Leader program: development potential for rural life improvement

Without knowledge of the past, it is impossible to build the future, therefore, it is necessary to comprehend the processes that have already taken place, if only because it will allow us to learn lessons both from the mistakes made and from positive experiences. The development of the LEADER program, its current form, had several antecedents, it was practically the result of a complex development, so the LEADER programme has undergone a number of changes and we believe that these changes have had many benefits in terms of improving the living conditions of rural people, but that the system has yet to achieve real community-building effects. We have therefore compiled a selection of the most important events and developments in the LEADER programme, with the intention of highlighting the key achievements that have been made. We would like to take stock of the less successful activities and operational anomalies whose continuation does not help the already problem-free process of community building and rural development. In many cases, unfortunately, programmes have been implemented not to build community but to serve individual interests.