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Bottom-up Efforts for a Low-Carbon Economy: Examples of Local Action Groups Activities in Poland and the Czech Republic

(University of Hradec Králové, 2024-04) Trnková, Gabriela; Furmankiewicz, Marek; Kola-Bezka, Maria; Hewitt, Richard J.; University of Hradec Kralove, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic; Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland; Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland; Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain

Actions to counteract and adapt to rapid climate change caused by human activity require large-scale initiatives undertaken by international agencies and central governments as well as changes in the functioning of local economies and communities. In this article, we analyze the possibilities of involving rural territorial partnerships (so-called Local Action Groups; LAGs) in supporting the transformation of the EU local socio-economic systems towards a low-carbon economy (LCE). LAGs operate as associations of local stakeholders from the public, business, social and voluntary sectors and work for local socio-economicdevelopment. They can implement projects supporting energy transformation at three levels: as cooperation projects between LAGs and external institutions, as individual (own) projects, and by supporting grassroots initiatives of local stakeholders. In this paper we present examples of such activities, based on content analysis of LAGs strategic documents and websites. We point out that the potential of LAGs in supporting initiatives towards LCE is currently underused, which may be due to the low social awareness and low financial resources of local communities. However, LAGs have significant potential to support local pro-environmental initiatives using neo-endogenous development mechanisms, in which voluntary local actions are stimulated by external support.

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Cross-border Cooperation Between Local Action Groups from Poland and the Czech Republic: Three Case Studies

(University of Hradec Králové, 2022-06-10) Furmankiewicz, Marek; Trnková, Gabriela; Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland; University of Hradec Kralove, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

The paper presents three case studies of cooperation projects involving Local Action Groups (LAGs) from Poland and the Czech Republic. The research involved an analysis of the content of documents, LAG websites and interviews with LAG representatives. The projects were financed from the funds of “Sub-measure 19.3” of the 2014-2020 Rural Development Programme (RDP) in Poland. The aims of the projects concerned, among others: promoting the area of the LAG by exchanging experiences related to tradition, culture, including the promotion of healthy or traditional local dishes; promoting methods of waste segregation and processing; and developing local tourist services through international promotion and networking of services. As the main difficulty the respondents indicated differences in the principles behind accounting the projects, which had to be settled separately with regard to national RDP programmes, even though they are components of a single cooperation project. Czech respondents pointed to a high level of limitations regarding the scope of financing LAG activities. The COVID-19 pandemic, language barriers and geographical distance were mentioned much less. Cross-border cooperation between the LAGs remains relatively weak as partnerships tend to focus on local issues and needs. This may limit the diffusion of innovation and good practices between rural areas.

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Are Rural Stakeholder Needs Compliant with the Targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy? Text Mining Analysis of Local Action Group Strategies from Two Polish Regions

(University of Hradec Králové, 2021-03-26) Furmankiewicz, Marek; Janc, Krzysztof; Kaczmarek, Iwona; Solecka, Iga; Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy we Wrocławiu; Uniwersytet Wrocławski

The 1990s saw a considerable facilitation of the concept of area-based cooperation between stakeholders from the public, economic and social sectors in the European Union (EU) with regard to local resource management. EU support programmes have given rise to community-based partnerships referred to as Local Action Groups (LAGs), in which the stakeholders involved formulate local development strategies, the implementation of which is subsequently made possible through the external financial support of EU funds. This paper illustrates an attempt to assess the extent to which local strategies are consistent with the EU's Europe 2020 strategy, using the example of 27 LAGs from two Polish provinces. Text mining and content analysis are two methods employed herein. The analysis served to establish that the dominant issues for rural areas, that are correspondent to the Europe 2020 strategy, revolve around increasing employment, educating local communities and combating poverty through the use of social inclusion methods, with much less attention dedicated to the issues of greenhouse gas emission reduction and renewable energy development. The strategies in question emphasise innovation with regard to planned activities, insofar as it is perceived at the local level, which usually bears no relation to methodical research and development (R&D) work

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