The LEADER approach is based on empowering local people to develop their own solutions to local issues through local strategy development and resource allocation. The main tool for the application of the LEADER approach to area development and involving local representatives in decision-making is the Local Action Group (LAG).
The acronym 'LEADER' derives from the French words "Liaison Entre Actions de Développement de l'Économie Rurale", meaning 'Links between the rural economy and development actions'.
This local development method allows local actors to develop an area by using its endogenous development potential. The idea is to enlist the energy and resources of people and bodies that could contribute to the rural development process by forming partnerships at a sub-regional level between the public, private and civil sectors.
Powys, has been successful in delivering a LEADER programme since 1992 and has learning and experience of what is required from a Local Action Group.
In the 2014 - 2020 LEADER programme a new Local Action Group has been formed called the One Powys LAG (OPLAG). The membership of the LAG has been derived from the previous Powys Regeneration Partnership and Glasu LAG as well as new members.
The LEADER vision for Powys is set out in the Local Development Strategy (LDS). This document is used as a basis for making decisions on LEADER funding during the life of the programme. The LDS is produced by the Local Action Group and it seeks to represents the needs of the area. The One Powys LAG will review the LDS on an annual basis to ensure it is relevant and up to date.
- Encourage enterprise and entrepreneurship,
- Capitalise on our natural and human resources,
- Optimise collective strengths and assets to develop community solutions,
- Build and broker skills,
- Collaborate, co-operate, communicate and co-produce.
These are consistent with the LEADER priority themes and will justify and guide the targeting of LEADER investment.
- Projects that make best use of natural assets such as community grown food initiatives or community woodlands
- Developing new activities related to the natural environment and heritage
- Building the capacity of events to encourage sustainability
- Develop ideas to increase the use of the Welsh Language within the outdoor activities sector
- Develop ideas that link producers, retailers, caterers and visitors and products together
- Improve the knowledge of the local natural and historical environment of local tourism providers
- Projects that link skills and needs together (Skills Banks)
- Development of new business partnerships or growing existing ones
- Develop mentoring/ambassador schemes
- Projects that create an entrepreneurial and innovative culture
- Projects that enable employment of local people
- Development of new products or processes
- Develop and/or build on Powys brands
- Pilot innovative approaches to supply chain development.
- Projects using innovative methods of increasing the number of businesses engaging with public and private support services.
- Piloting news ways of delivering services such as transport
- Facilitate community engagement and information to identify community resilience and capacity to enable service delivery
- Projects that build the capacity of local actors to allow them to deliver local services
- Innovative projects that improve the health and wellbeing of local people
- Research and visits to other best practice project examples
- Projects that develop volunteering opportunities and training placements.
- Support for the development of community hubs.
- Projects that trial alternative ways of delivering non statutory services.
Photo by Finn Beales www.madebyfinn.com
- Community engagement activities to disseminate renewable energy (RE) information to communities
- Energy audits to identify hotspot communities for RE or energy efficiency
- Projects that support the reduction of fuel poverty within the county
- Projects that use community benefits from RE to alleviate poverty
- Projects that support businesses to become more energy efficient
- Projects that utilise natural resources to deliver local solutions.
- Facilitation of support by communities through mentoring and familiarisation visits.
- Engagement activities to disseminate RE information to land owners and rural businesses
- Fuel sourcing from community woodlands.
- Projects that increase the uptake of digital technologies within the business and community sectors
- Projects that use digital technologies to provide services
- Projects that build on existing web platforms or creates new ones
- Projects that increase the uptake and usage of digital technology to improve business productivity and effectiveness.
- Pilot mentoring or buddy schemes to encourage the use of social media.
- Pilot innovative ways of using new technologies to provide information.
