Access Europe

Access Europe is an EU funding support and capacity building service for Irish civil society, coordinated by The Wheel and funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Project Overview

It is based on a previous, successful programme that ran from 2014 – 2017 (see “Previous Projects” below) and was funded by Atlantic Philanthropies.

Its vision is an Irish civil society that is highly engaged in EU policy development and funding programmes. Access Europe provides information and advice, training, helpdesk support and network building opportunities for civil society organisations around all aspects of EU funding.

You can find out more about this project and sign up to Access Europe by clicking the link below, and you can also contact The Wheel’s European Team at [email protected].

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Objectives

Project objectives include:

  • Raise awareness of the value of strategic involvement in EU programmes and share information on EU funding opportunities.
  • Build the capacity of Irish civil society organisations to apply for and win funding from EU programmes.
  • Support the development of partnerships between Irish civil society organisations and potential national and European partners, as well as national agencies, contact points and other institutions that promote participation in EU programmes and relevant social economy and civil society-related policymaking.

Access Europe – Phase 1 (2014-2017)

Access Europe was a joint initiative of thirteen grantees of the Atlantic Philanthropies. This initiative was born in 2013 to build the capacity of Irish organisations to access EU funding. It was felt that the community, voluntary, charity and social enterprise sector could strongly benefit from further engagement in EU programmes.

The Access Europe project aimed to increase the:

  • levels of EU funding available to Irish organisations,
  • profile and impact of the work of organisations as a result of increased collaborations with national and EU policy makers and organisations from other Member States,
  • capacity of Irish organisations to access and manage EU and other sources of funding,
  • opportunities for shared learning across organisations accessing EU funding.

Phases of the project

The project had two phases. The first phase comprised of a research project to assess the potential for grantees of the Atlantic Philanthropies to access EU funds. It resulted in the production of the report: Building the Capacity to Access EU Funds – 2014 and Beyond. The second phase was the setting-up of a support service to grantees of the Atlantic Philanthropies to monitor the development of European Union programmes and related funds, to identify funding opportunities, and to assist applicants to submit applications.

Download our external evaluation by Social Researcher Brian Harvey for more information on the results of this project.

Contact our European Programmes team for more information

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