Involvement of Local Stakeholders in LEADER (2007-2013) Programme Partnerships in Eastern Germany : Network Thinking and Context Effects

Guillaume Lacquement (1)

1 UMR ART-Dev - Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement

This paper addresses the application of the LEADER (2007-2013) programme in the rural areas of Eastern Germany. Adopting a monograph approach and structuralist methods of sociology, it analyses the forms of participation of the local stakeholders and the operation of the action system that supports the collective approach towards local development. The analysis examines the hypothesis that the learning of the LEADER approach, based on endogenous development practices and principles of local governance, is related to effects of geographical context formed by spatial configuration, the structure of the local economy, and the heritage of the past.

Keywords: LEADER Program; rural development policies; local development; local government; public interventions; social networks; Germany; new Länder; Thuringia; European Union

Domains: Geography

Guillaume Lacquement. Involvement of Local Stakeholders in LEADER (2007-2013) Programme Partnerships in Eastern Germany : Network Thinking and Context Effects. Folia Sociologica, Acta Universitatis Lodziensis, 2013, 44, p. 55-72. ⟨hal-02463585⟩