Integrated rural development and village renewal (CRPOV)

2006-07-14

Region

Slovenia

Short description: The Integrated rural development and village renewal is a long term program, consisting of diverse projects integrating issues of agricultural production, countryside conservation, cultural landscape protection and development, agricultural land protection and demography.

Project executive Ms. Janja Kokolj-Prosek
head of Department for structural policy and rural development, Ministry for agriculture, forestry and food

Project executive: Ministry for agriculture, forestry and food, Department for structural policy and rural development, Ljubljana

Participants: Professional institutions, Local authorities, individuals, University - Faculty for architecture

Objectives: - to achieve high level of motivation for implementation of development activities - to define development objectives of the area and a reference state that is agreed by all inhabitants (formulation of development vision) - to use endogenous potentials of the area for implementation of development projects and activities - to qualify local actors for identification of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (education and capacity building) - to ensure integrated analysis and planning of all development objectives and projects

Activities: The experimental phase of the CPOV program took place from 1991/92 (14 location involved) to 1997/98 (230 involved locations). Five areas of interventions were considered: living space, settlement space, social space, cultural space, working space. With the aid of experts, the inhabitants analyzed the development possibilities of their area and determined its opportunities, hazards and disadvantages. Concurrently, they formed new ideas, looked for solutions to problems etc. In the Alpine area the projects included: setting up a business core in the countryside (Mežica valley, Koroška region), development of trade marks “dedek Jaka in Babica Jerca” ecological products from Škofja Loka hills (Škofja loka, Lower Gorenjska region), renovation of the cheese dairy at Javornik mountain pasture (Koprivnik-Gorjuše, upper Gorenjska region), Renovation of village core and establishment of information center for local products in Dovje (Dovje Mojstrana, upper Gorenjska region).

Process: Three stages have been foreseen for the implementation of the projects: preparatory stage, introductory stage and the implementation stage. In the preparatory stage a professional organisation was selected to introduce the CRPOV program and to prepare the development projects in close cooperation with the local population. The result of this stage is a launch of the CRPOV project. The introductory stage aims at motivation and capacity building of the interested group of inhabitants, including activities to upgrade their skills for the realisation of the project. The result is a development vision of the place with the proposals for projects and activities in the five areas of intervention. The implementation stage’s main aim is to coordinate professional, financial and administrative activities, with positive effects on rural development of and village renewal.

Results: The results include change of mentality among inhabitants as well as employees in administration to assume a more active role in cooperation. The supported projects were of the common benefit

Difficulties: - Weak capacity of the population to participate (mainly due to the high average age and low education level. Therefore the initial steps took longer than anticipated and projects faded away after the initial phase - The examples from other countries were not convincing for the local population, they considered them “too far away”. - Difficulties in overcoming the sectoral boundaries (especially on national level) these barriers were in some cases successfully overcome in local contexts (depending on a local coordinator), but the lack of correspondent on the national level was a problem. -(too) high expectations and resignation if the initial results do not meet these expectations (especially very financially and technically demanding projects) - Strong focus in infrastructure improvement - Lack of consideration of formal requirements and procedures (especially in the area of spatial planning and documentation) resulting in non realistic time frames and proposals

Financial backer: Ministry for agriculture, forestry and food (up to 50% of the budget) other costs are shared between local community and local private entities (land owners, enterpises).

Source of information

Publication: Integrated rural development and village renewal - CRPOV 1990-2002, 2002, Republic of Slovenia, Ministry of agriculture, forestry and food, Department for structural policy and rural development, Ljubljana

Comments

Impact on nature and environment: Introduction of better architecture and building technology that is environmentally friendly and fits into traditional landscape and architectural contexts

Economic value added: Use and activation of local resources of the area. Project initialized further development of local resources. Agriculture was in most cases promoted and developed as economic driving force of the area and upgraded by complementary activities (food processing, rural tourism...). Good results were achieved in establishment of supply-demand management (products markets, organizing producer-consumer chains, marketing).

Socio-cultural value added: The rural population has become one of the most active participants in the planning of the country development. Increasing self support instead of relying on state subsidies. New way of looking at property – as an asset to be explored in different ways not just food production (i.e. to rent, lease, sell, invest in shared enterprise…) Engagement of all family members in projects guaranties sustainability of activity.

Innovative content: Bottom-up based approach was in 90-es a novelty in implementation of programs and projects, especially in sector initiated and funded programs, and is still not a common approach. The same is true for the interdisciplinary and project way of addressing the issues and a diverse (horizontally and vertically) mix of involved actors. “Out of traditional frame of mind” is a general motto for new ideas in rural development.

Good governance: Implementation was based on bottom-up approach: systematic endeavor of a large number of inhabitants with the aid of the experts. The projects were lead by the project council, which was formed from the representatives of professional organization, local community and influential individuals. Work proceeded as a series of meetings of the project council and all interested people. The topical workshops were organized focused on issues from the five thematic areas. Subsidiarity principle was observed: harmonized work and shared responsibilities among professional organization, project council, local authorities and Ministry.

Multiplier effect / networking: Many projects were initiated and implemented following the same framework. Lessons learned were transferredd from one case to another.

Transferability: The approach was already successfully transferred in several cases - with needed adaptations for each context (regarding the problem, capacity of local inhabitants to participate etc.)

CIPRA