Two recent events, the fourth meeting of the LEADER Sub-group (21 February) and a workshop on LEADER innovation (22 February) stressed the importance of exchange and networking in support of more effective and innovative LEADER/CLLD implementation.

The workshop discussed ways of strengthening and expanding rural innovation through both Local Development Strategies and a broader range of initiatives such as EIP-AGRI Operational Groups and Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems (AKIS).

The Sub-group highlighted its role and that of rural networks in supporting local actors to deliver improved results on the ground building on the messages from events such as Cork 2.0, LEADER/CLLD 2020+, and Achieving results the CLLD way.