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Youth participation in rural development – insights from LEADER projects for young people in Germany

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  • Pollermann, Kim
  • Fynn, Lynn-Livia

Abstract

Participation has been a key part of pro-youth strategies in the past years. Participation is as well a key element of LEADER. This approach for a Community-Led Local Develop-ment (CLLD) is a well-established “territorial delivery mechanism” to foster rural development in the European Union. The topic of this contribution is to discuss the implementation of youth participation within LEADER, with a review of survey results of projects for young people, whereby the focus lies on the project level and not on participation within the decision-making-process for the selection of projects. This contribution is based on findings from the evaluation of four Rural Development Pro-grammes (RDPs) with 115 LEADER regions in four German federal states (“Länder”). In terms of implementation, projects relating to public services – such as social places for gatherings and interaction – are particularly relevant to the topic of “youth.” Looking at projects for young people, some results indicate long-term benefits for rural devel-opment. An early participation in project development promotes well-tailored projects for the specific needs of this target group. In addition, the direct involvement in project management instils a sense of responsibility in the youth and helps to foster skills such as self-organisation. In the long run, both suitable living conditions and a sense of belonging and responsibility, which can be fostered through participation and volunteering, may contribute to young peo-ple staying or returning to rural areas. This is a very relevant development in light of the cur-rent direction of demographic trends, but it can only be achieved if other needs are fulfilled, such as the provision of suitable job opportunities and infrastructure.

Suggested Citation

  • Pollermann, Kim & Fynn, Lynn-Livia, 2025. "Youth participation in rural development – insights from LEADER projects for young people in Germany," EconStor Conference Papers 333977, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:esconf:333977
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Carolina Trivelli & Jorge Morel, 2021. "Rural Youth Inclusion, Empowerment, and Participation," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(4), pages 635-649, April.
    2. Kim Pollermann & Francis Aubert & Marielle Berriet-Solliec & Catherine Laidin & Denis Lépicier & Hai Vu Pham & Petra Raue & Gitta Schnaut, 2020. "Leader as a European Policy for Rural Development in a Multilevel Governance Framework: A Comparison of the Implementation in France, Germany and Italy," Post-Print hal-02899395, HAL.
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