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IRELAND

RURAL COUNTRY Ireland (under construcion)

CHARACTERISTICS

The West Cork region is located in the south-west of Ireland, lying within Ireland's largest county, County Cork. The West Cork region covers an area of some 3000 km2, with 350 km of coastline and has a population of approximately 100,000.

Traditionally a popular tourist destination, the area is seen as being distinct from the more populated northern or eastern parts of the county, as well as the more urban area of Metropolitan Cork. The area is famous for the rugged beauty of its peninsulas (such as the remote Beara Peninsula, Sheep's Head and Mizen Head peninsulas), popular beaches such as Inchydoney, Owenahincha and Barleycove, and picturesque towns and villages such as Skibbereen, Clonakilty, Kinsale and Rosscarbery.

West Cork can also comfortably lay claim to being at the culinary heart of Ireland. The region has a rich food culture, founded on the dedication of local producers to consistently deliver fresh, high quality produce and endorsed by a discerning public who choose the best of what West Cork has to offer time after time. To find out more about the food, tourism and craft sectors in West Cork visit www.westcorkaplaceapart.com . 

KEY PROJECTS

  project update

Fuchsia Brands, regional branding initiaitive

The West Cork Regional brand, Fuchsia, was launched in 1998 to enable local food and tourism businesses to exploit and develop the competitive advantage offered by a strong regional identity. The Fuchsia Brands regional branding initiative has gone on to receive numerous awards and is recognised as a case study in best practice in cluster development. The brand has also delivered significant economic benefit to the regional economy.

Fuchsia Brands provides an infrastructure to network various development/public agencies (founding and supporting agencies) and commercial enterprises (enterprise membership). The main objective of West Cork LEADER Co-operative Society Ltd. (WCLC), the initiator, was to establish an infrastructure that would provide support to enterprises in the region, particularly enterprises that add value to indigenous resources. In providing this support the Fuchsia Brands network has played a role in enterprise development and has also become actively involved in market development and product promotion. A brief history of Fuchsia Brands and an in depth review, available through e-book, are available through http://www.westcorkaplaceapart.com/about-fuchsia-brands/mission-and-history/

 

project 2 project update

 

 

 

Future West Cork, a regional future visioning project

Future West Cork was an initiative designed to bring the communities of the West Cork Region together to discuss their ideas about how the region could develop into the future, and to create a shared regional vision.  The Future West Cork initiative was built around an ambitious community engagement and training process to collect people’s views, and to deepen the understanding of a selection of future scenarios and their implications. Key metrics of the engagement process included:
• During the two-year process, some 800 local residents participated and shared their views and desires for the future.
• Over 30 workshop sessions were held right across the region including industry focus groups, school sessions and open community meetings.
• Detailed survey data were collected from nearly 400 residents, then compiled and analysed to create the regional vision, and identify priority actions.
 

 INSPIRATION CORNER

CASES

LEADER Projects

see www.wcdp.ie

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PARALLEL PROGRAMS DEALING WITH RURAL DEVELOPMENT

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