The 2023 European LEADER Congress took place in Brussels on 18 and 19 December 2023 at the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee. This Congress is the first event to bring together as many European LAGs as possible in more than 15 years. It brought together more […]
Rural toolkit launch event
The Rural toolkit is an initiative of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) and Joint Research Centre (JRC), in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI). It is the first comprehensive online guide to EU funding and support opportunities for rural areas in the European Union. […]
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 […]
Theories, tools and practical examples to decode rural community resilience
One-day showcase training offers insights into the REBOUND accredited course on fostering resilience in rural communities. The REBOUND project, supported by the EU through ERASMUS+ programme, developed and piloted an accredited (15 ECTS) training and capacity-building programme on rural community resilience. On the 8th of November 2023 a small group of around 15 experts, practitioners […]
Rural/urban: Laying bare the controversy
In this paper, published in Geographia Polonica, Mirek Dymitrow of the University of Gothenburg examines the “rural/urban controversy”. Abstract Concepts are the basic building blocks of all knowledge, while the strength of any societal project is dependent on the quality of those concepts. As two of the oldest geographical concepts still in widespread use, ‘rural/urban’ […]
Social Innovation: The Promise and the Reality in Marginalised Rural Areas in Europe
This paper by Bill Slee, Robert Lukesch and Elisa Ravazzoli explores the idea of social innovation as both a conceptual and practical means of delivering positive social, economic and environmental outcomes in marginal rural areas. Definitions are critically appraised, and the dual contemporary origins of the term social innovation (in management sciences and critical social […]
REBOUND – Training and capacity-building programme
REBOUND is an inter-territorial project supported by the EU through ERASMUS+. It pursues an action-research approach to promoting rural community resilience. LDnet experts participate in the project and its first report on the State of the Art and Practices of Rural Community Resilience has alredy been published. An update on the progress of the REBOUND […]
PARTENALIA ConferenceT (Timişoara): Cultural Catalysts
The PARTENALIA Association, the pan European network of Local Intermediate Authorities, held its 2023 annual conference on 15 November 2023 in Timişoara (RO). The conference was titled ‘Cultural Catalysts: Local Intermediate Authorities Nurturing Heritage, Collaboration, and Funding for the Arts’. The programme included sessions on: Brussels, Patron of the arts: a European perspective Empowering Europe’s […]
Euracademy – Györ 27-31 August 2023: Rural communities responding to the climate crisis and commiting themselves to a regenerative future
The Euracademy Association and Széchenyi István University invite participants in the 20th Summer Academy, to be held in Györ, Hungary from 27th to 31st August 2023. Theme: How can rural communities respond to the climate crisis and commit themselves to a regenerative future by changing farming practices? The Euracademy wishes to redefine sustainable rural development […]
State of the Art and Practices of Rural Community Resilience
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 […]
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 […]