Speaker
Description
The Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) initiative is a multi-fund, place-based, and citizen-centred policy launched by the European Commission in the 2014–2020 community programming cycle. As an evolution of the LEADER programme which started in the 1990s exclusively for rural areas and expanded to coastal settings in 2007, the CLLD policy encompassed urban areas in its scope for the first time.
As part of the EU Cohesion Policy, both instruments have, theoretically, aimed at the empowerment, capacity-building, and participation of local communities as agents of territorial development (European Commission, 2020). Local Action Groups (LAGs) – polities composed by a myriad of public and private actors – were established to represent these communities. In practice, their role as territorial development agents is under research. Conceived to be a spatial-temporal fix (Harvey, 2000), and a state rescaling (Brenner, 2004) mechanism, capable of channelling EU investment to pressing local issues, the impact of LAGs actions is facing growing critical scrutiny.
Against the backdrop of ongoing Europeanisation processes and a soft turn in planning theory and practice, this article focusses on the agency of a LAG in Setúbal Peninsula, a semi-peripherical region in Lisbon Metropolitan Area. This territory presents contrasting realities, reflecting both core-like and peripheral characteristics – with some places displaying pronounced societal, economic and environmental challenges.
In particular, we outline a research design to support a critical inquiry into whether, and how, this LAG constitutes, or not, an example of state rescaling, performative imaginary, spatial-temporal fix, and multilevel governance. Findings show that the transfer of power and responsibilities has been hindered, especially in comparison to both European Commission and LAG expectations, thus raising a set of relevant questions in terms of the CLLD instrument's actual impact when its concept is translated into the framework of member states.
References
Brenner, N. (2004) New State Spaces. Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199270057.001.0001.
European Commission (2020) The New Leipzig Charter. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities.
Harvey, D. (2000) Spaces of hope. Edinburgh University Press.
| Keywords | Community-Led Local Development (CLLD), Local Action Group (LAG), Peripherical Places |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
