The DEP Innovative Projects Programme 1999-2002

Circles of Opportunity: A Review of Projects Supported through the Innovative Programme of the Dublin Employment Pact 1999-2001

In one of its first initiatives, the DEP Innovative Projects Programme acted as a "test bed" for innovative approaches to tackling unemployment and development issues. Many proposals were developed by partner organisations of the Pact and of these twelve were selected. Funding of over €1 million was secured under the EU Local Urban and Rural Development (LURD) programme to co-fund their development. The result was a truly amazing range of innovative initiatives, ranging from training, educational access, information for employers, a schools enterprise skills programme, a women's enterprise fund, estate self-management/employment initiative, upskilling Traveller women, creating childcare networks and researching area-based employment strategies.

All the selected pilot projects have gone on to develop as substantial programmes in their own right, either locally or on a Dublin-wide basis. Some have developed as the basis for programmes now mainstreamed at a national level. This publication provides a comprehensive review of the twelve projects selected under the initiative and examines how they have developed since.

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