LINC – Passing the flag!

The LEADER Inspired Network Community, or LINC, was formed on the initiative of LEADER Local Action Groups (LAGs), with an ambitious ethos rooted in the celebration of LEADER’s community-led local development method, rural development, and cooperation. Described as a European LEADER academy, this bottom-up led, self-starting and self-organised activity has grown from a first event in Austria in 2010 to take a place at centre stage as a vibrant, positive and exhilarating community celebration. With its own annual European Conference, wider programme, and over 14 years of experience, LINC now combines the exchange of experiences in many different communities in the whole European Union and beyond. The event venue changes yearly, thus the LINC initiative rotates between Member States as the flag is passed on to the next country!

In welcoming some 300 participants, from 4-6 June, LINC2024 naturally involved local LAGs, three Romanian LAGs based in Bistrita-Nasaud, Cluj and Napoca Porolissum, in hosting their activities in the Cluj and Beliş areas of Transylvania. In line with LINC’s ethos, participants addressed new areas and new topics and cultivated new connections, developing their experiences and perspectives and following inspiring ideas.

Over three days, the annual LINC conference addressed Rural Urban linkages through both formal and informal activities. Participants took part in the opening ceremony, many in national dress, followed by the ‘LEADER Olympics competition’, and a diverse programme of study tours designed and hosted by four of the area’s LAGs. They also cooperated and exchanged with one another throughout.

European networking support has become increasingly important in cultivating and underpinning LAGs' involvement in Transnational Cooperation (TNC). The CAP networking aim is to support LAGs in inspiring and implementing LEADER in a way that adds considerable value to the exchange and sharing of European experience. Two members of the EU CAP Network’s CAP Implementation Contact Point (CAPI CP) team joined the LINC and delivered workshop sessions in two different LAG areas, Cluj-Napoca and Beliş, concentrating on supporting LAGs' TNC work. They also shared some of the LEADER work the Network is doing at the European level.

During the first workshop session, LAGs from Romania, France, Finland, and Spain presented their project themes and ideas and exchanged valuable experiences on TNC. By making face-to-face connections, they were taking the first steps towards creating impactful transnational cooperation projects. The second workshop then focused more on the practical challenges of actually improving TNC projects and their implementation. The first workshop involved about 90 people, whilst the second was more tightly focused, involving 35 individuals. A total of 13 project offers were put forward on the day, with further valuable energy, thinking, and solutions being developed.

The ideas and experience discussed ranged from the simple and very locally oriented to more complex and sophisticated examples. However, simply getting 300 people together to begin to think about cooperation is a major step forward. The focus of the EU CAP Network support here is also on simple and clear steps: if we want to get the cooperation ball rolling, preparing and taking first steps is essential. First you need to recognise that you won’t get anywhere if you don’t start somewhere!

They are now passing the flag and taking the first steps towards the next LINC, which will be in Austria’s Tirol region, with planning already well underway!