SUSTAINAIBILITY

SUSTAINAIBILITY

Insights from the case study

In order to guarantee the sustainability of the actions implemented, it was necessary to foster a sense of belonging to the area in all the actors involved. This allowed to have a direct effect on local actors' mobilisation, thanks to the bottom-up approach. “Maiella Verde” was careful not to turn only into a technical advisory body for other projects, despite the expertise acquired over the years. At an early stage, it was essential to understand whether there were already other local development agencies bringing initiatives and funding to the target area, in order to avoid creating internal competition that could damage the work in the long term. The LAG has maintained a strong attachment to the area, accumulating experience in rural development. In terms of sustainability, it has also been important to create opportunities for collaboration with other local initiatives, such as the local committee following the National Strategy for Inner Areas and the Destination Management Company agency. These liaisons in the area allowed additional funding to be obtained and successful projects to be developed. Another key factor was the periodic evaluation of the results achieved by the strategies implemented, a compulsory aspect in the LEADER / CLLD approach. The LAG executed a self-evaluation activity based on three points: collection and assessment of quantity and quality data from implemented operations; interviews of actors directly involved; preparation of case studies.  Involve local actors actively during the development process, adopting a bottom-up approach in the development of the strategy.

 Maintain a strong attachment to the target area.

 Avoid entering into competition with any other local development agencies, and instead create opportunities for collaboration and networking with other similar initiatives at local, national and international level.

 Set up a monitoring and evaluation system to verify the results achieved thanks to the strategies implemented.  Does the Local Action Group create partnerships with private, public and institutional actors at local level?

 Is the Local Action Group engaged in collaborating and networking with other agencies and initiatives at local, national and international level?

 Does the Local Action Group have a monitoring and evaluation system?

Suggested actions Self-assessment questions

Categories

ACTORS AND INSTITUTIONS Description

 Creation of a public-private partnership able to act both as a political and technical body.  Representative role by LAG members of the whole target area and of all the sectors interested in contributing to rural development.

SOCIAL CAPITAL  Strong attitude to networking and cooperation by private and public actors.  Willingness to initiate and support a rural development process by the private and public actors involved in the LAG, with the shared awareness that the time needed to achieve results could be long.  Sharing of a vision of rural sustainable development by local communities.  Local communities prone to be protagonists in the process of design and implementation of the strategy. Self-assessment questions

 Which are the actors to be involved in the LAG public-private partnership?  Do the actors share a similar approach?  Do they represent the whole local community?  Is there a local technical team able to manage the local development process?

 Are the public and private actors involved motivated towards reaching the goals of the strategy?  Are there people in local communities interested in getting involved and being protagonists of the development process?  Is there a shared vision of rural sustainable development?

HUMAN CAPITAL  Activation of the right mix of human resources and competences through the engagement of local actors and communities.  Deployment of technical skills for the design and implementation of local development strategies; managerial skills to manage the resources needed to implement the strategy; skills related to territorial animation, knowledge pooling and participatory processes involving local communities.  Capacity to listen, to analyse local needs, to identify available potential and to define concrete achievable results.

 Balance between embeddedness within the local community and autonomy / impartiality from specific private interests.

GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK  Clear governance, by identifying leadership, roles and responsibilities of each actor and internal relationships to facilitate the management of activities.  Openness for other key actors to become members of the LAG.  Which are the competences and skills needed to design and successfully implement the local development strategy?  Are human resources with the requested expertise and skills available within the local community?  Is the staff able to balance embeddedness and impartiality?

 Is there a well-defined governance design in the

LAG?

INSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK

ECONOMIC RESOURCES

BASIC INFRASTRUCTURES

SERVICES  Alignment with rural development programmes at regional level and European priorities.

 Formal setting as a limited liability consortium which include relevant public and private actors in both the shareholder structure and the board of directors.  Identification of a clear public or private leadership.  Elaboration of a statute of the LAG, with the criteria to become members.  Are key local actors given the opportunity to become member?

 What are the other levels of governance to be aligned with?

 What kind of corporate form can be adopted?  Is there any factor constraining public-private partnerships within the national and local legal framework?

 Availability of financial resources from different levels and sources to support both the design and implementation of the strategy process.  Smooth relationship between the funding management authority (or authorities) and the LAG based on a unity of purpose and shared procedures.  Are there financial resources available at local, national or even international level to design and implement the local development strategy?

 A place where actors can meet (also virtually).  A system that allows actors to get continuously in touch and dialogue.  Broadband network connection allowing continuous digital communication between actors, especially given the restrictions caused by the Covid19 pandemic and the remoteness of inner areas.  Are there physical or virtual places where to hold meetings?  Is there a system in place to enable dialogue between actors?

 Is digital connectivity accessible and reliable in the whole territory and for all people and communities?

 Technical assistance to local actors and territorial animation both during the design and the implementation of the local development strategy’s objectives.  Peer-to-peer learning and exchange of experiences with other LAGs at national and international level.  Who can provide technical assistance to local actors and deal with territorial animation?

 Which other territories can be interested in peer-topeer learning and exchange?

DRAWBACKS AND RISKS

Which are the main risks that may arise? COPING STRATEGIES

Which are the best strategies that could be implemented in order to cope with and/or prevent these risks?

The bureaucratic effort required by the programme is insurmountable for small local players. It becomes difficult to involve certain actors because they do not have sufficient management capacity. For local authorities, the tender model creates problems, as it often excludes the beneficiaries most in need of support.  Finding alternative ways of financing small projects of local actors who would find it difficult to access calls for tenders. In the “Project Communities” initiative, the method of financing promoted by the LAG allows even small communities to participate, avoiding administrative issues often linked to calls for proposals. Here, the LAG “Maiella Verde” acts as the financing body, while the Project Communities are the implementing body of the enhancement initiatives. Each CP that sees its project approved by the LAG can count on the financial support of 20,000 Euros. The CPs do not receive funding, but it is the LAG itself that bears the project costs.

