Suchergebnisse

LEADER was one of the most important and diverse initiations in the rural development policy of the recent years that made it possible in the Member States of the European Union to carry out the needs of the lowest level, directly coming from the citizens. Decentralisation and the assignment of certain authorities furthered this opportunity, whereas it was greatly restricted by the strong centralisation and regulation of the program in Hungary. This was the reason why the Hungarian LEADER program did not achieve any measureable success in terms of the standards in the rest of the EU Member States. There is a need to change this practice that can be done by the complete Hungarian reform of the program.

Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit einer qualitativen Evaluation des LEADER+ Programms
zur Entwicklung ländlicher Räume in den Regionen Oberallgäu und Vorarlberg.
Anhand der vom LEADER-Konzept geforderten Kriterien werden die Ergebnisse
von Expertengesprächen dargelegt, die merklichen Entwicklungsunterschiede zwischen
den beiden benachbarten Regionen aufgezeigt, Entwicklungshemmnisse, Erfolgsfaktoren
und Handlungsempfehlungen abgeleitet. Deutlich wird u. a., dass die längere Projektlaufzeit
in Vorarlberg und der reichere Erfahrungsschatz zu den besser entwickelten
Wertschöpfungsketten und der intensiveren regionalen Zusammenarbeit der Akteure
beitragen. Insgesamt ist LEADER+ als sinnvolle projektbezogene Ergänzungsmaßnahme
zur klassischen Direktförderung der Landwirtschaft anzusehen, da sektoren- und
branchenübergreifende Projekte gefördert werden, die Eigeninitiative und regionale
Kooperation der Betroffenen erfordern. Damit kann ein Beitrag zur Überwindung des
kommunalen "Kirchturmdenkens" geleistet werden. Regionale Identität und das Problembewusstsein
der Bevölkerung werden geschärft und interregionale Kooperationen
werden angestoßen.

This paper introduces the theme of the seven papers of this 'special issue'on the eu leader rural development initiative. Having described the genesis and general characteristics of leader ,the paper proposes a set of four analytical frameworks which might serve to guide the study of leader‐type interventions:(I)leader as a quasi‐marketization of rural development;(II)leader as the politicization/democratization of rural development;(III)leader and endogenous development as discourse;and (IV)leader and the potential for a humanistic/personalist form of development.

Latvijai, iestājoties Eiropas Savienībā, ir pieejams dažādu attīstības projektu īstenošanai vērtīgs līdzfinansējums no Eiropas Savienības struktūrfondiem un četrām darbības programmām, tostarp LEADER lauku teritoriju attīstībai. LEADER atbalsta saņēmēji ir vietējās rīcības grupas, kas darbojas noteiktā lauku teritorijā ar iedzīvotāju skaitu robežās no 10 līdz 65 tūkstoši, pārstāv šīs teritorijas iedzīvotāju intereses un rūpējas par lauku attīstības jautājumiem vietējā līmenī. Vietējās rīcības grupas sastāv no pašvaldību pārstāvjiem, vietējiem uzņēmējiem un interešu grupām, un kuras Latvijā pēc juridiskā statusa ir biedrības vai nodibinājumi. Latvijā pagaidām formāli ir izveidojušās 28 biedrības, kuras ir izstrādājušas vietējās attīstības stratēģijas. Darbā uz trīs biedrību – "Saldus rajona attīstības biedrība", "Daugavpils rajona partnerība", "Jelgavas Lauku partnerība "Lielupe"" piemēra ir veikta analīze par to ieguldījumu teritorijas attīstības veicināšanā, to darbības dažādiem aspektiem, darbojoties atbilstoši LEADER raksturojošiem instrumentiem. Biedrību darbības analīze balstās uz veiktajām intervijām ar biedrībām un to pašvaldībām. Interviju jautājumi tika tematiski sagrupēti, noskaidrojot biedrību veidošanās procesa īpatnības, to patreizējām aktivitātēm, par sadarbību starp biedrībām ar to teritorijā esošajām pašvaldībām, par biedrību dalību politikas plānošanas aktivitātēs un darbības mērogu, kā arī ar biedrību darbību saistīto problemātiku. Biedrības ir īstenojušas kopumā 21 projektu saistībā ar sociālo jomu, nodarbinātību, izglītību un kultūras saglabāšanu. Katrai biedrībai ir bijušas atšķirīgas prioritārās jomas, kuras vietējās attīstības stratēģijās novērtētas kā viskritiskākās. Papildus tam biedrības ir sniegušas konsultācijas, atbalstījušas un organizējušas apmācības, it īpaši vietējo iedzīvotāju kapacitātes celšanu kvalitatīvu projektu izstrādē un ieviešanā, kas ir nozīmīgs nosacījums Eiropas Savienības finansiālo līdzekļu apguvē. Iniciatīvu un savu dalību biedrības ir apliecinājušas ne tikai savas teritorijas politikas plānošanas aktivitātēs, bet arī iesaistoties plašākā darbības mērogā, kā Latvijas plānošanas reģioni. Savstarpējā sadarbība starp biedrībām un to vietējām pašvaldībām ir pastāvīga, tādā veidā sekmējot saikni starp vietējiem iedzīvotājiem un vietējo pārvaldi. Starp galvenajām problēmām biedrību darbībā minamas pastāvīga finansējuma trūkums administratīvajām izmaksām, arī cilvēku resursu nepietiekamība. ; The LEADER Programme for development of the rural areas is one of the operational programme that is financed by the European Union Structural funds and four operational programmes that are available since Latvia is European Union Member State. The LEADER Programme shall be implemented by the local action groups that are acting in compact territory by population from 10 to 65 thousand and they are representing population interests and they are tending about the local rural development subjects in local territory. The local action groups consist of the representatives of the local self-government, of the local employers and the groups of interests that are established as an association from the point of view of the jurisdiction of the Republic of Latvia. There are 28 formal associations and they are elaborating the local development strategies. In the research are analysed the example of three associations – "Saldus rajona attīstības biedrība", "Daugavpils rajona partnerība", "Jelgavas Lauku partnerība "Lielupe"" and their investment in the development of those territories, their different activities in those territories, accordingly features of LEADER. The analysis of activities of the associations is based on interviews with the associations and their local self-government. The questions of interviews are grouped by themes that are clarifying the individuality and the particularity of the process of the establishment of the associations, their actual activities and their cooperation with the local self-government, their participation in the planning of the political activities and their action scale, as well as the problematic issues raised by activities of the associations. The associations are implementing overall 21 project in the social area, in the employment, in the education and the cultural heritage preservation. Each association has different priorities and areas of activities that are estimated critical by their local development strategies. The associations are provided consultations, they are sustained and they are organized training, particularly for raising the local population capacity in the elaboration and implementing of qualitative projects that is important provision in adopting of the finances provided by European Union funds. The initiatives of the associations are certified by their participation in the planning of the political activities of their territory and also for the participating in the action scale of Latvia planning regions. The mutual cooperation is settled between the associations and their local self-government and to contribute the link between local population and local authority. The major problems are settled financing for the costs of the administration and the disadvantage of the human resources.

For the period 2007–2013 LEADER became the fourth axis of rural development policy. One of the main characteristics of LEADER is that it adopts a bottom-up approach. Local Action Groups (LAGs) have to define and implement area-based local development strategies (LDSs). In this paper, we examine the relationship between variety in the LDSs implemented by LAGs and employment safeguarding over the programming period 2007–2013 in Andalusia, the most populated region of Spain. Firstly, we construct several indicators to capture differences in the number of projects carried out, the grants awarded, the investments made and the safeguarded employment. Secondly, we carry out an exploratory factor analysis. We use cluster analysis to classify LAGs applying similar LDSs. The results obtained show that there is no ideal strategy for employment safeguarding and that spending high amounts of money in a few numbers of projects does not guarantee success. Thus, most LAGs do not show any clear specialisation pattern but obtain moderate results in terms of employment safeguarding. This supports the idea that LAGs need to have sufficient flexibility to find a balance among the different objectives of the rural development policy and to translate this balance into the funding of projects. ; Supported by the Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness of Spain (Project "Development Programmes and Rural Change in the European Union: governance, results and lessons to share 2007–2013"; Grant No. CSO2014-56223-P).

Because of a variety of postmodern developments, throughout the 20th century the Westphalian state changed in many ways. New structures between state-like forms, civil society organizations, and private market actors have emerged, resulting in a hybrid combination between both government and governance, and sectoral and integrated policies. The interaction between LEADER partnerships and the broader regionalization and regionalism contexts represents an important contribution to the understanding of different rural paradigms and their associated governance models. This paper investigates the key actors and how their power relations are structured in two LEADER Local Action Groups, one located in North Karelia (Finland) and the other in South Tyrol (Italy). The empirical data collected confirms the current struggle between the old and new rural paradigms, which is occurring from the local to the transnational scale. Furthermore, the investigation of this comparison suggests that the introduction of new governing structures has taken different forms in the rural context; as such, they have to be verifi ed in the light of geographical contingencies.

In many ways, leader has been a very significant intervention in Spain. Prior to leader, rural development policy was almost completely unknown and, for this reason alone, leader represented a new force in rural affairs. The invitation to form territorial collaborations was also novel and local actors were quick to perceive it as an important political tool with which to tackle both the problems of rural areas and the challenges presented by the new roles being assigned to the rural world. Furthermore, leader has subsequently produced material, local impacts through its ability to generate investment in development projects. The progress of leader has been refracted through the institutional conditions of the politico‐administrative system. Leader has been used as a political power tool by the various levels, leading to confrontations in order to gain control over the programme. Nevertheless, awareness and acceptance of the deeper philosophy behind leader has been gaining ground so that it is increasingly acknowledged as a powerful tool for the promotion of rural development in general and for the animation of local, collective action. It would be inaccurate to describe leader as a 'great success.' Rather, it has started an incipient process in which a new democratic and co‐operative culture in rural areas is being created and in which rural entrepreneurs are acquiring an enhanced capacity for decision making.

The paper presents the results of studies aimed at determining the role of the LEADER Programme in supporting development of rural areas. The analysis was performed on the basis of a case study of the Local Action Group (LAG) "Ziemia Zamojska". We used data from the LAG Office and the information contained in its strategic documents. "Ziemia Zamojska" LAG has received a total of PLN 6064 thousand for the implementation of activities under Axis 4 LEADER, of which more than three-quarters is for Action 413 "Implementing Local Development Strategies." A significant portion of these funds were earmarked for investment projects responding to the immediate needs of the population (community centres, playgrounds, computer rooms with Internet access), which entail greater involvement of local communities. Efficient and effective use of financial resources available to the beneficiaries in the area covered by the local development strategy has a positive impact on the development of such areas and the local community. The opportunities created by financing and independent project implementation improve the quality of life (e.g., through the development of infrastructure), and above all, help to build and strengthen social capital in rural areas.