Complementarities between urban and rural areas in promoting ...

COMPLEMENTARITIES BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL AREAS IN PROMOTING EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL INCLUSIONThe LEADER approach is based on two principles:■ the convergence between those responsiblefor interventions and potential beneficiaries;■ and establishing links between the activities ofthe territory, between the territories and betweenthe sectors (for instance between thetourism and production sectors).The partnership in LEADER is an obligation. Atdecision-making level, the economic and socialactors and the associations must represent atleast 50% of the local partnership. Partnership isthe expression of a group of players (public andprivate), established in a variety of differentforms (legal forms, historical forms, etc.), who allgive concrete expression to forms of collectiveinvolvement at the level of a given territory. Allof these have to demonstrate, in conformity withtheir member state legislation, a legitimacy tomanage public funds.We have noticed that the partnership is very diverseand this diversity has been adapted to the respectivecontexts. There is a diversity in the origin:■ initiatives emerging from a group of persons,as is often the case in Portugal and Ireland;■ from enterprises and professional groups, ashas been observed in Spain or Italy;■ and from public authorities.There is also a diversity in the type of mission:■ management, with financial and administrativeaspects, more frequent in initiatives of a publicorigin;■ partnerships constituted on “animation”, whichhighlight the aspect of mobilisation of thepopulation. In these “animation” partnerships,a local dynamic appears, which allows the initiativesto last longer and to be more able toevolve, although this is sometimes at theexpenses of the management aspect.■ Social and economic inclusion through area based local development:the example of DublinPatrick Gates, Dublin Inner City Partnership— 22 —Dublin Inner City Partnership is a local developmentorganisation operating in inner city Dublin,Ireland. This area is one of the most disadvantagedareas of Ireland, with high rates of poverty,unemployment and social problems. The partnershipapproach involves a collaboration betweenstatutory, private and community sectors tobring about regeneration of local areas.WHAT ARE THE IDEAS BEHIND THE DICP?The Dublin Inner City Partnership (DICP) wasestablished over ten years ago. It emerged out ofthe European Union’s first anti-poverty programmeand coincided with the unprecedentedeconomic growth of Ireland. Partnerships haveplayed an important role in terms of stimulatingand sustaining economic growth.The DICP’s vision is to build a more equal andsocially just inner city for Dublin by investing inpeople and communities, and in an inclusivedemocratic process. It is important to improvethe quality of life and to secure the rights of lowincome inner-city residents through increasedaccess to quality education, employment opportunitiesand by increasing public and privateinvestment in disadvantaged areas. The DICP’sapproach is to provide a strategic and integratedframework for local development that includesinvestment from both public and privatesources, including the EU. The partnership principleis aimed at giving direct benefits to innercity residents experiencing poverty.ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGESOF AREA-BASED APPROACHESPolitical empowerment of excluded sections ofthe community enables collective social interactionand the political participation of civic community-basedorganisations and individuals.