In the last funding periods there was steady increase in the number of LEADER-regions in Europe, and, at least in …). Although LEADER is commonly called a bottom-up approach, it has to be pointed out that there is a high influence through a … superordinated framework of funding regulations. So more precisely LEADER is neither "top-down" nor "bottom-up", but can classified …

countries. One approach to bring forward rural development is LEADER, a locally managed, place-based form of policy intervention …. LEADER is bottom-up oriented and participatory with own regional budgets to fund projects. There are 13 LEADER-regions in … considered and a comparison with the LEADER-experiences in western Germany will be made. Therefore, the findings of the …

for rural development. LEADER started 25 years ago and now has 2600 Local Action Groups (LAGs). These LAGs collaborate as … budgets to support projects. To examine the contributions of LEADER to local governance, we can present results from the ex … of governance arrangements like LEADER, the estimations of LAG-managers show that the most important factors are: commit …

most of results. LEADER is qualified as down-up approach combining EU policy framework and local strategy. The … characteristics and socio-political local factors. Our findings highlight the diversity of LEADER implementations in the three … which local actors from different spheres get involved in local development via LEADER. …

One well established instrument of regional development policy for rural areas is the LEADER-approach, which was …