In collaboration with
Project Overview
The BRIDGE project, led by East Border Region in partnership with the Irish Central Border Area Network, is a three-year cross-border initiative dedicated to strengthening governance, leadership, and institutional capacity across the border counties of Northern Ireland and Ireland.
The project runs from October 2025 through September 2028, with a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework tracking progress and impact throughout.
This project is supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). PEACEPLUS is co-funded by the European Union, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Government of Ireland, and the Northern Ireland Executive.
Building a More Resilient Border Region
By addressing long-standing governance challenges through targeted skills development and collaboration, BRIDGE seeks to build institutional capacity, build trust in leadership, and ensure a sustainable future for the region.
Over the course of three years, the project will directly engage 775 participants in 12 local authorities across the Ireland-Northern Ireland border alongside EBR and ICBAN as the two cross-border networks.
Our Structured Approach
To build lasting capacity and drive meaningful change, the BRIDGE project focuses its activities and deliverables into two core work packages.
Leadership & Skills Development
Delivering specialized training programmes to equip participants with modern governance tools and effective leadership strategies.
- Strategic Leadership & Decision-Making
- Collaborative Governance & Ethical Leadership
- Financial Management & Budgeting
- Cross-Border Governance & Policy Alignment
- Marketing & Public Engagement
- Digital Media & Public Messaging
- Cross-Border Working Groups (Tourism, Economic Development, Environment)
Collaboration & Institutional Networks
Facilitating cross-border knowledge exchanges and building strong, supportive professional networks.
- Border Corridor & Functional Area Networking – Establishing networks around shared regional priorities
- Cross-Border Knowledge Exchange & Institutional Collaboration – Peer learning and best-practice sharing between councils
- European Knowledge Exchange Symposium – Learning from governance models and practices across Europe
- Consensus-Based Decision-Making Framework – A tested tool for councils navigating joint governance challenges
Measurable Outcomes
The primary objective of these combined efforts is the joint engagement of 14 partner organisations. Through direct, hands-on involvement in cross-border knowledge exchanges, governance training programmes, and collaborative networks, these organisations will demonstrate a clear, measurable increase in institutional capacity and long-term resilience.
Supported by
