D2N2 LEP priority areas

The priority areas for the D2N2 LEP are as follows. Below each priority area is a list of individuals within the voluntary and community sector who are interested in working in partnership to deliver collaborative projects within the priority area.

If you would like to get in contact with one of these individuals to discuss working in collaboration with them or if you would like to be added to one of the lists email information@one-em.org.uk.

Some organisations on the lists below are looking for partners to collaborate in delivering specific projects. For further information on these projects click on the organisation’s name.

For further information on LEPs and to view their strategies visit www.oneeastmidlands.org.uk/leps.

• Innovation
• ICT
• SME competitiveness
• Low carbon
• Climate change
• Protecting the environment/resource efficiency
• Supporting transport
• Promoting employment/supporting labour mobility
• Promoting social inclusion/combating poverty
• Investment in education, skills and lifelong learning

1. Innovation

• Support for smart specialisation collaborative research between enterprises, research institutions and public institutions;
• Support for the commercialisation and enterprise of new products and business processes; and
• Investment in the development of innovation space and facilities, including equipment, with the capability to serve as a platform, catalyst and host for innovation and innovative relationships.

2. ICT

• Support packages that allow SMEs and social enterprises to increase their awareness of the local ICT offer, specifically the latest technologies on offer, and how it can benefit their operations;
• Support to help SMEs and social enterprises to build improved ICT connections into their day to day business to improve efficiency, productivity and explore new markets; and
• Work with SMEs and social enterprises to explore opportunities for new product and service offers using enhanced ICT networks, knowledge and skills.

3. SME competitiveness

• Access to finance;
• Investment readiness programme for SMEs; and
• Incubation and Grow On Space to ensure there is an adequate supply of incubation and grow on space at key locations.

4. Low carbon

• Helping SMEs to move to renewable and low carbon fuels to generate heat and power; and
• Assist the market to develop, design and manufacture materials, goods and services with embedded low carbon technologies.

5. Climate change

• Flood mitigation measures that support the protection of existing major employment areas;
• Flood mitigation measures focused on strategically important sites and areas identified as central to realising growth aspirations; and
• Initiatives that actively involve communities in the planning and management of flood risk.

6. Protecting the environment/resource efficiency

• Activities to assess and implement improvements in resource use planning amongst SMEs to establish innovative approaches; and
• Support knowledge transfer both in relation to technical expertise and practical applications in business and communities.

7. Supporting transport

• Improving the accessibility and viability of priority employment and development sites in the LEP area including sustainability and individualised travel planning; and
• Promoting smarter and sustainable travel at the city and borough level, within the Peak District National Park and the visitor economy.

8. Promoting employment/supporting labour mobility

• Brokering opportunities between young people and local employers to encourage work placements, apprenticeships, traineeships, graduate placements and direct employment in growth and high employment sectors;
• Innovative activities to support young people who are not in employment, education or training to enter the labour market, including those with poor literacy and numeracy skills and with no or few qualifications;
• Activities that focus on increasing the employability and work readiness of young people;
• Providing more intensive support, including through multi-agency approaches, than available through mainstream sources to help people move towards, enter and progress in work;
• Promoting self employment as a route out of worklessness and supporting people to take the steps forward to achieve this;
• Offering new approaches to work experience, including volunteering, and training to support people to move towards and enter employment in existing high employment sectors; and
• Support for community led approaches to skills development where they can help to increase levels of engagement, for example in rural areas, or to individuals facing specific issues such as low income and low skills.

9. Promoting social inclusion/combating poverty

• Tailored support measures to target specific geographies experiencing high rates of social exclusion and poverty, e.g. troubled families and people with low levels of basic skills;
• Approaches to tackling barriers to work in an integrated way to include, but not limited to, addressing a combination of caring responsibilities, access to transport, literacy and numeracy skills, health issues and digital inclusion;
• Support to develop the capacity of social enterprises and community groups to address local support needs as well as support for the delivery of other bottom up active inclusion measures;
• Developing locally specific inclusion initiatives, including through community led local development and community based learning approaches;
• Initiatives that support enterprise and social enterprise as a route to economic activity and inclusion;
• Tackling barriers to work across a range of communities including people with disabilities, BME and migrant communities, ex-offenders, people with mental health issues and young people distant from the labour market;
• Activities that provide people excluded from the labour market with experience of a working environment to help them build their skills and confidence, e.g. work experience placements; and
• Activities to combat discrimination in the labour market and promote equal opportunities.

10. Investment in education, skills and lifelong learning

• Support for residents to develop higher level skills, including through vocational learning routes and active employer engagement in such initiatives;
• Innovative approaches to intermediate, vocational and higher level vocational provision, including IAG;
• Internship and placement programmes to encourage the employment of graduates and post graduates; and
• Innovative entrepreneurship programmes to encourage graduates post graduates to start a business.