Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning â University of Lisbon â Portugal. International Geographical Union â Commission on Geography of Governance.
Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning - University of Lisbon & International Geographical Union Commission on Geography of Governance International Conference LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND URBAN GOVERNANCE Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon, Portugal Lisbon, 9-10 April 2015
PARTNERSHIPS IN EXTREMADURA: THE LOCAL ACTION GROUPS Gema Cárdenas Department of Arts and Sciences Territory, University of Extremadura, Spain Ana Nieto Department of Arts and Sciences Territory, University of Extremadura, Spain ABSTRACT From the 90s to the present day, Rural Policies called LEADER Method have been put in place in the European rural areas (with problems such as the existence of agricultural surpluses, unemployment, emigration, low income levels and weakness in its farming systems) . Its objective is to activate the development in rural areas and to reduce differences between rural and urban areas. Through LEADER Method, a territorial development strategy is performed to achieve economic diversification of territories of action taking advantage of its local resources. This is accomplished through the implementation of various projects financed by the public and private sectors. The most important thing is that local people are involved in making decisions and taking into account their characteristics and needs. The territorial development strategy is new and alternative to traditional public administrations and the Local Action Groups carry out it. These Groups are nonprofit associations and consist of representatives of public institutions and economic and social actors in their territories of action. For this reason, Local Action Groups fall into their organization the business, social and institutional sectors, constituting a territory with common interests to the implementation and management of EAFRD support and they can get a social, political, economic and corporate mass that facilitates optimizing resources of Development Programs. In this paper we present the "LEADER Method" concept and how it is managed by the Local Action Groups (partnerships between public and private entities) in Extremadura (Spain) and their organization, different qualitative and quantitative indicators about their application in the Extremaduran region and their contribution to improve governance in the development process of rural areas. As outlined above, LEADER Method takes the characteristics and needs of the local population as a fundamental base, so depending of them, the management and results of each Local Action Group will be different. Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning – University of Lisbon – Portugal International Geographical Union – Commission on Geography of Governance Conference – “Local Government and Urban Governance”, Lisbon, 9-10 April 2015
