Deadline: 28-Aug-2026
PEACEPLUS is inviting applications under the Strategic Planning and Engagement investment area to strengthen cross-border cooperation, reduce legal and administrative barriers, and support strategic collaboration across Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland. The call aims to improve cooperation capacity, identify shared solutions, and support stronger cross-border working across key sectors.
A total of €6 million is available under this final call. Individual projects are expected to receive indicative funding of €1 million to €2 million, with grants covering up to 100% of eligible project costs.
What is the PEACEPLUS Strategic Planning and Engagement Call?
The PEACEPLUS Strategic Planning and Engagement call supports projects that strengthen cross-border cooperation and strategic collaboration.
The call focuses on reducing legal, administrative, institutional, and practical barriers that affect cooperation between Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland.
It supports projects that bring relevant actors together, identify challenges, develop solutions, and improve cross-border collaboration in sectors that contribute to socio-economic development.
Funding Programme
The call is part of the PEACEPLUS Programme.
The programme is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.
PEACEPLUS supports peace, reconciliation, cross-border economic development, and territorial cooperation across Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland.
The programme represents a €1.144 billion investment funded through partnership between:
- The European Union
- The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- The Government of Ireland
- The Northern Ireland Executive
Theme and Investment Area
This call falls under Theme 6 of PEACEPLUS.
It is part of Investment Area 6.1: Building and Embedding Partnership and Collaboration.
The final call under this area aims to enhance strategic cooperation capacity and support activities that address barriers affecting cross-border collaboration and socio-economic development.
Main Purpose of the Call
The main purpose of the call is to strengthen cross-border cooperation by supporting strategic planning, engagement, partnership-building, and practical problem-solving.
The call aims to:
- Reduce legal and administrative barriers
- Strengthen cross-border collaboration
- Support joint strategy development
- Improve cross-border service provision
- Build cooperation capacity
- Identify shared challenges and opportunities
- Develop practical solutions
- Strengthen cross-border entities
- Improve access to cross-border data
- Support pilot and demonstration initiatives
- Promote dialogue across relevant sectors
Geographic Focus
The programme area covers Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland.
Eligible border counties include:
- Cavan
- Donegal
- Leitrim
- Louth
- Monaghan
- Sligo
Organisations outside the core programme area may participate through partnerships if the project delivers significant benefits to the programme area.
Funding Amount
A total funding amount of €6 million is available under this final call.
Individual projects are expected to receive an indicative allocation of €1 million to €2 million.
Grants may cover up to 100% of eligible project costs.
Applicants should prepare project budgets that are proportionate to the scale, activities, partnerships, and expected outcomes of the proposed work.
Who is Eligible?
Eligible applicants may include organisations from public, private, academic, voluntary, and community sectors.
Eligible applicants include:
- National authorities
- Regional authorities
- Local authorities
- Development agencies
- Chambers of commerce
- Universities
- Research institutions
- Non-governmental organisations
- Sectoral agencies
- Voluntary organisations
- Public-like organisations
- Private sector organisations
- Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises
- Large companies
Applicants should demonstrate the ability to contribute to strategic cross-border cooperation and deliver benefits to the programme area.
Eligible Sectors
The call supports collaboration across relevant sectors that can benefit from stronger cross-border cooperation.
Eligible sectors may include:
- Public administration
- Third sector
- Business
- Transport
- Cultural organisations
- Tourism organisations
- Health
- Crisis management
- Education
Projects may also involve other sectors where they clearly address cross-border challenges and deliver benefits to the programme area.
Key Focus Areas
The call focuses on strategic cooperation, shared solutions, and capacity building.
Key focus areas include:
- Joint strategy development
- Joint strategy management
- Cooperation capacity building
- Cross-border collaboration
- Cross-border working
- Cross-border service provision
- Cross-border risk management
- Collaboration and dialogue
- Feasibility studies
- Data collection
- Pilot projects
- Demonstration initiatives
- Skills research
- Capacity building
- Identification of solutions
What Types of Projects Are Supported?
The call supports projects that address cross-border barriers and strengthen cooperation systems.
Supported activities may include:
- Collaboration initiatives
- Feasibility studies
- Joint strategy development
- Pilot projects
- Demonstration activities
- Training
- Peer reviews
- Staff exchanges
- Dialogue sessions
- Cross-border data collection
- Strategic planning exercises
- Capacity-building programmes
- Research into skills and cooperation needs
Strategic Planning Activities
Projects may support the development and management of shared strategies.
These activities may help organisations:
- Identify common priorities
- Map cross-border challenges
- Develop shared action plans
- Align institutional approaches
- Create frameworks for cooperation
- Support long-term collaboration between sectors and regions
Engagement and Dialogue
The call supports projects that bring relevant actors together to discuss shared challenges and develop practical solutions.
Engagement activities may involve:
- Public bodies
- Community organisations
- Sectoral agencies
- Businesses
- Research institutions
- Service providers
- Cross-border networks
- Local stakeholders
Strong engagement can help build trust, strengthen cooperation, and improve joint decision-making.
Cross-Border Service Provision
Projects may support improved cooperation in the delivery of services across borders.
This may include work related to:
- Service planning
- Institutional coordination
- Shared delivery models
- Data gaps
- Administrative barriers
- Legal obstacles
- Accessibility challenges
- Risk management
- Service continuity
Pilot and Demonstration Initiatives
The call may support pilot projects and demonstration activities that test new approaches to cross-border cooperation.
These initiatives can help partners:
- Trial practical solutions
- Learn from implementation
- Demonstrate feasibility
- Build evidence for future scaling
- Improve coordination between institutions
- Develop models that can be replicated
Key Concepts Explained
Cross-Border Cooperation
Cross-border cooperation refers to collaboration between organisations, institutions, and communities across national or administrative borders to address shared challenges and opportunities.
Legal and Administrative Barriers
Legal and administrative barriers are rules, procedures, systems, or institutional differences that make cooperation or service delivery across borders more difficult.
Strategic Collaboration
Strategic collaboration means long-term, planned cooperation between partners to achieve shared goals and improve systems, services, or development outcomes.
Feasibility Study
A feasibility study examines whether a proposed project, solution, service, or strategy is practical, achievable, and likely to deliver value.
Demonstration Initiative
A demonstration initiative tests and presents a practical solution so that partners and stakeholders can assess its usefulness and potential for wider adoption.
How the Call Works
Applicants should develop projects that address cross-border cooperation challenges at a strategic level.
Projects should identify obstacles and opportunities, bring together relevant partners, develop solutions, and support lasting collaboration.
Proposals should clearly explain the cross-border problem, the partnership approach, the proposed activities, expected outputs, and the benefits for the programme area.
How to Apply
Applicants should prepare a proposal that demonstrates clear cross-border relevance, strong partnership value, and strategic impact.
Suggested Application Steps
- Confirm that the project benefits Northern Ireland and/or the eligible border counties of Ireland.
- Identify the cross-border challenge or opportunity the project will address.
- Select the relevant sector or sectors.
- Build a strong partnership involving appropriate organisations.
- Define the strategic planning, engagement, research, or pilot activities.
- Explain how the project will reduce barriers or strengthen cooperation.
- Include activities such as feasibility studies, joint strategies, training, peer reviews, or staff exchanges where relevant.
- Prepare a realistic budget between the indicative range of €1 million and €2 million.
- Explain how the project will deliver measurable benefits to the programme area.
- Submit the application according to PEACEPLUS requirements.
Assessment Considerations
Applications should demonstrate clear strategic value and strong cross-border benefit.
Assessment may consider:
- Relevance to PEACEPLUS objectives
- Contribution to peace, reconciliation, and cooperation
- Cross-border need and added value
- Strength of partnership
- Quality of strategic planning and engagement
- Potential to reduce legal or administrative barriers
- Benefit to the programme area
- Feasibility of proposed activities
- Capacity of partners to deliver
- Sustainability of cooperation beyond the project
- Value for money
Expected Results
Funded projects should strengthen cross-border cooperation and improve strategic collaboration across sectors.
Expected results may include:
- Stronger cross-border partnerships
- Improved cooperation capacity
- Better understanding of shared barriers
- Practical solutions to legal or administrative challenges
- Improved cross-border service planning
- Stronger strategic frameworks
- Better cross-border data
- Increased dialogue between stakeholders
- Tested pilot models
- Stronger socio-economic development cooperation
Why It Matters
Cross-border cooperation is essential for communities, institutions, and sectors that share economic, social, cultural, environmental, and service delivery challenges.
Legal and administrative barriers can limit collaboration, reduce service effectiveness, and slow regional development.
This PEACEPLUS call helps partners identify barriers, develop solutions, strengthen cooperation, and support long-term development across Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland.
Tips for Strong Applications
A strong application should clearly show why cross-border cooperation is needed and how the project will deliver practical, strategic value.
Applicants should focus on:
- Clear cross-border challenge
- Strong partnership structure
- Direct benefit to the programme area
- Practical solutions to barriers
- Strong engagement with relevant actors
- Clear strategy or pilot design
- Evidence-based approach
- Realistic budget
- Strong delivery capacity
- Sustainable cooperation beyond the grant period
Applicants should avoid broad proposals that do not clearly explain the cross-border barrier, partnership role, or strategic benefit.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Applicants should carefully check geographic, partnership, and programme requirements before applying.
Common mistakes include:
- Proposing activities with weak cross-border relevance
- Not showing clear benefit to the programme area
- Providing vague collaboration plans
- Failing to identify legal or administrative barriers
- Not involving relevant sectoral actors
- Submitting unclear feasibility or strategy activities
- Providing weak evidence of need
- Not explaining sustainability
- Submitting a budget that does not match the project scope
- Treating engagement as consultation only without strategic follow-up
FAQ
What is the PEACEPLUS Strategic Planning and Engagement call?
It is a funding call supporting cross-border cooperation, strategic collaboration, and activities that reduce legal and administrative barriers across Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland.
Who manages the PEACEPLUS Programme?
The PEACEPLUS Programme is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.
How much funding is available?
A total of €6 million is available under this final call.
How much can individual projects receive?
Individual projects are expected to receive an indicative allocation of €1 million to €2 million.
What percentage of costs can be covered?
Grants may cover up to 100% of eligible project costs.
Which areas are covered?
The programme area includes Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland: Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan, and Sligo.
Who can apply?
Eligible applicants include public authorities, development agencies, chambers of commerce, universities, research institutions, NGOs, voluntary organisations, sectoral agencies, public-like organisations, and private sector organisations including SMEs and large companies.
Conclusion
The PEACEPLUS Strategic Planning and Engagement call supports cross-border cooperation by funding projects that reduce legal and administrative barriers, strengthen strategic collaboration, and improve cooperation capacity across key sectors. With €6 million available and grants covering up to 100% of eligible costs, the call provides major support for partnerships working across Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland.
Strong applications will demonstrate clear cross-border relevance, strong partnerships, practical solutions, strategic planning value, measurable programme-area benefits, and long-term cooperation beyond the grant period.
For more information, visit SEUPB.