LEADER
LEADER
The Common Agricultural Policy is a large and important policy area of the EU. Besides the purely agricultural promotion, it also includes the development rural areas. In this context, LEADER is one of the funding instruments that serve to support rural infrastructures. LEADER focuses on initiatives at the local level and thus on the networking of the local population and local actors.
Funded projects should drive transformation processes and the independent development of Europe’s rural regions. This includes economic, social and agricultural aspects as well as cultural projects. This may involve, among other things, the protection of cultural heritage or the improvement of cultural infrastructures that can increase cultural participation or strengthen tourism in rural areas.
Contact
Here you can find the contact points for LEADER in Germany and Austria. Use the filter to find your local contact!
Overview
The participation of local people is at the heart of LEADER. At the beginning of each new funding period, a local development strategy for the region is thus drawn up together with the local population. This occurs in close cooperation with the so-called Local Action Groups (LAGs), consisting of associations, common interest groups and communal institutions from the economic, cultural and social sectors. The jointly agreed-upon strategy defines the relevant topics and fields of action and, along with them, clear aims for the region on the basis of which project funding is also granted. Thereby, LEADER supports both projects within these LEADER regions as well as cooperations between the individual regions. A project’s thematic focus can therefore vary depending on the region. Overall, LEADER supports projects that maintain and improve the quality of life in rural areas and strengthen common life and cooperation in the countryside. Enabling new developments and involving local people should take centre stage in these projects.
Against this backdrop, LEADER can also support projects with a cultural reference, provided they promote transformation processes in rural areas. Often, projects related to cultural heritage are supported, be it for the protection or restoration of cultural heritage or the development of new, digital and low-barrier access options and touristic offers. At the same time, cultural projects can be supported to ensure that the region’s cultural offer is expanded and more diverse. This way more people can partake in cultural and creative activities.
A special feature of LEADER is that the funding period 2014-2020 has been extended up to and including 2022, and the new funding criteria and regional action plans will therefore only come into force in 2023. This may also have an impact on funding opportunities for the cultural and creative sector.
The diversity of LEADER funding in the cultural sector can be seen based on the following projects from the past funding period:
- A youth film academy and a film festival in which the youth from different nations produced transnational short films with experts from the film industry
- A cross-border lyric poetry festival to bring together regional artists and the audience on both sides of the Austrian-Italian border in the Alps
- A project that makes visual artists and craftspeople in the region more visible by exhibiting artworks in public places and spaces
- The development and mediation of diverse tours through Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania that lead off the touristic paths to hidden cultural, historical and scenic destinations
- The transformation of cultural walks into audio trails in the Coburg district, which are created and made available online by the regional population as well as by professional narrators, authors and other experts
- An artistic discussion concerning the rural exodus, ageing population and torpidity of cultural identity with actors, theatre makers and the regional population
- An inclusive dance project with senior citizens, migrants, pupils and people with disabilities to learn a new way of interacting with one other and setting an example against racism
Which institutions and forms of organisations can be supported by LEADER depends on the respective country’s guidelines for the development of the rural area. This means that there are different regulations per federal state, which are available from the respective state authority (or the respective local action group). Nevertheless, it can be said that in most cases the following institutions are eligible to apply:
- Municipalities and municipal institutions
- Associations
- Small and medium-sized companies
The participation of local people is at the heart of LEADER. At the beginning of each new funding period, a local development strategy for the region is thus drawn up together with the local population. This occurs in close cooperation with the so-called Local Action Groups (LAGs), consisting of associations, common interest groups and communal institutions from the economic, cultural and social sectors. The jointly agreed-upon strategy defines the relevant topics and fields of action and, along with them, clear aims for the region on the basis of which project funding is also granted. Thereby, LEADER supports both projects within these LEADER regions as well as cooperations between the individual regions. A project’s thematic focus can therefore vary depending on the region. Overall, LEADER supports projects that maintain and improve the quality of life in rural areas and strengthen common life and cooperation in the countryside. Enabling new developments and involving local people should take centre stage in these projects.
Against this backdrop, LEADER can also support projects with a cultural reference, provided they promote transformation processes in rural areas. Often, projects related to cultural heritage are supported, be it for the protection or restoration of cultural heritage or the development of new, digital and low-barrier access options and touristic offers. At the same time, cultural projects can be supported to ensure that the region’s cultural offer is expanded and more diverse. This way more people can partake in cultural and creative activities.
A special feature of LEADER is that the funding period 2014-2020 has been extended up to and including 2022, and the new funding criteria and regional action plans will therefore only come into force in 2023. This may also have an impact on funding opportunities for the cultural and creative sector.
The diversity of LEADER funding in the cultural sector can be seen based on the following projects from the past funding period:
- A youth film academy and a film festival in which the youth from different nations produced transnational short films with experts from the film industry
- A cross-border lyric poetry festival to bring together regional artists and the audience on both sides of the Austrian-Italian border in the Alps
- A project that makes visual artists and craftspeople in the region more visible by exhibiting artworks in public places and spaces
- The development and mediation of diverse tours through Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania that lead off the touristic paths to hidden cultural, historical and scenic destinations
- The transformation of cultural walks into audio trails in the Coburg district, which are created and made available online by the regional population as well as by professional narrators, authors and other experts
- An artistic discussion concerning the rural exodus, ageing population and torpidity of cultural identity with actors, theatre makers and the regional population
- An inclusive dance project with senior citizens, migrants, pupils and people with disabilities to learn a new way of interacting with one other and setting an example against racism
Which institutions and forms of organisations can be supported by LEADER depends on the respective country’s guidelines for the development of the rural area. This means that there are different regulations per federal state, which are available from the respective state authority (or the respective local action group). Nevertheless, it can be said that in most cases the following institutions are eligible to apply:
- Municipalities and municipal institutions
- Associations
- Small and medium-sized companies
Funded projects
Odyssee I
Here you can find more information on the project "Odyssee I" which was funded by LEADER.
Further projects
Here you can find more cultural projects funded by different EU programmes.
Open calls
Currently there are no open calls for proposal.
As soon as there will be new calls relevant for culture you will find them here.
