Within the framework of the transnational LEADER project “Our Common Future” in which LEADER networks came together to conceptualise the future of the LEADER approach, Robert Lukesch was asked to write a paper about the circumstances and conditions from which LEADER arose in the first place. Soon Robert discovered that this fascinating task was not doable without a broader retrospective to the wider context from which LEADER emerged, the evolution along its trajectory through six budget periods, and some conclusive thoughts about its future destiny. This resulted in a treatise of 69 pages. It was presented at the final project meeting in Cheleiros/Mafra in Portugal, on 5 November 2024.
Author’s note:
You can read the treatise as a captivating story, but you can also use it as a repository if you are interested in some iridescent aspects of the European agricultural and structural policies.
It is a personal account, so don’t expect scientific rigour, but trust in the author’s endeavour to stay as close to the truth as possible. True friends and colleagues have contributed… without whom it would never have been possible to produce this treatise.
If you are only interested in the forward-looking part, just read the last page (63).
Below is an excerpt from the introduction to the treatise LEADER: Where it came from and what’s still in it.
Introduction
Not least because of its dignified age, the history of LEADER* since 1991 has been recounted in many ways, In contrast the prenatal story has not nearly been told as often; however, I think understanding the circumstances from which the initiative had emerged is the prerequisite to fully grasp its purpose and mission even nowadays.
The European unification process has a father and a mother. In ancient Greek mythology, the father of the goddess Aρμονία was Ares, the God of War, and her mother was Αφροδίτη, the goddess of love and beauty. You sense the dialectic? We can draw an analogy: The father of the European unification process was the terrible suite of world wars I and II, the mother the recognition of the immense value which a peaceful and harmonious Europe would constitute, and the firm will to build a unified, enlightened political and economic space in all its geographical and cultural diversity….not least to show the rest of the world that humans are able to co-exist peacefully leaving behind the
long history of humiliation, discrimination, exploitation and murderous warfare.
Quite early in my explorations I got aware that it would not make sense to just describe the context of the emergence of LEADER, before and around the early nineties of the past century. In order to get the whole picture in view, we have to consider the policy environment and its evolution, and the professional discourse on local and regional development through time, taking a closer look at the actors’ networks comprising researchers, experts and practitioners as well as policy makers and shapers in the member state and EU administrations on the other. We proceed from the general to the specific, from the outer leaves of an onion bulb to its spicy core from where the bulb shoots its new sprouts, when temperatures rise and rain waters the fertile soil.
The treatise is divided into three parts which are subdivided into sections which should make it easier to look up certain items without having to read the whole story. These sub-sections contain redundancies which should allow for cross-reading and cherry-picking.
Part I: The background of LEADER. Here I describe the global, European, political, economic, cultural and social context from which LEADER has emerged.
Part II: The voyage of LEADER through time. Here I try to produce a picture of the early periods, namely LEADER I and II until the turn of the century, with less detail and emphasis the more recent it gets.
Part III: LEADER at the crossroads. This part gives a short overview on the overall context and the policy environment of LEADER in these days and on the options there are to revive its core purpose.
*Liaison Entre Actions du Développement Economique Rural (Linking Rural Economic Development Actions)
Click here to download the full treatise by Robert Lukesch.
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