session, featuring expert speakers
from the public, private and academic sectors; designed to help broker partnerships to develop applications for forthcoming EU
funding calls. Representatives from the East of England health community attended and numerous partnership working opportunities
were identified and will be developed over the coming months, with the assistance of the East of England Brussels Office.
The EValu8 project, the East of England’s ERDF funded contribution to the UK
Plugged in Places electric vehicle charging network, was presented at the E-Vehicles: the way to succeed – Examples
of PPPs workshop to highlight the work being undertaken to promote the use and expansion of electric vehicles in Europe.
EValu8 has a total project cost of £7 million and will see 600 charging posts being
installed. The project will seek to generate confidence and interest from businesses and the public that electric vehicles are
a viable alternative for a range of journey types.
Representatives from a range of East of England organisations participated in many of the 100+
events with Iain Dunnett, Low Carbon Development Manager at Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, talking on
You Tube (1 minute and 2 seconds into clip) about
how regional solutions, such as the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme funded Answer
project, are crucial to tackling climate change.
Please contact Paul Laffin for further information
about Open Days or additional EU partnership working opportunities with the East of England Brussels Office
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The Low Carbon Innovation Fund: Open for Business
The Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF) supports low carbon SMEs in the East of England. This
includes companies that wish to develop low carbon products or supply low carbon services and those seeking to reduce their
operational CO2 output by investing in low carbon equipment or processes.
The LCIF makes use of £8m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) which is
matched with £12m private co-investment. LGIF contributions are in the range of £50k- £500k and each investment
utilizes public and private funds at a ratio of approximately 40:60 percent. The fund makes straight equity deals or convertible
loan arrangements.
The fund supports the regional aspiration of becoming ‘a leading, world class low carbon
economy’ and is managed by Turquoise International in partnership with the Low Carbon Innovation Centre (LCIC) at the
University of East Anglia (UEA). The fund is set to run until December 2015.
For more information, check out
www.lowcarbonfund.co.uk or to make contact with the fund managers, click
here
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The East of England: Showcasing Best Practice at Open Days 2011.
The Open Days series of events is the key annual event for Europe’s cities and regions and will take place in Brussels
from 11th/13th October 2011.
Since 2003, Open Days has become an annual key event at which cities and regions showcase their capacity for creating growth
and jobs, implementing European Union cohesion policy, and proving the importance of the local level for good European
governance.
Investing in Europe’s Future: Regions and Cities delivering smart sustainable and inclusive growth is the Open
Days 2011 theme and will include approximately 100 sessions – workshops, debates and exhibitions - for circa 6,000
participants in total. Open Days is organised by the European Commission in partnership with regions and cities from all
over Europe, and includes contributions from companies, financial institutions, international associations and academic
organisations.
Watch Councillor Kay
Twitchen, Vice Chairman of Essex County Council and Full Member of the Committee of the Regions, explaining this process on
YouTube (4 minutes 19 seconds into the video)
Professor Terry Mughan, Anglia Rushkin University, will be speaking about improving access to the care market for SMEs and
describing early findings from the CURA B project (ERDF, 2 Seas cross border co-operation programme) on Wednesday 12th October
at the East of England led Innovation for a Healthy Future seminar (registration code 12A40). Professor Mughan will be
joined by experts from the European Commission, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Denmark.
The seminar will be followed by a facilitated project partnering session, featuring expert speakers from the public,
private and academic sectors; designed to help broker partnerships to develop applications for forthcoming EU funding
opportunities. East of England partners in the healthcare field are therefore invited to contact the East of England Brussels
office with ideas for potential projects. The Brussels Office will then circulate partner searches during September to attract
potential partners to this bid development session.
In addition, the East of England will be joining other European regions in showcasing the ERDF funded EValu8 project
– the East of England’s contribution to the UK Plugged in Places electric vehicle charging network.
