Strategies

The WDC has developed strategies in a number of areas where the Western Region has a particular advantage – organic agri-food production, renewable energy and rural tourism.

One example is WDC’s facilitation of the Western Organic Strategic Initiative – bringing together a dynamic network of groups to conduct research on developing the organic food market, hand in hand with a training and advisory programme and a website for trading and information dissemination.  Much of the strategic work involved is now mainstreamed through the National Organic Steering Committee on which the WDC sits.  For further information please click here.

Infrastructure

The WDC’s work has had a strong focus on infrastructure – roads, telecommunications, energy, air and rail. Clear recommendations are made to government on cost-effective solutions that address the growing gap between the Western Region and the rest of the country.  Serious improvements and upgrades in road, rail and air services have been secured in recent years.  The National Broadband Scheme is due for completion at the end of 2010.  The success of these schemes and continued improvements are crucial to secure the success of the region and attract jobs and investment on an ongoing basis.

For further information please click here.

The WDC Investment Fund

The WDC Investment Fund (WIF) was established by the Irish government and is a unique source of risk capital for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), community enterprises and strategic projects in the Western Region.  It has twin objectives of achieving a financial return on its investments and generating a social dividend for the region. The Fund works closely with its clients, supporting them on a long-term basis and helping them to achieve their growth targets. Through its growing investment portfolio, the Fund demonstrates the viability of western-based investments to the private sector.

 
Todate the WIF has invested €36.6m in 87 companies in the Western Region and has revolved and reinvested €5.5m in the form of equities and loans.  As a result of the WIF's investment in these companies an additional €130m in investment funds has been leveraged for them.  WIF funding has helped to create or sustain approximately 1,300  jobs in the Western Region with a potential to grow to 2,500 jobs as these companies grow and expand.  These figures do not take into account the number of indirect jobs that have also been created as a result of WIF investment.   It is worth noting that many of these job opportunities are at graduate and post-graduate levels.
 
For further information on the WDC Investment Fund please click here

Policy

As a publicly funded body, one of the WDC’s key roles is to make sure that public investment in the development of the Western Region is effective and that it brings both a regional and a national dividend.

To ensure this, the WDC’s Policy Team:

• Carries out and publishes research on regional and rural issues, such as transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructure, enterprise and employment, town development, travel to work, indicators and impact measurement.
• Responds to requests for policy submissions in areas relevant to Western development and in areas where the WDC has expertise.
• Provides a regional perspective to the work of public policy bodies such as government departments and agencies, the Information Society Commission, the AgriFood 2010 and AgriFood 2015 Think Tanks, the National Statistics Board, County Development Boards.
• Participates on various advisory committees (for example, Forfás).
• Hosts, and contributes to, conferences, seminars and policy briefings on a variety of issues relevant to both regional and national development.
• For more information please click here 

Research and Publications

The WDC has been at the forefront of supporting and carrying out research in the Western Region and publishes its wide range of research in both print and online format.

You can view a full list of WDC publications here.

LookWest.ie

The LookWest.ie campaign is an initiative of the WDC.  It's aim is to promote the benefits of living, working and doing business in the Western Region.  To enhance the work of the LookWest.ie campaign, the WDC has supported the development of:

• The www.lookwest.ie website.
• The LookWest.ie EXPO (2006-08).
• The LookWest.ie Regional Company Directory - an online database of over 11,000 companies based in the Western Region. 
• The LookWest.ie Skills and Enterprise Register which allows the WDC to profile skills available in the region and use as a tool to attract potential employers.

Renewable energy – Wood & Wind

Wood energy is the most significant source of renewable energy in the European Union, where it is a technically mature, widely deployed and commercially viable sector. Appropriate and planned development of the sector will give rise to greater awareness of the carbon economy and environmentally sensitive behaviours (both personal and corporate), including wider use of green technologies which in turn will benefit the wider economy and, of course, the environment.

The Western Region is uniquely placed to develop a wood energy sector because, with 41% of afforested land in the state, it has potentially enough forestry resource needed to supply market demands. In addition, a high proportion of this forestry is of an age profile where it requires thinnings (forestry thinnings and residues are a major potential source of wood fuel).

In December 2008 the WDC was awarded European Union funding to develop a partnership to stimulate growth in the renewable biomass sector. The aim of this programme is to increase the regional wood heat sector threefold and develop the marine biomass sector accordingly. The forecasted regional benefits for wood heat alone are almost 1000 extra jobs, €15 million per annum in GVA and the elimination of 692,000 tonnes of CO2 (the equivalent of approximately 92,000 less cars on the road every year). The WDC developed and published the following:

• The Regional Wood Energy Strategy and Action Plan (PDF 5MB) – an industry-led initiative devised by the WDC.
• The WDC’s assessment of combined heat and power (CHP) potential in the Western Region(PDF 2.3MB)
• The WDC’s wood energy guide for local authorities: Wood Energy and Community Enterprise: A Guide (PDF 2.6MB) 

The WDC has also been involved in assisting in the development of wind-energy projects throughout the region.  Please click on the following reports to learn more.

• 2004: To Catch the Wind: (PDF 5MB) The Potential for Community Ownership of Wind Farms in Ireland.
• 2007: Communities and Renewable Energy: (PDF 6.6MB) A Guide as a follow-up to the 2004 report.

Creative sector

WDC research has estimated that the creative sector makes up 4,800 businesses in the region employing 11,000 people and worth €534 million per annum. A follow-up Creative West development programme aims to stimulate growth in the regional creative economy and involves the WDC working with national partners and an industry advisory group. The Creative West Report is available to download here (PDF 1.9M).

Rural tourism

Working with partners, the WDC was involved in the groundbreaking Western Development Toursim Programme (WDTP) regional initiative which has spawned 14 tourism enterprises or products, such as Walking in the West, the Tourism Tastes Trail programme, and the Green Box initiative. In addition, hundreds of small and micro-enterprises have been supported through the WDTP programme.