LDnet – Local Development Network

A debate on the future of local development and LDnet’s strategy

Local development has different faces across Europe and beyond. Probably, its most structured form is 'Community-Led Local Development' (CLLD). In the last 18 months LDnet has been documenting and analysing CLLD in different EU countries and we have already published nearly 20 country summaries and several comparative analyses. With this project nearing completion and the new programming period 2021-2027 starting, we believe it's an opportune … Continue Reading

Conference: A place-based approach to migrant integration, 9 December 2021 online

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) Exploratory Research Activity (ERA) "International migrants in functional urban areas. How can strategies of sustainable urban development foster the integration of migrants?" explored the dynamics of the relationship between migrant integration and local territories. The … Continue Reading

REBOUND – Fostering Resilience in Rural Communities

This new project has been selected under the Erasmus+ programme. It's a two-year project whose implementation is due to start November 2021. The project is led by the Limerick Institute of Technology (Ireland) working with five partner organisations, including LDnet. REBOUND seeks to respond to macro- and … Continue Reading

LEADER 30 years celebration & conference

ELARD organised this conference from 30.11 to 3.12.2021 in Halmstad (Sweden) to celebrate 30 years of LEADER and also to look forward: "We will take a look on successful LEADER-implementation during 30 years, but also investigate how we can work for local democracy and participatory approaches all over rural … Continue Reading

Acting for green and local finance

"Together, let us change finance" This is the motto of Financité magazine, a quarterly review produced by Financité, a further education movement in French-speaking Belgium advocating ethical, solidarity-based finance. Some 5 000 people, organizations and groups are members of Financité, many of them … Continue Reading

The appeal to support LDnet in connecting and informing people working in local development is still open

Our sincere thanks to all those who responded to our appeal to support LDnet to keep connecting and informing people working in local development. If you would like to make a financial contribution you can still do so below. LDnet is a non profit association committed to spreading the word that community … Continue Reading

‘Regions in Recovery’ e-Festival: three sessions curated by LDnet on ‘Recovery through Community-led Approaches’

The first LDnet session on 3 June 2021 addressed new local development opportunities and challenges. The session started with examples of how local communities in different types of areas (rural, coastal and urban) have been able to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the COVID crisis and what … Continue Reading

‘Recovery through community-led approaches’ – The recording and main points of the concluding webinar of 29 April 2021

The concluding webinar in the LDnet series on 'Recovery through community-led approaches' was held on the 29th April 2021. Participants in the previous webinars were invited to join this final session to discuss cross-cutting themes and draw lessons. Questions included: how can community-based solutions be … Continue Reading

CLLD country profile: Belgium

This new country profile, the 17th in this LDnet series on CLLD in Europe, offers an overview of CLLD in Belgium in the 2014-2020 period: local development approach, use of EU funds, number of LAGs, achievements so far, barriers encountered, national specificities. November 2021Contributing authors: Wouter … Continue reading

CLLD country profile: Bulgaria

This new country profile, the 16th in this LDnet series on CLLD in Europe, offers an overview of CLLD in Bulgaria in the 2014-2020 period: local development approach, use of EU funds, number of LAGs, achievements so far, barriers encountered, national specificities. November 2021Author: Neli KadievaSeries … Continue reading

CLLD country profile: Germany

This new country profile, the 15th in this LDnet series on CLLD in Europe, offers an overview of CLLD in Germany in the 2014-2020 period and beyond: local development approach, use of EU funds, number of LAGs, achievements so far, barriers encountered, national specificities. October 2021Contributing authors: … Continue reading

CLLD in Europe: country profiles & EU-wide analyses

This LDnet initiative aims to present in a systematic and succinct way how local development is implemented in different EU member states, as explained in the introduction CLLD in Europe: An initiative of LDnet. Seventeen CLLD country profiles have now been published for Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, … Continue reading

The ENSAMBLE project: Expertise and Networking to Sustain Actions in Med through Blue and Local Economy

Engaging local communities to boost the blue economy in the Mediterranean is the main goal of the ENSAMBLE project. Coordinated by the Italian FLAG "Costa degli Etruschi" for the Tuscany Region, the project partnership involves an innovative French cooperative based in the Mediterranean (Petra Patrimonia … Continue reading

Update: Implementing cohesion policy funds through multi-Fund CLLD

Community-led Local Development (CLLD) was introduced in the 2014-20 programme period and is based on the well-established LEADER tool. While LEADER is distinctly rural, co-funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), CLLD allows Member States to make use of up to four different ESI … Continue reading

Towards a Brussels Citizens’ Assembly

"En Question" is the quarterly journal of "Centre Avec", an association located in Brussels aiming at promoting the common good and citizen engagement. The journal addresses ecology, democracy and interculturality with a view to encouraging action for social justice. In its June 2021 issue, the journal … Continue reading

CLLD comparisons: ESI funding available to LAGs in different countries

How does the average ESI funding per Local Action Group (LAG) compare by Member State? This analysis is part of the CLLD in Europe initiative of LDnet, comprising CLLD country profiles and horizontal analyses (see here). We have seen that the EAFRD is the dominant ESI Fund in most EU Member States (see … Continue reading

Local responses to the COVID-19 crisis: A new briefing on lessons for rural development

Several organisations have been collecting and publishing local initiatives in response to the Covid-19 crisis. We have updated our overview and are offering below the links to a number of these initiatives (see sections 1 and 2). We have also conducted a number of discussions in June/July 2020 through … Continue reading

CLLD comparisons: ESI funding dedicated to CLLD in different countries

What share of ESI funding did Member States dedicate to CLLD in 2014-20 and how does this differ by Fund? This analysis is part of the CLLD in Europe initiative of LDnet, comprising CLLD country profiles and horizontal analyses (see here). CLLD continues to be dominated by the EAFRD, which contributes … Continue reading

Territorial Approaches for Sustainable Development

Perspectives and approaches that put territories at the centre of development have returned to become important in international debate and policy to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Among the reasons for the renewed emphasis is the need to improve the effectiveness of sectoral … Continue reading