Over 5.6 million euros in funding for REGIONALE projects by the State of NRW and the EU – Nine projects awarded in total
Support for the care industry, 3D printing for hydrogen applications, and much more: Six further project ideas of REGIONALE 2025 in South Westphalia are to be implemented! They have a funding and financing perspective and were awarded the third star in the recent REGIONALE committee meeting. In total, up to 5.6 million euros in funding would thus flow to the project managers in South Westphalia. The money comes from federal funds, funds from the State of NRW, and calls for proposals from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the EU.
“We have reached the final third of REGIONALE 2025, and more and more projects can go into implementation after a lot of preparatory work. In total, there are now already 35 project ideas for the future of the region that not only exist on paper but are actually being realized,” said Eva Irrgang, District Administrator of the Soest district and current Chairwoman of the REGIONALE 2025 Committee. The committee awarded nine projects in total, six received the third star. No more is possible. These projects have a funding and financing perspective and will now gradually be implemented by those responsible. Once again, three projects owe their implementation to a special call for proposals: the projects “Digital and Sustainable Development Perspectives for the Care Industry,” “3D-4-H2,” and “Knowledge in Action (WiAk).” According to a recommendation from the ERDF evaluation committee, they will be funded together to an expected amount of over 4.38 million euros. The funding comes from the specific call “REGIONALE South Westphalia – Projects for a digital, sustainable and authentic future in South Westphalia,” composed of funds from the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the EU.
3rd Star: “3D-4-H2” (Lüdenscheid / South Westphalia)
South Westphalia is to be strengthened as a location for the production and use of green hydrogen as an energy carrier. The Kunststoff-Institut Lüdenscheid is working on this in the REGIONALE 2025 project “3D-4-H2.” The South Westphalian research institute intends to use the 3D printing process to manufacture components for hydrogen applications. On the one hand, the strong and often energy-intensive economy in South Westphalia is to benefit. But manufacturers of plastic products could also open up new markets. Specifically, the project aims to use 3D printing to manufacture plastic components that can be used for fuel cells and electrolysis cells. This includes both the development of 3D printable materials and the creation of a special 3D printing process for the most efficient and cost-effective production possible.
Funding: The project “3D-4-H2” is to be funded with 1.92 million euros from funds of the State NRW and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) via the call “REGIONALE South Westphalia – Projects for a digital, sustainable and authentic future in South Westphalia.”
3rd Star: “Knowledge in Action (WiAk)” (Meschede / South Westphalia)
It is generally known that companies lack skilled workers. At the same time, older employees retire. They then take expertise with them that companies miss. The project “Knowledge in Action (WiAk)” of the South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences aims to use digital tools to secure and pass on the knowledge of skilled workers. In collaboration with employees, apps and augmented reality are to be used so that they specifically help companies: humanly, organizationally, technically. The insights from the project should be transferable to other companies in South Westphalia.
Funding: The project “Knowledge in Action” is expected to receive 1.7 million euros in funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia via the call “REGIONALE South Westphalia – Projects for a digital, sustainable and authentic future in South Westphalia.”
3rd Star: “Digital and Sustainable Development Perspectives for the Care Industry in South Westphalia” (Soest District / South Westphalia)
The Wirtschaftsförderung Kreis Soest GmbH wants to support care providers in South Westphalia on the path to a digitalized and innovative future. For this purpose, it plans to implement several modules as examples for South Westphalia within the project “Digital and Sustainable Development Perspectives for the Care Industry in South Westphalia.” As part of “Transformation Scouting,” for example, companies will be supported and accompanied individually with a focus on their own challenges. Employees will be qualified so that they can pass on their knowledge within their own company as so-called transformation pilots. In addition, several innovation locations are planned, adapted to the rural region of South Westphalia, where employees of the care industry and interested parties can practically try out the technology of tomorrow. The exchange between companies and universities is also to be promoted more strongly.
Funding: The project “Digital and Sustainable Development Perspectives for the Care Industry in South Westphalia” of REGIONALE 2025 is to be funded with over 738,000 euros from funds of the State NRW and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) via the call “REGIONALE South Westphalia – Projects for a digital, sustainable and authentic future in South Westphalia.”
For forward-looking, sustainable, and innovative projects in North Rhine-Westphalia, EU funds amounting to 1.9 billion euros from the ERDF/JTF NRW 2021-2027 program of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Just Transition Fund (JTF) are available. Added to this are co-financing from the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the projects’ own contributions. Projects in the fields of innovation, sustainability, SME support, quality of life, mobility, and structural change in coal phase-out regions are supported.
In addition, three more projects are moving into implementation. They receive their funding from other sources.
3rd Star: “Car-Free Alter Flecken” (Freudenberg / South Westphalia)
Narrow alleys, historic backdrop, many cars. This currently characterizes the Alter Flecken in Freudenberg. With the project “Car-Free Alter Flecken,” the city wants to create more living and recreational quality for residents, visitors, and local gastronomy: It has developed 16 measures to increase the living and residential quality in the historic old town, improve the climate and the townscape, and optimize inner-city traffic. Private cars are to give way, and parking spaces are to be converted into so-called “pocket parks.” Such parks are small green spaces that can be used as gardens, playgrounds, or seating areas in greenery. How this can work was already tested together with citizens in a multi-week model trial. The developed concept also envisages a neighborhood garage for private cars near Alter Flecken. To move to and within Alter Flecken, various environmentally friendly mobility options are to be used. Increased use of bicycles, e-bikes, and bike- and car-sharing options is planned. Not least due to its award as a model project in the state competition “Mobil.NRW – Mobility in Livable Cities,” the Freudenberg project has lighthouse character.
