Retrieved from Irma Potočnik Slavič and Sara Mikolič.
Dr Ondřej Konečný visited the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Arts of the UL from 8 to 12 April 2024 in the framework of the CEEPUS exchange. Within the CEEPUS mechanism, the GEOREGNET geography network is operating, linking almost twenty geography departments from Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, which enables the exchange of students and teachers.
It is necessary to thank the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Arts of the UL for this opportunity to participate in the trip, and especially Prof. Irma Potočnik Slavič and Sara Mikolič, who organized all the activities. At the same time, thanks to all the representatives of the area, especially the local action groups, with whom it was possible to meet.
Dr Ondřej Konečný, as a practitioner (chair of the Local Action Group), lecturer and researcher at Mendel University in Brno, presented the development and functioning of the LEADER/CLD approach in the Czech Republic. His theoretical and practical field visit included lectures for students and the wider professional public, field work with students, discussions with the management of the Department of Geography and substantive field visits to Local Action Groups.
The impact of LEADER/CLD projects was analysed in the LAS STIK area (9 April 2024). The regional collective brand Dobrote Dolenjska (Goods of Dolenjska) was recorded in its development phases and the importance of LEADER/CLD funds for supporting innovative ideas was evaluated. The Trebnje Gallery of Self-taught Artists acquired a virtual guide with the support of LEADER/CLLD funds. The Rusalka project in the Temenice river basin was recognised for its impact: in cooperation with local actors, the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana developed educational and tourist-informative digital materials on the Temenice river for different target groups. In Šentrupert, we identified the rootedness of the open-air museum in the local environment, as well as the projects implemented by the LAS Dolenjska in Bela krajina (Dolenjska in Bela krajina LAS), through the example of the Land of the Goats.
After a first „field“ impression of the functioning of the Local Action Groups in the Slovenian countryside, Dr Konečny gave a practical lecture (10.4.2024) and a pleasant discussion to inform in detail more than 30 representatives about the specificities of the implementation of the LEADER/CLDLD approach in the Czech countryside (with a case study: LAS Brána Vysočiny):
It was evident from the discussion that the practical implementation of the seven LEADER principles is interpreted differently by each EU Member State. While in Slovenia the principle of networking between partners promoted cooperation between the public, private sector and civil society at local/sub-regional level, in the Czech Republic it is more often imagined as networking between higher decision-making levels. An important obstacle addressed by the LAGs in the Czech Republic and Slovenia is the extensive and complex administration, in particular the so-called multifund involvement. In this respect, the Slovenian CLLD Coordination Committee 2014-2020 should be highlighted as an organisational innovation, as well as the committed role of the Association for the Development of Slovenian Rural Areas (Stowarzyszenie za razvoj slovenskega podeželja).
In the following days, Dr Konečny was on the ground learning about innovative projects of Local Action Groups. In this context, we would like to highlight the visit of the 404 Institute (11.4.2024), which has set up a mobile unit for technical education of young people in rural areas in the LAS Za mesto in vas area. We also paid special attention to innovative young entrepreneurs in rural areas and to current initiatives in rural communities. For this reason, we visited Šentjošt nad Horjul (12 April 2024), where students from the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Arts of the UL presented the results of the cooperation with the LAS Barje and its hinterland. In the beautifully restored Možinet Homestead, the students presented their findings on the basis of fieldwork and e-surveys among the local population, which elements of natural and cultural heritage are most visible in the LAS area and how these elements and the providers of recreational, catering and other services could be linked. Special attention was also paid to the excellent initiative of the local community in Šenjošt to create a day centre for the elderly. We were also pleased to see the effects of the LEADER/CLD project CREAMED, which involved the Grič Inn.