Alternative funding and Interreg

Partnerships Procedures

Interreg which was developed as a Community Initiative in the early 90s, is now a key instrument of the EU providing a framework for cooperation across borders between national, regional, and local actors from different Member States to promote harmonious economic, social and territorial development of the Union as a whole.  While cooperation is at the heart of Interreg, its place-based and local-level approach makes Interreg the key funding instrument of trust-building between communities.

 "Interreg for people" is not only a strong message from the European Commission but it is supported by the increased interest in Policy Objective 5 (PO5), Small Project Fund (SPF), small-scale projects (SSPs) – all instruments representing an overarching rationale of fostering civic and civil society engagement.

This relationship between citizens, civil society and decision-makers is key to trust, inclusion, transparency, better decision-making, efficiency and effectiveness.

 Alternative financing such as crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, community financing, on the other hand, are funding mechanism that encompasses many of the aforementioned principles. They involve and activate the crowd and voice citizens' opinions. These alternative funding options have also earned a primary role as a virtuous process of co-decision, co-creation, engagement and ownership that they produce in all parties involved and especially with the crowd – citizens!

 The development of alternative financing instruments can present an opportunity for Interreg programmes to leverage on these platforms to channel resources and engage a broader community in supporting cross-border projects and initiatives that promote collaboration, innovation and sustainable development across regions.

 Objective

Interact in cooperation with the CrowdfundingHub network is organising this online event as an information session to offer Interreg programmes the opportunity to learn more about alternative financing instruments such as crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, community financing and fund matching. We will present an overview of the different alternative financing options and will focus on those that can be considered more suitable to the Interreg context.

Furthermore, we will showcase first-hand experience of project examples and we will leave room for discussion if and how to unlock the potential of crowdfunding and any suitable alternative financing instruments for the Interreg programmes.

 The event is intended for Managing Authorities and Joint Secretariats representatives who are curious and open to alternative and innovative ideas and approaches. 

You can find here the draft agenda.