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 regional development—to develop fresh future perspectives and to explain why the LEADER approach, as a citizen-centred policy tool, is especially relevant now. How can we reach people—particularly in rural areas—more effectively again and increase acceptance of the need for change? For Local Action Groups (LAGs), it will become even more important to build new skills for intermediary management at key social interfaces. These include, for example, the public–private interface and the strategy–practice interface, both of which require competent innovation management.
The project concluded in August 2025 and its final report, entitled “THE NEW LEADER ADDED VALUE” is now available.
The report was written by Wolfgang Berger, Robert Lukesch, Stefan Kah, Magda Porta, Petri Rinne, and Anette Peiter.
It comprises an Executive summary and six sections corresponding to the work packages of the project:
- Innovative LEADER approaches in the EU – Stefan Kah
- Experiences of LAGs outside the EU – Petri Rinne
- Long-term financing and policy frameworks (LEADER: Where it came from and what it still offers) – Robert Lukesch
- New communication approaches – Anette Peiter
- Shared European themes – Magda Porta
- The new LEADER added value (Conclusions from the project) – Wolfgang Berger
To read the report click below.
For a fuller presentation of the conclusions of the project click below.
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