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 left X a while ago. We still have a link there to our new Bluesky account. Our LinkedIn site has been modified with profile links to board members and more discussion. We will be publishing links to useful documents on all platforms.
The Cohesion policy group has been planning a webinar which will take place on 4 December at 16.30 CET. This is the third in our series on the future of local development in the multi annual financial framework. They have been working on liaising with various organisations, inviting and briefing speakers and discussants, and generally preparing the meeting. You can register HERE
The Urban CLLD group has met twice and decided to engage with the new EU Urban CLLD network which held its first meeting on the 3-5 November in Brussels. We took issue with the proposal that 5% of ERDF should be available for urban CLLD groups. We see nothing wrong with the spirit of the proposal, but in a climate where the whole of the Cohesion policy is under threat of renationalisation we do not think it is a good idea to make a demand that would result in cities losing money under integrated territorial investment and related delivery mechanisms. Currently 8% of ERDF is devoted to the urban territorial tools (CLLD, ITI etc). ITI and related delivery methods currently take more than 90% of the budget for territorial tools even in countries where urban is well funded so it is unlikely that CLLD could take 5% of the total budget.
The new ideas group has met once and will meet again in December. It has three main challenges, first to identify projects and partnerships that could be revenue generating. Second, to identify potential local development “experiments” where the idea is that we will test an approach to local development in a friendly setting and, finally, to help develop our action plan for next year. If you have an idea for a project we could be involved in, or if you know of a village, town or city that would welcome an LDnet experiment please get in touch.
All those following the LDnet network are welcome to join our association and get involved in these acitvities and in new initiatives.
Peter Ramsden
Chair LDnet
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