Piotr Sadlocha - European LEADER Association for Rural Development

Piotr Sadlocha is the president of the European LEADER Association for Rural Development. LEADER is a European programme, with the aim to involve local actors in rural areas in the development of their own regions by forming Local Actions Groups (LAGs) and designing and implementing strategies. The LEADER programme already exists for almost 30 years.  Episode summary: 01.05  Piotr shares how he became more involved with rural communities02.00 What is the European Leader Association for Rural Development, LEADER and Local Action Groups (LAGs)? 08.30  What are some of the challenges facing rural communities in Europe? 14.00 What is the role of rural communities in wider society? 20.00 What steps could be taken to improve the relationship with rural areas within Europe? Key Messages: ELARD is a pan European organization, the membership is made up of more than 2600 Local Action Groups representing people living and working in rural areas.   LEADER takes a bottom up approach to rural development which started over 30 years ago.  It was created to support rural development with the active engagement of communities and society through Local Action Groups.  This project receives financial support from the European Union.  Local Actions Groups know what is a challenge in their area and take on different activities such as job creation, support for local business, creating walking and biking paths, supporting local education and developing local infrastructure. One of the biggest challenges for rural Europe is depopulation.  When there are fewer people there are less taxes collected and this usually means a lower budget for the local authority.  However as there is usually a higher proportion of elderly people, spending for care tends to be higher.   The quality of life in rural areas can also represent a challenge.  It is important to create a good quality of life if you want younger people to stay in these areas such as better education, employment opportunities and healthcare access. There are often fewer opportunities for women in rural areas to return to work after having children.  It is important to ensure that rural women are not disadvantaged.   Rural communities are important for food production and food security.   Many people in rural areas in eastern Europe are against the EU as they do not feel supported.  They then vote against the EU as they do not see the benefits of being part of the EU. In Poland there is a large difference in investment between rural and urban areas.  In some rural areas the investment is 10x less per person than in urban areas.   Why is there such a large difference in investment between rural and urban areas in the EU? Rural people often use less money so they do not travel around Europe and make use of the opportunity of social mobility across EU countries as often. To maintain European values and democracy it is important to give citizens the power to participate in decision making, particularly around questions related to their communities and lives.     Learn more about ELARD: https://elard.eu/    Thank you for listening to the Rural Road to Health! Rural Health Compass