LDnet

Local Development Network

EU lagging regions: State of play and future challenges

The EU’s lagging regions face significant challenges to transform their economic under-performance. Current ongoing transitions, such as digitalisation and towards a sustainable society, and the COVID-19 pandemic are accentuating these challenges. This is both creating new and exacerbating existing internal divergence within the EU. This study Marta Pilati and Alison Hunter (EPC) for the REGI […]

Social Innovation, Societal Change, and the Role of Policies

In this new paper in the journal SUSTAINABILITY the authors explore the links between social innovation and policy and the “triadic relationships” between the state, intermediary organizations, and local actors. Authors: Robert Lukesch, Alice Ludvig, Richard Slee, Gerhard Weiss, Ivana Zivojinovic Abstract: Political frameworks and policies have a strong influence on the institutional ecosystem and […]

“Which future do you want in rural areas?”

From May to August 2020, 3 436 people from 26 different countries answered the survey which was carried out by ELARD, the European association of LEADER groups, in cooperation with REDR, the Spanish rural development network. The aim of the survey was to find out what rural citizens and actors think of life in rural […]

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 […]

4th European Rural Parliament – Let Europe´s rural voice be heard

The 4th European Rural Parliament took place in the rural, green north of Spain, in the coastal village of Candás (Asturias) from 6th to 9th November 2019.  Alistair Adam Hernández participated and his report is presented below. I attended the ERP as LDnet representative and was kindly invited to join the German delegation. The choice […]

Re-thinking local development policies in times of polarisation

This book, Regional and Local Development in Times of Polarisation, edited by Thilo Lang and Franziska Görmar, contains contributions from 32 academics on “re-thinking spatial policies in Europe”. It is part of the New Geographies of Europe series published by Palgrave. The book takes its starting point by considering a threefold polarisation within the EU: […]

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.

Fernando Barreiro (1949-2018)

We are very saddened at the news of the death of Fernando Barreiro, a long-standing friend and colleague in the field of local development, one of the founders of LDnet and member of its board. Fernando was born in Uruguay, moved to Spain in the 1970s as a refugee during the time of the Uruguayan […]

European Rural Parliament and the “Venhorst Declaration”

The 3rd European Rural Parliament took place on 18-21 October 2017 in Venhorst in the Netherlands. The European Rural Parliament is a long-term campaign to express the voice of rural people in Europe; and to promote self-help and action by the rural people, in partnership with civil society and governments. During these four days, around […]