EPRC has won a competitive tender to undertake the ex ante evaluation and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of the Northern Periphery Programme (NPP), 2007-2013, which will be funded under the new Objective 3 Territorial Cooperation Objective.
In common with other programmes, the NPP faces the challenge of responding to the Lisbon/Gothenburg agendas of the EU, while recognising the specific challenges of the NPP area (sparsity of population, peripherality, rurality, demographic changes).
Another issue is the implications of an extended Programme area (to include the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the whole of Scotland and potentially additional parts of Norway) for the programming phase, the structure/content of the new Programme and the management arrangements.
The ex ante and SEA will be undertaken by Dr Irene McMaster, Professor John Bachtler, Rona Michie, Dr Keith Clement and Heidi Vironen. EPRC is also part of two successful tenders for ex ante evaluation of the Structural Funds programmes for 2007-2013 in Wales (led by DTZ Pieda Consulting) and in Styria, Austria (led by Joanneum Research).