Abstract:
Rural development is the
second pillar of the Common Agricultural
Policy of the European Union (EU), with the
role of helping the rural areas of the EU and
implicitly Romania to address the economic,
environmental, and social challenges they
face. The purpose of the research included in
this paper is to demonstrate the contribution
of the LEADER approach to rural
development in Romania, with an emphasis
on the North-East Development Region. At
the same time, the aim was to highlight the
innovative nature of this approach: what it
means, how it can be applied, and how it was
applied. The data studied through the analysis
carried out show that the Romanian territory
and, implicitly, the North-East Development
Region is poor, fragmented, depopulated, or
in the process of depopulating, with few
opportunities for young people. The
innovative character of the LEADER
Programme in Romania and implicitly the
North-East Development Region results from
the degree of novelty that an investment
financed through it brings to the targeted
territory, without being limiting and without
necessarily presupposing a technological
innovation, because the innovation must be evaluated relative to the local situation. The
main instrument through which the principles
of the LEADER approach can be
implemented is the Local Action Group. It is
the main driving force behind the activities to
be carried out in the territory and which will
lead to their implementation. The Local
Action Groups set up in the North-East
Region provide a common communication
framework for local communities to develop
and implement Local Development Strategies
by initiating, developing and financing
projects at local level. They contribute to the
unity of local communities and their
participation in local development. LEADER
approach has brought and how its innovative
character is highlighted. The questions that
informed its development were: Is this
concept considered as a model for sustainable
rural development in Romania and the N-E
Region? Is LEADER a truly innovative
approach. In order to achieve the proposed
goal, a multi-step working procedure was
developed to allow the collection of target
data and additional data derived from the
initial target data. Thus, the working
procedure was structured in the following
steps: problem identification and
conceptualization, literature review,
document structuring, strategy selection,
operational planning, data calculation, and
interpretation. Both qualitative and
quantitative methods were used in this work.
Thus, from a quantitative point of view, the
following research methods were considered
relevant for obtaining data: administrative
data analysis. As a qualitative method, a
bibliometric analysis was carried out, i.e., the
literature on sustainable rural development
through the use of support measures was
analysed by means of the VOSviewer
programme, using the Web of Science
collections database. Without the
implementation of the LEADER Programme
in Romania and implicitly in the North-East
Development Region, rural areas may be
deprived of funding that determines the
improvement of conditions in that area, but
efforts in the field of implementing
sustainable rural development measures must
be continued so that the effect of this funding
is really visible. Thus, the results of the
research carried out in the North-East
Development Region of Romania add
additional value to the information published
in previous studies through proposals for rural
reform and concrete examples of innovative
projects implemented there.