The EValu8 team will be working together with the Västra Götaland region (Sweden), Castilla y León
(Spain), General Electric, the Basque Country (Spain), the City of Gothenburg (Sweden), the Galicia Region (Spain), Electric
Mobility Norway and Steiermark Austria at the E-Vehicles: the way to succeed – Examples of PPPs workshop
(registration code 12A24) to highlight the work being undertaken to promote the use and expansion of electric vehicles in
Europe.
The workshop will take place on Wednesday 12th October 2011 and will focus on the use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in
delivering electric vehicle infrastructure.
EValu8 has a total project cost of £7 million and will see 600 charging posts being installed. The project will
seek to generate confidence and interest from businesses and the public that electric vehicles are a viable alternative for a
range of journey types.
The full Open Days programme is available
here
with registration for all events accessible
here.
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Open Days 2011 Local Events : Questions for a Greener Future
As part of Open Days 2011: Investing in Europe's future: Regions and cities delivering smart, sustainable and inclusive
growth, Suffolk County Council’s ANSWER Project - A North Sea Way to Energy-efficient Regions – is
hosting a conference to highlight its groundbreaking inter European collaboration.
The project has enabled 13 partners in five countries (UK, Belgium, Germany, Norway and Sweden) to look at the different ways
in which businesses can work in an energy-efficient manner and encourage behavioural change.
The conference will take place on Thursday 20th & Friday 21st October in Ipswich and comprises two, separate, half-day
sessions targeted for business (Day 1) and for communities and schools (Day 2) which will explore some of the most pressing
challenges we all face for building a sustainable society.
UK based partners featured at the conference include Suffolk and Norfolk County Councils, Ipswich Borough Council, the
Environment Agency and the Chamber of Commerce.
Additional information about the ANSWER Project is available here whilst
registration, free of charge, for the conference is available here.
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East of England Brussels Office calls for EU funding to support Gypsy/Roma health issues
The East of England Brussels Office is working with Dr. Pauline Lane, Reader in Mental Health at Anglia Rushkin University,
to instigate and develop a European Research Centre for Roma/Gypsy Health which would develop an international public health
research organisation with the Roma/Gypsy communities across Europe, as well as other academic/health organisations working
to improve the health of Roma and Gypsy people across Europe.
Dr Lane and representatives from the Gypsy/Roma Community wrote to Commissioners Dalli (Health) and Andor, (Employment,
Social Affairs and Inclusion) in July to lobby for the inclusion of relevant budget lines in the EU’s Public Health
and PROGRESS funding programmes.
The Commissioners replied to thank the group for its insights and suggestions, which will be taken into consideration
during the preparation of the respective programmes’ work plans.
Please contact Paul Laffin if you require any further information.
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Brussels Office secures £250,100 for EU funding application support from Improvement East
The EU Connects project is a dedicated resource for local authorities, the voluntary sector and emerging Local Enterprise
Partnerships (LEP) to improve access to and take up of EU funds, by providing hands-on assistance for project development
and thus building capacity within the public and voluntary sectors for further EU funds in the longer term. This project
is supported by Improvement East.
This project which will be run by EELGA is now live and a tender has been issued by EELGA to recruit two full time associates
(closing date Thursday July 28th), see EELGA website for further detail
http://www.eelga.gov.uk/corporate/tenders.aspx
In addition to the support of these two associates when they are recruited, local authorities, voluntary sector organisations
and LEPs may start to apply to EELGA to 'borrow' staff with experience and a good track record in accessing EU funds for short
periods to help develop EU funded bids. The loaning organisations (local authorities or the voluntary sector) will be
able to invoice EELGA for the costs of the staff time while on loan. It is hoped that this facility will both build
capacity and encourage cross sectoral learning.
For further information on the EELGA tender to recruit the associates, please contact
Adrian Cannard. For all other questions on the EU Connects project,
please contact Sarah Murray at the Brussels Office.
