"LEADER, from Initiative to Method": Guide to teaching the LEADER approach

The LEADER initiative elaborated a guide containing the experiences developed by 1000 LEADER groups involved in the rural development in the 15 Member States of the European Union.

This LEADER Community initiative called "Links between actions for the Development of Rural Economy", active since 1991, has been working to provide the European Union's rural areas with a development method associating the local actors becoming of their territory. It is created within the framework of the European Union regional policies to fight against the decline of the rural area while seeking new responses to small territories with a strong identity.

From a sustainable development perspective, the LEADER approach seeks to take into account the internal opportunities and constraints of rural areas as a result of the environmental, economic, social and cultural factors of an area's past, as well as the external opportunities and constraints arising from area's past, as well as the external opportunities and constraints arising from opening up local economies.

Since LEADER I was launched in 1991, much work has been done in the rural areas involved in this community Initiative, not only in the "field" in terms of implementing development projects, but also on methodology.

"How shall we go about it?" and "What are others doing?" are two key questions that have been exhaustively discussed within the LEADER network through seminars, publications, personal contacts, etc.

A working group has endeavored to convey the methodological inputs from this LEADER "rural development laboratory" in an educational and accessible way. The result is "the teaching kit "modeling exercise and "animation" tool designed to present LEADER approach to variety of audiences.

This "teaching kit", allows a better comprehension of the specific procedure of the LEADER program: territorial approach, integrated and "bottom-up", public and private local partnership, Networking, etc.

The guide also contains a "library" of all the thematic publications and the LEADER methodology. The CD Rom is available in seven languages: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, English, German and Greek.

Why this teaching guide?

• To guide local groups in creating their development strategy.
• To foster a debate on the complementarities between the LEADER approach and other program.

Who is the target audience?

• Local players (political representatives, rural development administrations, associations, leaders of collective projects, development agents, etc.)
• Regional, national, European and international networks involved in local development.
• Universities, training institutes and information centre (rural information and "animation" Carrefour's, etc.)

To download the teaching guide, please click here
To request more information about the LEADER initiative please click here