The EU Just Transition Fund (JTF) was created to support the regions and communities in Europe that are most negatively affected by the transition to climate neutrality, ensuring that no one is left behind.  In Ireland’s case, the territory supported by the JTF will focus on the regions where there have been direct impacts from the move away from peat production and electricity generation from peat.

The fund will support the transition of the Midlands to a carbon neutral destination through funding of sustainable tourism projects that are designed to have significant regenerative impacts on local communities and peatlands. The fund will be used to create more reasons for tourists to visit the Midlands and to ensure they have memorable experiences when they are here.

The purpose of the role is to build awareness and confidence in the potential of tourism in the Midlands, to elicit quality grant applications and project ideas from businesses and communities in the JTF region and to build strong networks among tourism enterprises.

The JTF Tourism activator will report to an officer of the Local Authority as designated by the Chief Executive. They will also have a dotted reporting line to the Programme Co-ordinator in Fáilte Ireland. The activities under the EU Just Transition Fund are co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union.
 

The duties shall be such as may be assigned to the JTF Tourism Activator and will include the following but are not limited to: -
 

• Proactively support applicants to the Just Transition Regenerative Tourism Scheme throughout their project journey, including application, procurement, implementation and drawdown stages. This will include supporting applicants specifically in adherence to the requirements of their Project Grant Agreement, including delivery to required timelines and reporting.
• Raising awareness and understanding of how the JTF funding and supports schemes work;
• Provide a liaison between tourism businesses and JTF scheme;
• Eliciting and supporting the development of quality project proposals leading to grant applications;
• Seeking to catalyse rural and community entrepreneurship and enable success across all four Strands of the Fáilte Ireland Regenerative Tourism Scheme;
• Building belief, confidence and ambition for tourism within the communities and businesses of the Midlands;
• Helping to maximise the potential of each enterprise that has received funding under the Scheme through ongoing support;
• Developing and nurturing high-functioning clusters of tourism SMEs and experienced providers who can elevate the visibility and promotion of the destination now and into the future;
• Engage with multiple stakeholders to support a sense of ownership and responsibility among key agencies that can endure over the longer term;
• Identify champions and ambassadors within communities, businesses and state agencies who can sustain the project momentum over the longer term;
• Investigate new tourism product development opportunities;
• Assist community groups to identify, plan and implement tourism business opportunities in a coordinated manner;
• Ensure compliance with all required local authority financial, management and governance reporting requirements;
• Collect, maintain and update relevant data;
• Preparing interim and annual reports, including data on budgets and expenditure as required.

Westmeath County Council