The REBOUND project (Fostering Resilience in Rural Communities) has published a report on the State of the Art and Practices of Rural Community Resilience. The aim of this report is to provide an analysis of innovative processes and patterns pertaining to rural resilience across Europe. It is the first major output of the REBOUND project […]
Local development beyond Europe: UN resolution on the promotion of social and solidarity economy and the localisation of SDGs.
At its 66th plenary meeting on April 18, 2023, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution “Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development” (A/77/L.60). The resolution provides an official definition for the Social and Solidarity Economy and acknowledges that it can contribute to the achievement and localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals. […]
LDnet General Assembly & the debate on “Capacity building for local development”- Key messages & full recording
The General Assembly of LDnet took place online on 14 February 2023. As in previous years, it was open to LDnet members, friends and contributors. The full recording is available HERE. Key points from the presentations and discussions are summarised below. Capacity building for Community Led Local Development Its main theme was devoted to […]
The launch of the Michael Dower Award for European Rural Resilience
Michael Dower a great champion of rural communities, leading light in rural development, long-standing friend and member of LDnet, passed away on 7 November 2022. On Saturday 22 April 2023, the Michael Dower Award for European Rural Resilience will be launched in his honour at an event dedicated to his life and work, in the […]
JRC Webinar Series – Future of Cities
RSA Europe is working with the EU Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) to deliver a webinar series on the 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 […]
CLLD in the 2014–2020 period: An Innovative Framework for Local Development
The World journal has published a new article entitled “CLLD in the 2014–2020 EU Programming Period: An Innovative Framework for Local Development”, by Stefan Kah, Haris Martinos and Urszula Budzich-Tabor. The paper builds on the country summaries and horizontal analyses developed as part of LDnet’s CLLD in Europe initiative, and includes extensive reflections on ‘The […]
European Commission and Council responses to the ECA report on LEADER/CLLD
We have already published our review of the special report of the European Court of Auditors on LEADER and CLLD, in response to the overall message from the ECA that “LEADER and community-led local development facilitates local engagement but additional benefits still not sufficiently demonstrated”. We now publish the formal responses of the European Commission […]
RSA Annual Conference 2023: Policies and Planning for People and Places
The 2023 RSA Annual Conference will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia between 14–17 June 2023 and is entitled “Transforming Regions: Policies and Planning for People and Places”. Planning is well underway. Registration is due to open in January 2023, and proposals for special sessions or abstracts can be submitted now. More information HERE.
The added-value of CLLD in Interreg
This study has been carried out by Jean-Pierre Vercruysse for Directorate D, DG REGIO of the European Commission with the purpose of better understanding the added-value of cross-border CLLD in the framework of Interreg. We publish below the Executive Summary of the study. The full report is available HERE. Community-Led Local Development The added-value of […]
Michael Dower (1933 – 2022)
We are very saddened at the news of the death of Michael Dower, a great champion of rural communities, leading light in rural development, long-standing friend and member of LDnet. Michael passed away on 7 November 2022. He had a long and fruitful life. He trained as a chartered surveyor and town planner followed by […]
A review of the ECA report on LEADER and CLLD
The European Court of Auditors has recently published a special report on LEADER and CLLD and we have presented it HERE. The overall message from the ECA is that “LEADER and community-led local development facilitates local engagement but additional benefits still not sufficiently demonstrated”. The analysis and conclusions of the report merit a thorough examination […]
Resilient coastal communities: a guide for FLAGs
“Resilient rural communities” is a topic we have addressed on several occasions, including research publications on rural proofing, articles on the core principles of resilience and resilient villages and LDnet’s participation in the Erasmus+ project REBOUND. We are now highlighting a practical guide on “resilient coastal communities” which was published at the final stage of […]