H Pathways to LEADER: a guide to getting the LEADER approach up and running in the Western Balkans, Turkey and beyond: Including the use of the Instrument of Pre-Accession Assistance to Rural Development.
2017
64p.
The purpose of this publication is to share knowledge on setting up and encouraging bottom- up initiatives in rural areas using the LEADER method. It shares experience on how to establish Local Actions Groups (LAGs) and how to define effective Local Development Strategies (LDS). It also emphasises the importance of continually motivating the groups once they are established. Finally, It points out how the EU Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance in Rural Development (IPARD) can be used to support implementation of these strategies. The focus is mainly on IPARD in the context of the Western Balkans and Turkey, but the methodology can be used elsewhere, for example in Kosovo1, Bosnia and Hercegovina, the Neighbourhood countries and beyond. The publication reflects the past experience of the EU Member States, especially those which joined the EU after 2004, and also some limited experience of the present applicant countries. It is a follow-up to two TAIEX workshops on capacity building for LEADER in Zagreb, Croatia (15-16 November 2016) and in Pravets, Bulgaria (30-31 May 2017). Special credits are due to Joanna Gierulska (Ministry of Agriculture, Poland), Ryszard Kaminski (Rural Forum, Poland), Goran Soster (PREPARE asbl, Belgium), Stefan Spasov (Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Bulgaria) for their contributions.
Guidelines
DEVELOPMENT POLICY: SUSTAINABLE & TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT, LEADER, rural development, EU enlargement