AEIDL has published a new discussion paper, authored by Raquel Pastor Carretero and Serafin Pazos-Vidal from AEIDL’s Rural and Territorial Development team. The paper examines how the proposed 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) could redefine the future of LEADER and Community‑Led Local Development (CLLD). It warns that the shift to a Single Fund and to National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) represents […]
Publications
Citizen science contributions to environmental risks assessment and management
Using Citizen Science with local communities to address environmental risk is an approach attracting considerable interest and is expected to be the subject of a webinar in the Autumn 2026. This publication, co-authored by LDnet members Joanna Storie and Ghieth Alkhateeb, is an example of the growing number of research contributions in this field. Citizen […]
The new LEADER added value
The transnational LEADER cooperation project “OUR COMMON FUTURE”, involved LAGs from Austria, Luxembourg, Portugal, Bulgaria together with associated LAGs from Sweden, Finland, Italy, France, Spain, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia and Romania. Lead partner was the LEADER-forum Austria. The project set out—building on more than 30 years of successful LEADER/CLLD as a participatory approach to urban and […]
Study on Cohesion Policy territorial instruments
The European Policies Research Centre (EPRC) is highlighting the outputs from its recent study on Cohesion Policy territorial instruments implemented in 2014-20, including the final report of the study, instrument fiches and country fiches. The five types of territorial instruments covered by the study are: SUD ITI – Sustainable Urban Development Integrated Territorial Investment Non-SUD […]
Expert Voices – From community, for community
In the latest interview in the EXPERT VOICES series, Armelle Ledan, Social Innovation Expert and ELIF Thematic Coordinator, reflects on how EU policy and funding frameworks support, and often limit, Community-Led Social Innovation (CLSI) in practice. She highlights why community-led initiatives still struggle to access EU funding, explains why LEADER and CLLD remain among the most […]
Roadmaps for Administrative Capacity Building – Design and Implementation
The ‘Study on Roadmaps for Administrative Capacity Building – Design and Implementation’ was carried out by t33 and Spatial Foresight for the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission. The study provides an in-depth analysis of the development and implementation of roadmaps designed to strengthen administrative capacity in fifteen EU Member States. […]
Chairperson’s report
Following the re-launch of LDnet earlier this year, four groups initiated by the management board of our association are now up and running. The communications group has set up a number of new systems and we now have a members WhatsApp group which you are welcome to join. We have just become active on Bluesky having […]
The European Commission’s proposals for the future EU budget: Stakeholders’ and experts’ responses
As expected, on 16 July 2025, the European Commission published its long awaited proposals for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the 2028-2034 period and we have published an extensive overview. A debate has already kicked off and we are summarising below the stakeholders’ and experts’ responses, with special reference to local development and territorial cohesion. […]
6th European Rural Parliament: Rural Solutions to Global Challenges
Neslihan Önder Özen, Alistair Adam Hernández November 5, 2025 As part of the German Delegation, Alistair Adam Hernández and Neslihan Önder Özen from LDnet participated in the 6th European Rural Parliament and served as co-moderators of two workshops on rural movements alongside Tobias Federwisch from the Village Movement Brandenburg. The reflections below draw on our […]
Cohesion Policy on the Rocks?
This EPRC paper by Mendez, C., Bachtler, J., and Wishlade, F. deals in a systematic way with: The state of play of Cohesion Policy The shaping of MFF of the MFF proposals The national perspectives on reform The EU budget proposals for 2028-2034 The Cohesion Policy regulatory proposals for 2028-2034 and closes with a discussion […]
Ex post evaluation of the ERDF and CF for the period 2014-2020
The European Commission published on 10 October 2025 a Staff Working Document presenting the findings of the ex post evaluation of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Cohesion Fund (CF) for the 2014-2020 programming period. The evaluation is built around the five evaluation criteria stemming from the BetterRegulation Guidelines. Accordingly, it examines the: (i) […]
An overview of the Commission’s EU budget proposal and the challenges ahead
The Commission lays out the plans before the budget battle Serafín Pazos-Vidal analyses the new EU budget proposal for 2028-2034 presented by the Von der Leyen Commission. Although it is billed as a “radical restructuring,” the author warns that it is actually “doing much more with the same,” which foreshadows a tough political battle in […]