LEADER is effective at developing solutions to address economic and social development challenges and opportunities at local level. This was a conclusion from the newly-published EU-wide European Commission study on the impact of LEADER on territorial development.
The bottom-up methodology has been able to provide complex and locally tailored solutions to many rural development challenges using relatively limited resources. The study suggests that LEADER’s strongest areas are job creation and maintenance, local added value of products and enterprise modernisation. While the findings of the study are overwhelmingly positive, certain areas for improvement were identified, particularly with regard to knowledge exchange between different levels of the governance and delivery system. These include improved communication and clarity of roles within LEADER, simplification of procedures, enhanced collaboration and new indicators to better capture LEADER outcomes.
