14.3 million euros of ERDF approved for 4 new projects

We are pleased to announce that we have approved 100% of phase 2 projects at our recent project selection committee in Quimper. 

The Programme has now approved 14 projects in total, with a combined European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of 52.50 million euros.

Details of the 4 new projects can be found below.

GoTrade
Led by Basildon Borough Council, the project will aim to stop the decline of town centres by creating a unique brand of quality markets, known as ‘GoTrade’. The markets will help attract over 327,000 new visitors to towns in the South of England and North of France, helping to provide a significant boost to local economies.
Specific Objective 3.1: Natural and Cultural Heritage
ERDF Contribution: 3.8 million euros

Increase
The project will create a cross-border training programme that will provide residents of housing association accommodation with tailored support and training to allow them set up their own micro-business or achieve other forms of employment. The project will help train 4,000 participants, creating up to 1,200 new businesses and helping a further 2,000 people into employment.
Specific Objective 1.2: Social Innovation
ERDF Contribution: 6.9 million euros

CPES
Project CPES will aim to significantly improve the water quality in a number of rivers and lakes in the South of England and the North of France by encouraging farmers and landowners to adopt new agriculture practices to reduce the levels of nutrient runoff from fields. The project will implement six pilot PES (Payment for Ecosystem services) across the Channel area. These type of schemes offer financial incentives to farmers to encourage them to implement more environmentally friendly methods of farming, which will help reduce the levels of nitrate water pollution.
Specific Objective 3.2: Coastal and Transitional Water Ecosystems
ERDF Contribution: 2.8 million euros

CobBauge
This environmental project, led by Plymouth University, will promote the construction of cob¹ houses in the Channel area by developing, testing and creating new low carbon and energy efficient cob mixes. These mixes will be produced from local soils, helping to reduce CO2 production emissions compared to the production of traditional masonry materials. The mixes will then be shared with a network of builders and other construction professionals to encourage the construction of new cob houses in the Channel area.
Specific Objective 2.1: Low Carbon Technologies
ERDF Contribution: 757,000 euros

¹Cob is a mixture of earth and fibres, such as straw, which is then mixed with water and used to construct buildings.