Decentralisation has been a main trend in good governance for many decades, spreading also to the developing and transition countries worldwide. Many territorial reforms have been implemented under the umbrella of principle of subsidiarity and decentralisation, but recently centralisation attempts have emerged highlighting that decentralisation has crucial preconditions and that the political, economic, cultural-social and […]
Local knowledge-based development
In this paper Professor Ilona Pálné Kovács outlines the theoretical frameworks of knowledge-based governance and development, examines the role of local governments as important actors in local development, and examines the scope for place-based development in a centralised governance context. To read the full paper, including abstract and literature, click below.
LEADER in the witness box: Hearing in the European Parliament
On 22 November 2018, the AGRI Committee, together with the CONT (Budgetary Control) Committee of the European Parliament held a Public Hearing on LEADER experiences – lessons learned and effectiveness of EU funds for rural development. The aim was to evaluate how the LEADER programme had worked over the past, what its added value was […]
CLLD/Leader: Past, present and future
In this wide-ranging paper Robert Lukesch goes back to the precursors of Leader and looks at each stage of its evolution, highlighting the complex principles behind this approach (“more than the seven features and usual clichés”) and discussing success factors. He takes us to the current CLLD/Leader period and looks at what lies ahead. He […]
Knowledge, Policymaking and Learning for European Cities and Regions: From Research to Practice
The interaction between research, policy and practice in local development is of major interest and LDnet organised a special session on this theme at the annual conference of the RSA in June 2018 in Lugano. One of the panellists in this debate Dr Nicola Francesco Dotti is the editor of a new book making a […]
Leadership in place-based development
“The role of leadership in place-based development and building institutional arrangements” is a paper by L. G. Horlings, D. Roep and W. Wellbrock published in Local Economy, the journal of the Local Economic Policy Unit. In various case studies across Europe the vital role of rural place leadership in enabling a place-based approach to local […]
Preserving the specific features of CLLD post-2020
In May 2018, the European Commission published its proposals for CLLD/LEADER in the post-2020 period. The overall impression is that these proposals, broadly speaking, amount to a continuation of the approach and rules applying to CLLD/LEADER in the current, 2014-2020 period. But as already noted by Robert Lukesch in his ‘LEADER RELOADED‘ paper, there will […]
A handbook on evaluating CLLD at the local level
FARNET and FAME Support Units have developed a handbook on evaluating Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) at the local level. This handbook is addressed to all Local Action Groups (LAGs) funded from one or several of the four ESI Funds and it provides them with easy-to-use tools and methods. It covers the main steps in evaluating […]
European Commission proposals for CLLD after 2020
The avalanche of proposals for the 2021-2017 period is continuing. On 29.05.2018 the European Commission published its proposal for a new Common Provisions Regulation [COM(2018) 375 final] which confirms the continuation of CLLD although uncertainties remain – and we’ll return with a critical review. Title III, Chapter II of the new CPR deals with Territorial […]
GDPR and LDnet
As new data protection regulations come into effect in the European Union, we’re taking the opportunity to explain that the only data kept by LDnet is email addresses used to mail monthly news (and any other data users of this website may have entered when registering). We do not share any data with any third […]
Social innovation and territorial development
In his contribution to the International Seminar Social Innovation in Public Policies in Brasilia, on 7 and 8 March 2018, Robert Lukesch discusses the essence of social innovation at the micro level and highlights the importance of governance (“the very notion of social innovation requires an institutional environment which is at least not punishing deviating […]
Towards an inclusive and sustainable CLLD: lessons from neighbourhood management in Berlin
CLLD is more often associated with a rural or fisheries context. In this paper by Pietro Verga deals with ‘urban CLLD’, which builds on experiences, particularly, from the URBAN Initiatives and the LEADER programme. His research is based in Berlin and is within the policy context of the German Soziale Stadt programme (Socially Integrative City, […]