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Man steering a boat with a large EU flag in front.

Our goals

We support strong partnerships to innovate the future by addressing core societal challenges.

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Man steering a boat with a large EU flag in front.
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Our vision is to create a vibrant North Sea Region by helping innovators get their game-changing ideas off the ground.  

To deliver our vision, we provide funding and advice enabling people to work together throughout the region.  

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People gathered at a formal meeting.

A North Sea Programme Monitoring Committee meeting attended by representatives of the member countries. 

Our goals

Our member countries have set out funding priorities reflecting pressing issues that do not respect borders. In these areas, transnational cooperation can speed up innovation and reach stronger solutions. 

We support actions that contribute towards:

- Building smart and robust economies.
- Fast-tracking the green transition.
- Fostering climate resilience, a clean environment, and a rich biodiversity.
- Improving cooperation governance.

Our funding helps in putting the EU Green Deal and other key European policies into practice.

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People working together in the CATCH project

Image by the CATCH project.

Cooperation drives the future

We promote our goals through targeted funding of excellent ideas, executed by strong partnerships.

In each project, partners from several countries join forces to tackle some of the toughest challenges facing the North Sea Region. The partners often come from different sectors. For example, government agencies may work together with companies, universities, and civil society organisations.

This set-up enables the teams to find viable solutions to complex shared challenges. And it provides a perfect test bed for piloting new ideas in a variety of real-life settings.

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A tree with light green leaves in springime

Branching out

Our projects not only come up with innovative solutions. They also inform policy, build new networks, and deliver proof of concept.  

Most partnerships are unlikely to happen without Interreg support. But once set up, many networks and partnerships continue working together. In some cases, Interreg North Sea projects have even given rise to permanent European or global organisations.

These are some of the main reasons why our projects often have impacts far beyond their own scope and duration. 

See our impacts

Our impacts

Curious to know more about what our projects achieve? See our highlights and success stories.

Top image by Shane Woodford. Scene from an AVATAR project trial in Ghent, Flanders.