Community Economic Development Programme

EU and Scotland making it work
POB

The Community Economic Development programme (CEDP) is a European funded community initiative, administered by HIE Argyll and the Islands (AIE) on behalf of a multi-agency partnership and representatives of the community, to enhance community capacity through measures which will enable communities to develop and implement their own local priorities.
These measures will come under the headings of our three main strategies:

  • Strengthen your community
  • Grow your business
  • Develop your skills

Traditional economic development and regeneration programmes have often failed to make any sustained impact on the problems of economic decline and social exclusion experienced in rural communities across the Highlands. Community based economic development approaches have emerged in response to the failure of prescriptive top down approaches. They emphasise the importance of encouraging local economic activity to ensure that investment can be drawn into priority areas and that the wealth generated from these activities can be retained within the community. In this way communities can be effectively supported in shaping their own futures within the wider economy.

AIE see encouraging social enterprise as a way of assisting communities to become stable and sustainable entities in their own right and as a means of further empowering communities to form and prioritise individual sections within their own localised economic plan.

We are now inviting applications for Phase 2 of the CED Programme for projects which benefit the local community and have community support. The types of projects assisted include:

  • Environmental Improvements
  • Interpretation
  • Recycling Initiatives
  • Community Facilities/Services
  • Community Businesses
  • Workshops/Seminars and other capacity building events

The total project cost must not exceed £100,000.

If you wish to find out more about the programme please use our contact us page or email Catriona McKnight at our Lochgilphead office. Copies of our CEDP leaflets are available in downloadable PDF format from the right hand menu panel and consist of the following titles:

  • CED Leaflet - This details particulars of the scheme, eligibility, match funding criteria and application process and represents the information available in CEDP area of our web site.
  • CED FIFI - Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance is for small scale funding for projects specifically in the fisheries and aquaculture arena.
  • CED Rural Access - information regarding grants available for community capacity building through courses, conferences and study visits
  • CED Booklet Jan 2004 - details of all 49 projects which received funding under Phase 1 and includes a breakdown of the matched funding along with applicants and project descriptions