LDnet

Local Development Network

LEADER: Where it came from and what’s still in it

LEADER has a long history and is still going strong. Robert Lukesch gave a talk in the final conference of the transnational project ‘LEADER/CLLD: Our common future’ on 4-6 November 2024, in Cheleiros/Mafra, Portugal, on the topic of ‘LEADER: Where it came from and what’s still in it’. This was based on a treatise in […]

Post-2027 EU funding for local development under threat

The debate has started about the next MFF of the EU. Although there are no formally proposals in the public domain, informal briefings have raised concerns about the possible implications of a new MFF archtecture for the local and regional level. These concerns stem mostly from two features highlighted in two recent news items: The […]

The Michael Dower Award for European Rural Resilience

This new award was launched on 15 October 2024 and is now open for applications. It aims to showcase great examples of how local communities and individuals are tackling economic, environmental, and social challenges to build rural resilience. It also seeks to boost local empowerment across Europe by helping applicants share their experiences, practices, and […]

Call for EUI Peer Reviews

A Peer Review is a capacity building activity offered by the European Urban Initiative (EUI) to support European cities to improve the design and implementation of their Sustainable Urban Development (SUD) strategies, through a process of benchmarking and peer learning. Each Peer Review involves one ‘City under review’ (primary beneficiary), working with individuals from up […]

2025 RSA Annual Conference: Call for abstracts and special sessions

The RSA has published a call for abstracts and for special sessions for the ‘2025 RSA Annual Conference: Navigating Regional Transformation’ that will take place from 6 to 9 May 2025 at the University of Porto. Registration will open at the beginning of February 2025. More Information HERE.

Territorial development for the green transition: Harnessing the potential of rural communities (19 September 2024)

This Policy Action Lab, organised by the Rural Pact Support Office, will explore key opportunities for rural communities to benefit from the green transition and enhance their territorial development tools. Building on the European Commision report ‘The long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas: key achievements and ways forward’, the Policy Action Lab aims to: reflect on […]

Insights into LEADER evaluations

Evaluating LEADER under CAP presents a substantial challenge. It is not just about measuring LEADER’s contribution to the CAP’s Specific Objectives, but also uncovering the added value generated from the application of the ‘LEADER method’. To help find a path forward, the European Evaluation Helpdesk for the CAP is working with experts to extract best […]

Social innovation in rural areas

Rural areas depend on a wide range of economic engines for growth, as well as the quality of place to attract and retain people. Social innovation seeks new answers to social and environmental problems, using new solutions that improve the quality of life for individuals and communities. Social innovation can be a tool to create […]

Debate: EU budget and place-based policies

The COTER Commission of the EU Committee of the Regions  (CoR) is preparing a new draft Opinion on EU budget and place-based policies: proposals for new design and delivery mechanisms for the MFF post 2027 . It is seeking to define principles whereby the present complexity and overlaps among EU funds and instruments having a territorial […]

Use of ‘factors of success’ in evaluation

According to Article 1 of the European Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1475 “When evaluating their CAP Strategic Plans, Member States shall define evaluation questions and factors of success to assess the evaluation criteria of effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and Union added value referred to in Article 140(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115”. ‘Factors of success’ are […]

JRC Webinar Series – Future of Cities

This series focuses on The Future of Cities report which identifies challenges influencing the future of cities in Europe and beyond. It also presents several perspectives from which to look at resolving these issues. It is an initiative of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the science and knowledge service of the European Commission (EC), supported by the Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban […]