scholarly journals Tracing shift in Czech rural development paradigm (Reflections of Local Action Groups in the media)

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (No. 4) ◽  
pp. 149-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Boukalova ◽  
A. Kolarova ◽  
M. Lostak
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Development Policy ◽  
Local Action ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Paradigmatic Shift ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
The Media ◽  
Development Paradigm ◽  
Action Groups ◽  
The Eu

Local Action Groups (LAG) as actors in the EU rural development policy reflect the endogenous paradigm. They utilize the cooperation of their members and social networks to achieve the goals defined in their strategies developed upon the EU regulations on rural development. The paper demonstrates how the printed Czech media reflect the activities of LAGs. Such research gives a background to answer the question if the references to LAGs in the Czech Republic highlight the paradigmatic shift from the material factors towards the endogenous or hybrid resources embedded in using the intangible factors for development. The research consists in the quantitative content analysis of 498 articles about Czech local action groups. The analysis indicates that paradigmatic shift is only at the beginning. LAGs activities are still reported to be embedded in using the material factors (exogenous approach) instead of reporting and accounting the endogenous resources composed of both material and non-material factors of rural development.

scholarly journals Differences Among Czech Local Action Groups In Using Selected Principles Of Leader

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Pechrová ◽  
K. Boukalová
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Rural Development ◽  
The Other ◽  
Local Action ◽  
Second Step ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Individual Features ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Action Groups

Abstract Local Action Groups (LAGs) are implementing LEADER principles in rural development. The aim of the paper is to create a typology of LAGs in the Czech Republic according to the factors linked to the individual features of LAG and to its organizational background. Four different groups of LAGs emerged: ‘stabilized’, ‘experienced’, ‘absorbing’, and ‘well-informed’. In the second step, it is assessed how particular groups fullfil selected features of the LEADER: knowledge transfer and bottomup approach. We conclude that ‘stabilized’ and ‘experienced’ LAGs, which are functioning for longer time and LAGs’ manager has longer experiences with LAG operation, have better knowledge transfer than those ‘absorbing’ or ‘well-informed’. This suggests that the rural development is realized by the so-called ‘project class’. On the other hand, the most active people cooperating with LAG management are in ‘experienced’ and ‘absorbing’ groups.

scholarly journals LEADER in the Czech Republic and farming sector

2008 ◽  
Vol 54 (No. 12) ◽  
pp. 555-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Hudečková ◽  
M. Lošťák
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Local Action ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Sector Type ◽  
Available Information ◽  
Action Groups ◽  
The Eu

The paper addresses the LEADER approach in the Czech Republic. Using documentary research and content analysis of the appropriate documents and the Local Action Groups information sheets, the paper firstly outlines the evolution of the LEADER approach in the Czech Republic (the paper points out the difference in understanding LEADER in the EU /focusing on capacity building and the use of intangible forms of capital/ and in the Czech Republic EU /focusing on investments/). The paper also analyses the participation of farmers and the farming related actors in the LEADER approach (approx. 30% of local action groups are composed by those actors, however, they mostly do not aim /similarly like non-farming actors/ at developing partnership but want to achieve the investments into production; that is why the Czech local action groups are rather quasi-partnerships; it is also reflected in a very low number of strategies aiming at the “adding value to local products” which is the closest to farmers /but it is the less opted theme: only 6% of projects/). The paper ends with the analysis of projects implemented under the LEADER scheme where the farmers participate. It shows that more than the integrated strategies, the Czech local action groups prefer the strategies of the multi-sector type. The paper also points out that the publicly available information about the activities of the local action groups is not sufficient, although the groups are funded from the public budgets. This fact makes the analysis more difficult as for the scientific merit but also contradicts the principles of democratic governance.

scholarly journals The Technical Efficiency of Local Action Groups: a Czech Republic Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 1065-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iveta Vrabková ◽  
Pavel Šaradín
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Local Action ◽  
Economic Returns ◽  
Evaluation Tool ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The One ◽  
Action Groups

Local Action Groups (LAGs) represent a dynamic platform for inter-municipal cooperation in Europe. Their principal advantages include EU funding and the capacity to generate economic returns and stimulate the development of local communities. The methodology used for the evaluation of the performance of LAGs is defined by the EU on the one hand and by national authorities on the other. Furthermore, there are an entire array of evaluation tools and academic experiments available. The present paper does not aim at a comprehensive evaluation of LAGs, but instead only examines the technical efficiency of LAGs. Using the Czech Republic as an example, the paper introduces an evaluation tool to measure the technical efficiency of LAGs and describes how it can be applied. The adoption of this tool is seen as a means of improving one of the parameters of the performance of LAGs.

Czech Public Opinion on Turkey's Accession to the EU: An Analysis through the Lenses of Sociological and Discursive Institutionalism*

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-95
Author(s):  
Pelin Ayan Musil
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Discursive Institutionalism ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Eu

While Turkey lacks significant levels of public support from the Czech Republic in its EU bid, the existing studies of European public opinion on the question of Turkey do not bring any reasonable explanation as to why this can be so. To shed light on this problem, this article offers an analytical framework derived from sociological and discursive institutionalism. First, it shows that the historical/cultural context in the Czech Republic has created an informal institution built around the norms of “othering” Muslim societies like Turkey (sociological institutionalism). Second, based on the media coverage of selected political issues from Turkey between 2005 and 2010, it argues that this institution both enables and constrains the “discursive ability” of the media in communicating these issues to its audience (discursive institutionalism). Since the media—as a political actor—mostly acts to maintain this institution and does not critically debate it, the public opinion of Turkey as the “cultural other” remains as a dominant perception. The official support of the political elite for Turkey's accession to the EU does not countervail the media influence, as this support is often not conveyed to the Czech public agenda.

