Ireland4LIFE: Building Capacity, Enhancing Participation and Driving Impact

forthcoming

The Ireland4LIFE project aims to address Ireland’s underrepresentation in the EU LIFE Programme by enhancing capacity, improving proposal quality and fostering broader stakeholder engagement. Despite strong national commitments to the European Green Deal and EU Biodiversity Strategy, Ireland’s application and success rates remain below the EU average, with significant barriers including limited expertise, weak stakeholder networks and a lack of national co-financing mechanisms. The project will: 1. Build institutional capacity by recruiting and training National Contact Point (NCP) staff, enabling advanced guidance and mentoring for applicants. 2. Engage stakeholders through workshops, tailored support and peer-learning networks to empower local authorities, private organisations and NGOs. 3. Develop co-financing frameworks to address financial barriers and sustain long-term participation in the LIFE Programme. 4. Enhance outreach through targeted campaigns, a centralised online knowledge hub, and engagement with underrepresented sectors. Expected outcomes include: • 30% increase in annual LIFE submissions, particularly in Nature and Biodiversity, Circular Economy and Quality of Life, and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation sub-programmes. • 35% success rate in proposals, up from 20-25%. • Establishing a national co-financing mechanism to unlock high-potential projects. By tackling systemic barriers, Ireland4LIFE will align national efforts with EU priorities, fostering innovation and collaboration while ensuring the sustainability of project impacts through embedded frameworks and replicable methodologies.