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Extra support for EELGA members on EU structural fund management committee
At the most recent meeting of the European Programmes Strategy Group (EPSG), Sarah Murray, Team Leader of the Brussels Office was
invited to become a member of the new Local Management Committee (LMC). This new Committee, which is responsible for management
and oversight of the East of England’s ERDF programme, is reviewing its membership and terms of reference in light of the
transfer of the to programme management from EEDA to CLG. The LMC will also notably include representatives from the 5 Local
Enterprise Partnerships and will also select a local representative for the new position of deputy chair.
These LEP representatives and the deputy chair positions are additional to the 4 seats currently held by EELGA on the
existing EPSG which will roll forward into the new Local Management Committee structure. Sarah Murray said:
“I am delighted to be able to take an active role on this important committee and will ensure that experience
from across the East of England European Partnership on the use of ERDF is shared with the LMC members. With the future
of structural funds currently under discussion, it will be important for the LMC to engage actively as the new programmes for
2013 take shape. I look forward to supporting the EELGA members actively on this committee to ensure that the local
dimension is as strong as possible and ensure that the East of England makes the most of the opportunities for low carbon
economic growth with investments from the ERDF.”
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OECD Highlights the East of England as a global 'Knowledge and Technology Hub'
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has named the East of England as a knowledge and technology
hub in a recent report on Regions and Innovation Policy. The report emphasised the importance of innovation in boosting job
creation and increasing economic growth. In the context of the financial and economic crisis, this is particularly central
since knowledge is embedded in the organisational structure of firms, networks and institutions.
In the quest for increased innovation and competitiveness, local authorities have gradually become relevant actors. The East
of England is one such area highlighted as a knowledge and technology hub. This allows the East of England to be compared to
regions in other top knowledge-intensive countries such as Finland, Sweden, Germany and the United States. Most notably, the East
of England has been compared to California in the United States, where the prominent and well established Silicon Valley lies.
In the pursuit of long-term economic growth, the OECD has pointed to the importance of knowledge, science, technology and
innovation. These are areas where the East of England has great strengths.
If you would like an office briefing note on the report, please contact
jonathan.millins@east-of-england.eu
You can also read the full report
here on the OECD website.
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Brussels Office Annual Report 2010/11
The East of England Brussels Office has recently presented its activities to EELGA, EESAL and the East of England Europe and
International Forum. It highlights key successes and achievements in EU funding and policy over the past year, as
well as the major adaptations that took place as a consequences of the abolition of regional structures in 2010. Looking
forward for 2011 and beyond, the Brussels Office looks to continue to support East of England partners’ ambitions in the
fields of transport, lifelong learning, social policy, innovation and health. In particular, work in 2011/12 will be
focussed on ensuring key funding streams such as Structural Funds, TEN-T and the Framework Programme will be available and
oriented towards the needs of East of England partners. The report is available
here.
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East of England 3rd sector representative makes case for reform of EU budget
Mark Mitchell, Chief Executive of Community Action Dacorum, Chair of COVER and representing the 3rd sector European network
was one of only three sectoral representatives to address a special hearing of the European Parliament Budget Committee. This
hearing also summoned the EU commissioner for budgets, Janusz Lweandowski who spoke about "The tri-annual reform of the
Financial Regulation 2010".
Mark highlighted key challenges facing the involvement of voluntary sector organisations in
EU funded projects and made a series of recommendations for improvements to the EU financial regulations.Mark Mitchell, at the
hearing on "A sustainable review of the Financial Regulation - boosting Europe's progress 2020" on June 1st in the
European Parliament, addressed the importance of EU funding for the voluntary sector and made recommendations for improvements
to the financial rules.
He highlighted a number of exemplar projects from Dacorum and the East of England, including the
Disability Essex and Southend YMCA’s projects funded under the East of England’s ERDF competitiveness programme.
He compared the changes to the financial regulations between the current programmes and those pre 2007.
The exclusion of volunteer
time as In Kind match has all but excluded the participation of NGOs in transnational activities where they could make a
significant contribution. Being cash poor but time rich makes voluntary sector organisations ideal partners in EU projects,
but the custom and practice guiding the implementation of EU financial rules operating in the UK prohibits their use of
volunteer time.
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