The Austrian LAG Styrian Volcanic Land (Steirisches Vulkanland) wanted to know what its local development efforts stretching over a quarter of a century have been ultimately good for. This groundbreaking impact study was entrusted to an ÖAR team assisted by students from the Vienna University [1] Robert Lukesch The study aimed to evaluate the intended […]
Assessing the Added Value of LEADER
On 23 and 24 November 2023, some 60 evaluators, representatives from managing and paying authorities, LEADER networks and LAG managers met at the Kirchberg in Luxembourg city, at the invitation of the European Evaluation Helpdesk for the CAP and the Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development of Luxembourg. The central topic of this Good […]
Smart Rural 21 Final Conference in Sopot/Gdańsk (PL): Encouraging encounters
Under the autumnal sky of the vintage sea resort of Sopot adjacent to the Polish coastal metropole of Gdańsk a noteworthy event took place on October 17th and 18th 2022: The final conference of the European pilot project on Smart Villages, Smart Rural 21, having been organised in the premises of the Grand Hotel, where […]
COP26: Social innovation and just transition to climate neutrality
How social innovation contributes to just transitions to climate neutrality A side event at the COP 26 in Glasgow, organised on 10.11.2021 by the James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland/UK The James Hutton Institute, UK, lead partner of the HORIZON 2020 research project SIMRA (Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas), seized the opportunity to emphasize the […]
LDnet lab on social innovation and local development: linking urban and rural approaches
This lab took take place on Thursday 20.2.2020 at Scotland House, Rond-point Robert Schuman 6, 1040 Brussels, after the SIMRA conference. It aimed to explore how local initiatives or local action groups working in the context of CLLD can act as a motor and platform for social innovation at grass roots level. There are many […]
Highlights from the LEADER/CLLD 2019 Conference
ELARD and the Portuguese LEADER network Minha Terra have organised the last gathering under the Portuguese Presidency of Maria João Botelho in the beautiful town of Amarante in Northern Portugal, hosted by the LAG Dolmen. The workshop on 25.11.2020 served as an exchange platform to discuss the state of play in the member countries and […]
Report of SIMRA final conference
SIMRA, the Horizon 2020 project “Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas” has been at the forefront in promoting the contribution of social innovation to social, economic and environmental development in disadvantaged rural areas since 2016. The final two-day event of the project “From the implementation of local initiatives to the integration into public policies” was […]
The LEADER Approach and Social Innovation in Rural Areas – a Liaison?
R. Lukesch, H. Gassler, B. Ecker, L. Fidlschuster, M. Fischer, S. Mair, S. Philipp, N. Said[1] Abstract –The research project SILEA aimed at exploring the significance, extent and possible effects of Social Innovation in the framework of the LEADER Measure of the Austrian Rural Development Program 2014-20. The study leaned onto a complex mix of […]
Social innovation in LEADER areas in Austria
We present below the summaries of three case studies from the SILEA research project on social innovation in LEADER areas (2014-2020) in Austria. The first and second case studies are similar concerning the thematic field – local coordination of informal voluntary work – but different in their outcomes. Both have delivered successful and illustrative examples […]
Social innovation, CLLD and the future of rural development
The debate on the future of EU policies and budgets post-2020 is hotting up. A new policy brief from SIMRA, makes a contribution in the context of the European Commission’s Communication on the Common Agricultural Policy post-2020, “The Future of Food and Farming”. The policy brief stresses that social innovation is a powerful manifestation of […]
Strenghtening communities and regions in Mali
During the last years Mali has been facing serious challenge to political stability due to the pressure by jihadist groups. However, there are many good reasons to believe in the recovery potential and long-term resilience of Mali due to the strengthening of the institutional capacities at local and regional level. One of the main drivers […]
Climate change and urban development at the edge of the Sahara desert
Imagine a town of a million or so inhabitants at the edge of the Sahara desert. It lies directly on the Atlantic coast, but wait, its fringes are some 200m away from the dunes stretching along. These dunes are around 20m high and 30m wide. Behind the dunes lies a depression, a lagoon dried up […]