Local Initiatives Functioning as a Condition of Rural Development of the Czech Countryside

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Věra Majerová
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Ww Ii ◽  
Local Initiatives ◽  
The Eu

Local Initiatives Functioning as a Condition of Rural Development of the Czech Countryside Rural development is closely connected with the development possibilities of residential locations. Broken social ties are projected into its earlier development. The socialist way of life (from the end of the WW II until the end of the eighties) was ideologically formed by collectivist models. Social organisations were highly formalised and controlled from above. Thousands of new social organisations have emerged in the villages and in towns since 1989, mostly involving cultural, sports and social activities. Civil initiatives were slow in winning recognition in rural areas and some types of initiatives are still missing. A new impulse for their progress was the accession of the Czech Republic into the EU in 2004. Information is drawn from the sociological research projects of the Sociological Laboratory, Czech University of Life Sciences.

scholarly journals Local action groups and the LEADER co-financing of rural development projects in Slovenia

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (No. 8) ◽  
pp. 364-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Volk ◽  
Š. Bojnec
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Rural Development ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Formal System ◽  
Local Action ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Informal System ◽  
Existing Data ◽  
Action Groups

The influence of a formal and informal system of the Local Action Group (LAG) board’s performance on the perception of its members is analysed in association with the suitability of the rural development projects for the LEADER funds co-financing. The unique in-depth survey data was obtained from the surveys with the 103 LAG board’s members using the written questionnaire designed for the inquiry and from the existing data analysis on projects which were co-financed by the LEADER funds in Slovenia in the years 2008 and 2009. The informal system of performance of the LAG board members was found to influence significantly its members’ perception on the suitability of projects to be co-financed by the LEADER axis. The opposite was established for the formal system, which had an insignificant influence on the board members’ perception on the suitability of projects.  

scholarly journals Variety in local development strategies and employment: LEADER programme in Andalusia

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 43-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mercedes Rodriguez ◽  
Luis Miguel Sanchez ◽  
Eugenio Cejudo ◽  
Jose Antonio Camacho
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Rural Development ◽  
Development Policy ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Development Strategies ◽  
Rural Development Policy ◽  
Populated Region ◽  
Programming Period ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Action Groups

For the period 2007–2013 LEADER became the fourth axis of rural development policy. One of the main characteristics of LEADER is that it adopts a bottom-up approach. Local Action Groups (LAGs) have to define and implement area-based local development strategies (LDSs). In this paper, we examine the relationship between variety in the LDSs implemented by LAGs and employment safeguarding over the programming period 2007–2013 in Andalusia, the most populated region of Spain. Firstly, we construct several indicators to capture differences in the number of projects carried out, the grants awarded, the investments made and the safeguarded employment. Secondly, we carry out an exploratory factor analysis. We use cluster analysis to classify LAGs applying similar LDSs. The results obtained show that there is no ideal strategy for employment safeguarding and that spending high amounts of money in a few numbers of projects does not guarantee success. Thus, most LAGs do not show any clear specialisation pattern but obtain moderate results in terms of employment safeguarding. This supports the idea that LAGs need to have sufficient flexibility to find a balance among the different objectives of the rural development policy and to translate this balance into the funding of projects.

scholarly journals Leader Policy Practices and Landscapes in the Light of the Agency-Structure Debate: Evidence from Leader Local Action Groups in Italy and in Finland

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fulvio Rizzo
Keyword(s):  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Development Policy ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Local Action ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Action Group ◽  
Rural Development Policy ◽  
Structure Debate ◽  
Action Groups

AbstractThis article investigates LEADER policy practices and landscapes within very different regions of the European Union: North Karelia, Finland, and South Tyrol, Italy. The qualitative analysis of this geo-institutional comparison is carried out in the light of the agency-structure debate. Such theoretical framework contributes to investigate policies on the basis of their causal/contextual conjunctures; at the same time, it cautions from the contemporary common approach to identify ‘best’ policy practices. In the Joensuun Seudun LEADER Local Action Group, policy processes of social engagement are encompassed by the dominating structures of ‘village’, and ‘subpolitics’. In the Local Action Group Wipptal instead, the data suggest that the dominating structural dimensions are ‘politics’ and ‘agriculture’. Against the background of a re-territorialized rural development, policy implementation is a unique geographical process, which cannot be left aside neither from its contextual conjunctures, nor from a broad theoretical framework.

Name as a regional brand

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 768-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Semian ◽  
Pavel Chromý ◽  
Zdeněk Kučera
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Regional Identity ◽  
Local Action ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
National Network ◽  
Territorial Differentiation ◽  
Territorial Approach ◽  
Regional Brand ◽  
Action Groups ◽  
Academic Debate

Abstract The article addresses denominations of specific regions, Local Action Groups (LAGs), in Czechia, and contributes to the academic debate regarding: relationships between formation of regions, their symbolic shape and regional identity; formation of regions by means of regional development. A set of 179 LAG names registered in the database of the National Network of Local Action Groups in the Czech Republic as of March 2014 are examined. LAG names are first analyzed in terms of the phenomena that constitute their essence, and subsequently their territorial differentiation is discussed. The analysis affirms the importance of territorial approach towards regional denomination. It has equally been affirmed that region naming strategies are spatially fragmented. Nevertheless, the territorial differentiation of names of LAG regions mirrors the elementary spatial patterns traditionally reproduced in the Czech context, namely west-east gradient of development level, distinctions between historical lands and differences between inland and borderland resettled after WWII.

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