LEADER and Community-Led Local Development Approach. Polish Experiences

Katarzyna Zajda, Anna Kołomycew, Łukasz Sykała, Karol Janas

The publication presents an overview of the implementation of the LEADER approach and Community-Led Local Development in Poland. The authors discusses the theoretical background of the transformation of ruraI areas development policy, and presents the essence and the key characteristics of the LEADER approach, its origin, and different models of its implementation in European countries. They also concentrate on the participation principle, perceived as a one of the most important principles of territorial development and evaluate the previous activity of selected locaI action groups formed in Poland in the context of implementing the innovation principle. In this publication readers can also find discussion related to the implementation of Community-Led Local Development approach in Poland, based on the experiences of the LEADER approach. The authors hope that the publication will attract the interests of foreign readers (also non-academic readers) who are interested in the experiences of implementing the LEADER approach in Poland, and thus in the determinants of implementing Community-Led LocaI Development, not only in rural areas.