National Rural Development Network and experiences with Leader Implementation in Slovakia

- Contract with the Paying Agency signed on October 28, Start of operation of the Central NRN Unit: January 1st, Start of operation of the regional offices: April 1st, Total budget € National Rural Development Network

Operating structure of the Slovak NRN - Partially outsourced - The NRN Steering Committee has been established within the Ministry of Agriculture and it is composed by representatives of the Managing Authority and the Paying Agency.

Operating structure of the Slovak NRN - Managed by the Agency for Rural Development, which is the organisation of the Ministry of Agriculture – Central Network Unit 4 full – time employees:  Manager,  Coordinator of the regional activities,  Administrator,  Financial Manager.

Operating structure of the Slovak NRN The majority of the NRN team is regionally based and located in 7 regions (Nitra, Trenčín, Banská Bystrica, Žilina, Prešov, Košice and Trnava Bratislava) within existing organisations making use of existing structures and capacities. Selection of the regional offices made under the tenders called by the MoA in November All host organisations are private companies including non-profit organisations, a Rural Parliament, Civic Associations, Regional Development Agencies, civic associations and consulting companies.

Main tasks of the Slovak NRN to monitor and analyse data and information related to the implementation of the rural development policy and RDP measures; to disseminate the information collected at national and regional level through publications, meetings, conferences and the use of web tools; to organise trainings sessions, seminars and exchange of experiences about the implementation of rural development programme; to provide educational and training programmes for the local action groups; to promote national and transnational cooperation projects through conferences, round table discussions, study and exchange visits, etc;

Main tasks of the regional offices of the Slovak NRN - identifying stakeholders and beneficiaries needs, total number of members: supporting LAGs, - collecting the initial good practice examples - contributing to national activities, newsletters and publications

Main activities of the Slovak NRN implemented during years - Launch of the NRN´s web page ( ) - Newsletter „Spravodajca NSRV“ - Handbook for the right implementation of the measure 3.4 of the RDP (village renewal) - Participation at the agricultural exhibition Agrokomplex – Nitra, Slovakia, Země živitelka in České Budějovice, Czech Republic

Main activities of the Slovak NRN implemented during years - annual international conferences focused to Leader implementation and cooperation projects preparation - Seminars, workshops, conferences at the regional level - Study tours (Finland, Estonia, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary) - Study visits and contact seminars of partners from Malta, Finland, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic

- No Leader+ programme in rounds of LAGs selection - 1st round at the beginning of 2009, 15 LAGs selected, contracts with PA signed in November nd round in 2010, 14 LAGs selected, start of work since June LAGs were selected for implementation of Leader approach in Slovak Republic for period They cover 11,40% of total number of inhabitants and 18,35% of total area of the Slovak Republic. Leader implementation in Slovakia

Map of Slovak LAGs

Lack of experiences in strategies preparation and implementation Lack of experienced managers, administrative and finacial workers Rules for implementation are often being changed Lack of experienced advisors for Axis 4 Integrated strategies withou the possibility to adress identified problems. Only measures of Axis 3 are eligible for implemntation via the Axis 4, what creates just a very small part of the problems. It is not possible to implement small „Leader-type“ projects – civic associations, groups of citizens are not eligible beneficiaries.- lack of possiblities to strenghten the „LAG spirit“. Majority of projects implemented through the LAGs are individual projects of villages - infrastructure, building reconstruction, public spaces. Short time for implementationb of the strategies – late start of LAGs operation, long process of projects approval and contract preparation at the Paying Agency, long periods of refunding the costs, problematic advance payments, for LAG´s operation,. All of this factors influence the ability to implement the projects and to use the financial sources in given period Problems identified during the implementation of the local development strategies