Funding: The city receives a total of around 751,000 euros from several funding pots – via the funding guideline “Networked Mobility and Mobility Management” of the NRW Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport (MUNV) and the state program Future Downtown of the NRW Ministry of Home, Municipal Affairs, Building and Digitization (MHKBD).
3rd Star: “Kreativ.Quartier.Wippermann” (Halver / “Up on the Volme”)
Think yard, culture yard, workshop yard, gastronomy, living and education hub: On the centrally located Wippermann site in Halver, a new hub for modern living, working, and living is emerging. The redesign of the old commercial area is already in full swing. The “Kreativ.Quartier.Wippermann” is one of the lighthouse projects from the inter-municipal cooperation of the cities and municipalities “Up on the Volme.” Established structures such as the workshop yard, where old furniture and electrical appliances are checked, repaired, and refurbished, as well as the Stage-Hall as an event venue, remain on the Wippermann site. With the redesign of the outdoor area into a culture yard, the quality of stay is to be increased, and covered outdoor events made possible, among other things. The EWH GmbH, a private investor, has already begun converting the office building into a think yard. Equipped with digital and modern workplaces, training and meeting rooms, coworking will be possible here, and the local economy will have a new contact and networking point from mid-2025. Planned in the future are also a gastronomic offer, an extracurricular learning location for young people, and a small hotel.
Funding: For the design of the culture yard, the city of Halver receives 250,000 euros from the funding program for structural and village development of the Ministry of Agriculture and Consumer Protection of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
3rd Star: Dorf.Connect (Hochsauerlandkreis / South Westphalia)
There are over 900 villages in South Westphalia with strong and grown village communities. How they can network better digitally is addressed by a joint project of eight South Westphalian LEADER regions. The project builds on the successful predecessor project “We are digital.Village!” With “Dorf.Connect,” a further development of the village platform with additional modules is being created. At the same time, even more village communities are to be won for use. The goal: Various actors within a village use the same combination of village website and village app to network with each other and thus strengthen communication and community in the village in the digital space. Within the framework of REGIONALE 2025, the village platform is now to be expanded and further developed under the name “Dorf.Connect.” The aim is to equip even more villages and thus achieve an even greater regional impact. In addition, ideas and needs from the participating villages are to be picked up and the platform further expanded with new modules.
Funding: The project is financed from already approved LEADER funding of several LEADER regions totaling around 250,000 euros. The LEADER regions’ own contribution amounts to around 107,000 euros.
In total, 35 projects have thus already been awarded the third star. This means the region has come a big step closer to its goal “50 for 25,” i.e., to implement fifty projects by the end of REGIONALE 2025.
For three other project proposals, progress was also made in the process. The redevelopment of an industrial brownfield into a residential quarter in Kreuztal was awarded the second star in the recent meeting, as was the project “NaturTalenteLippe,” and “Green Factory” is a new project in the process that could become a flagship project of REGIONALE 2025.
2nd Star: “Wood. Steel. Digital” (Kreuztal)
The city of Kreuztal is continuing to work diligently on the planning and implementation of a special quarter as part of REGIONALE 2025. For this, the city wants to rebuild and reuse a disused industrial site resource-efficiently. Numerous differently sized residential units and plenty of space for modern working and living together across all generations are to be created. In total, over 100 residential units in different sizes for various generations, office space, and co-working options are planned in the quarter. The historic barrel roof hall is to be preserved as a striking building and repurposed prospectively as a multifunctional venue for cultural, leisure, and seminar events. Before the multifaceted project can be implemented, further planning steps are necessary. By early 2026, the legal foundation for residential construction and the realization of the project on the former Bender site should be laid.
2nd Star: “NaturTalenteLippe” (Lippstadt / Lippetal)
Between the municipalities of Lippetal and Lippstadt lies the Lippe floodplains, a unique natural landscape. Through various measures of the REGIONALE 2025 project “NaturTalenteLippe,” the two municipalities, together with further project partners, want to make this natural space better and barrier-free accessible to visitors and citizens – both analog and digital. At the same time, nature conservation plays a major role in the project. Specifically, the municipalities plan, for example, the construction of a floodplain experience tower, but also observation huts, rest areas, and the modernization of signage for bike and hiking trails along the Lippe floodplains, as well as the creation of new accesses to the river. The centerpiece of the digital measures is the planned “Lippe app.” Through this, existing information about the natural area can be made digitally and barrier-free available. In the future, augmented reality elements can also be used via the app to experience natural processes.
1st Star: “Green Factory” (Kreuztal / South Westphalia)
More circular economy in the strong industry of South Westphalia: For the extensive and ambitious project “Green Factory,” SDFS Smarte Demonstrationsfabrik Siegen GmbH based in Kreuztal wants to work together with eight chairs and institutes of the University of Siegen and the South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences as well as numerous companies. They want to show how old industrial buildings can be sustainably upgraded and circular production in the metal and plastic sector can function. For this, a historic factory hall in need of renovation on the premises of the company Achenbach Buschhütten is to be prototypically upgraded and a production set up that processes metal and plastic resource-efficiently and in a circular manner. Should a funding perspective arise in the coming months, “Green Factory” could become a flagship project of REGIONALE 2025.
The project managers are supported by Südwestfalen Agentur GmbH. It coordinates and supervises REGIONALE 2025 in the region and, together with project managers and partners such as the Arnsberg district government, looks for funding options. So far, over 70 million euros in funding have been brought to South Westphalia for REGIONALE 2025 projects.
An overview of all REGIONALE 2025 projects can be found by interested parties at www.regionale-suedwestfalen.com.
REGIONALE 2025 is a structural program of the State of NRW. It is supported by funds from the federal urban development funding and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.