Community-led local development (CLLD) is a bottom-up approach to policy development that encourages local people to form a Local Action Group (LAG) – a partnership that designs and implements an integrated development strategy for their area. The CLLD approach was first used in the 1990s by the EU LEADER programme to encourage the development of rural areas with co-financing from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Its success saw CLLD extended to fisheries and coastal areas in 2007-2013, with funding from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) (later the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)), and then to urban areas in the 2014-2020 programming period, with funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). LAGs were thus able to pursue local development strategies using both individual funds and a combination of up to four EU funds, including the ESF. The uptake and expansion of CLLD in the ESF between 2014-2020 responded to the need for integrated, locally developed solutions to address a wide range of local problems relating to employment, social inclusion and poverty reduction. While the use of CLLD was at Member States’ discretion, ESF funding opened up a broader range of eligible themes, target groups and projects for Local Action Groups. CLLD at local level was particularly effective where LAGs had previous experience of CLLD in other funds and/or where the managing authorities provided them with additional support.

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