These countries are reforming their governmental systems to align them with the standards and policies of the European Union. To help in this process, the EU offers support through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA). Part of that Instrument is focused on rural development, including the potential to use the LEADER approach, which operates successfully throughout the EU.
The central concept behind the events described here is that effective rural development will depend upon action by both governments and rural stakeholders. It is vital that the two sides work closely together; that governments involve rural stakeholders in shaping and implementing policy; and that rural stakeholders are empowered to take initiatives which benefit rural communities.
In order to stimulate the thinking of governments and rural stakeholders, the events had an unusual format – a simultaneous series of six traveling workshops in Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro, followed by national conferences in the three countries and a concluding conference in Brussels.
Source: ag-press.eu