Risks of rent-seeking behaviours by members or personnel pursuing private interests detrimental for the local community.

Often long delays due to bureaucratic reasons in releasing funding may affect the shift from the design and approval of the local development strategy to its implementation. For small local actors (targeted beneficiaries), waiting long periods to receive funds is problematic, as they may go out of business if they do not find alternative sources of funding. The discontinuity between one programming period and the next also affects the LAG's human resources.

Risks deriving from external shocks and systemic crises affecting the whole local and/or national society (e.g., the Covid19 pandemic).  Devise flexible activities and tools to be ready to adapt to changing circumstances affecting the core elements of the project.  Due to the Covid19 pandemic, the LAG “Maiella Verde” was forced to increase its reliance on digital tools (e.g. on training and technical assistance activities), which was also an advantage because it allowed them to reach more people through a less demanding effort than usual.

 Ensuring that all members and staff act impartially from their own interests.  Ensure full transparency of all decisions to the whole community. Over time, the staff of the LAG “Maiella Verde” proved to be fully committed to the common good for the whole local community by devoting all their efforts, expertise, working (and often personal) time to promote sustainable rural development in the area.

 Foresee initial activities that can start even with limited funding, also by continuing territorial animation.  Ensure communication and transparency to beneficiaries on all the administrative steps. Over time, the LAG “Maiella Verde” has acquired experience on dealing with delays and discontinuities between programming periods. Both delays and unforeseen events require a flexible strategy, which can be reviewed during the start-up phase of the implementation, dealing with the operational design of concrete actions in continuous interaction with the local community. Having a stable staff of people who are very historically linked to the group (despite high turnover among young staff) facilitates the continuation of activities and engagement with rural communities.

 Value-added of this model and case-study as a driver for sustainable human development and SDG localization

The creation of Local Action Group as a public-private partnership to guide rural development can represent a fundamental driving force for sustainable human development and SDG localization. Its value added lies in the capacity to combine a professional administrative and bureaucratic management with making a collective and collaborative approach truly operational for the (re)activation and (re)generation of local communities in rural areas. Indeed, LAGs enable the active involvement of local actors and their formal participation in the decision-making process for the identification of intervention priorities and the implementation of rural development strategies. In particular, they bring together a very wide range of categories of local actors from different sectors – including farmers, rural business, local organisations, public authorities, citizens’ associations and individuals – to constitute and operate as formal consortium, capable of representing both a political and technical body in charge of designing and implementing a local strategy for rural development. Such structured public-private partnerships ensure full community ownership (and responsibility) and nurture social cohesion, thus enhancing SDG localization in rural area. Moreover, LAGs contribute at building community capacity and stimulating innovation to enhance the qualification and value added of typical local products, landscape and rural environment. In this regard, the case-study of LAG “Maiella Verde” is illustrative of a gradual approach to value added creation and enhancement within rural communities based on sequencing of phases: 1) assistance to small enterprises concerning production and processing; 2) creation of communities for the valorisation of typical local products; 3) enhancement of value added not only in typical products, but also in tourist promotion and regeneration of villages.

 Final determinants to be considered when implementing this model in other contexts

The experience of LAG “Maiella Verde” (as well as many LAGs in rural areas across Europe) could be crucial in similar areas in several emerging countries. Indeed, the issues addressed – long-lasting socio-economic problems such as depopulation, crisis of farming, crisis of local production due to competition in the global market, low youth and female employment, the lack of services and economic opportunities – are also experienced in rural areas in many other countries. Moreover, the initiative “Project Communities” by LAG “Maiella Verde” is particularly relevant and it may be adapted to many emerging countries, as it fosters the organisation of communities which activate collective action on the valorisation of traditional products, cultural identity and landscape for the sake of sustainable development. This Policy Guideline has highlighted that trust, cohesion and social capital at local level is a fundamental determinant to set-up a formal public-private partnership able to act both as a political and technical body, as well as to ensure openness to other key actors to join the partnership and become members. This enabling condition also facilitates setting a clear governance model, by identifying leadership, roles and responsibilities of each actor and internal relationships to allow the management of multiple functions and activities. Human capital represents another key determinant for a truly effective LAG: firstly, LAGs’ managers and personnel must balance embeddedness within the local community (for the full understanding of community needs) and autonomy / impartiality from specific private interests (to avoid rent-seeking behaviours); secondly, staff is required to deploy technical skills for the design and implementation of local development strategies, for territorial animation and for project management.

Moreover, multi-level governance alignment is also fundamental, as synergies between actors, strategies and funds for rural development operating on (and for) the same rural communities must be leveraged towards the same vision for sustainable human development at the local level, avoiding detrimental overlaps, redundancies and conflicts. Nevertheless, in line with a place-based perspective, the process depicted in this Policy Guideline can be pursued by prioritising and sequencing different steps and actions and by acting on different levers in different places, or in different times for the same place, according its contextual and conjunctural conditions, the presence of key determinants and collective political willingness.

UNDP ART GLOBAL INITIATIVE

Contact persons: Andrea Agostinucci; Raffaella Garutti

Email: andrea.agostinucci@undp.org; raffaella.garutti@undp.org

Website: www.undp.org

ARCO (Action Research for CO-development)

Contact person: Andrea Ferrannini

Email: andrea.ferrannini@arcolab.org

Website: www.arcolab.org

Local Action Group “Maiella Verde”:

Contact person: Carlo Ricci

Email: ca.ricci@tin.it

Website: https://maiellaverde.it/