1. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Facilitating the area-based development approach in rural regions in the Western Balkans Geertrui Louwagie Fabien Santini Silvia Saravia Matus Sergio Gomez y Paloma European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies – AGRILIFE unit

2. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) a directorate of the JRC provides customer-driven support to EU policy making aims at policy challenges that have a socio-economic and science & technology dimension

3. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 The AGRILIFE unit within IPTS SUSTAG / AGRITRADE / AGRITECH

4. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Issue Disruption / decline in rural cross-border regions in Western Balkans Background SWG-Rural Regional Development previous meetings: assessment development situation in rural cross-border areas preliminary studies EastAgri (2008): round table on area-based development General objective project To facilitate rural development programming in the Western Balkans Introduction

5. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 The project Administrative Arrangement between DG AGRI and the JRC for a shared project Steering Group: AGRI, ELARG, JRC o meets 5 times Advisory Board: SWG secretariat, FAO (RO, IC), UNDP, OECD (LEED), World Bank o meets 3 times Support from School on Local Development – University of Trento

6. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Introduction A.Case Study 1. Defining a pilot target area 2. Assessing the development situation the baseline critical needs priority solutions/interventions 3. Defining the ABD intervention main outcome (desired development situation) specific objectives results B. Workshop C. Methodological package / Mapping Participatory

7. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 The project Indicative calendar o m3 (Sep 2010): Literature review / Pilot case study area setting o m6 (Dec 2010): Preliminary assessment of development situation in pilot target area o m10 (Apr 2011): Completion of ABD approach in pilot target area o m12 (May 2011): Workshop o m15 (Sep 2011): final report

8. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 - Afghanistan Rural Rehabilitation Programme (ARRP) - Central America – Programme for Displaced Persons, Refugees and Repatriated (PRODERE) - Sudan Stabilization and Development Schemes UNDP - ABD Origins (1980s) Literature review

9. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 ABD Definition ABD targets specific geographical areas in a country, characterised by a particular complex development problem, through an integrated, inclusive, participatory and flexible approach. (Harfst, 2006) ABD Theoretical Background Endogenous Growth Theory / Endogenous Development Participation / decentralisation Holistic / Multi-sectoral Literature review

10. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 ABD Implementation & Evaluation When to implement ABD Am I dealing with a clearly identifiable area that has unique or specific problems that sets it apart from other areas in the country and therefore merits special attention? Is the development situation in the area relatively simple (i.e. confined to one sector or issue with clearly identifiable causes and effects or is the situation complex and multi-dimensional where causes and effects are heavily interlinked? (Harfst, 2006)

11. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 PAG – Public Administration & Participatory Governance; CPE – Community Participation & Empowerment; BIS – Basic Infrastructure & Services; LED – Local Economic Development; SDA – Social Development & Assistance; CPT – Conflict Prevention & Tolerance Promotion; PIR – Policy & Institutional Reform From theory to practice: ABD Implementation & Evaluation Examples of ABD Evaluation Reports ProgrammeAreaComponents PAGCEBISLEDSDACPTPIR Programme for Rehabilitation and Sustainable Social Development in Bosnia Herezegovina PROGRESS BiH 7 war-damaged municipalities in the northwest of Bosnia Herzegovina XXXXXX Municipal Improvement & Revival Programme – MIR I & II South Serbia - 13 municipalities XXXX Municipal development in South West Serbia project – PRO I & II West Serbia – 8 municipalities XXXX Literature review

12. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Other Approaches to Local Rural Development - How is ABD similar and different? - INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT - PARTICIPATORY NEGOTIATED TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT - COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT - LEADER Literature review

13. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Other Approaches to Local Rural Development - Focus on EU approach: LEADER - Some similarities - area-based - bottom-up - integrated / multi-sectoral actions - Some differences - no area-specific complex development problem required - not necessarily inclusive (target groups) - poor consideration rural-urban linkages / rural towns - limited to areas with 5 000 - 100 000 inhabitants (< NUTS 3) - Lessons from NMS / Balkans - Slovenia - Croatia Literature review

14. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Experiences of Cross-border Cooperation (CBC) INTERREG-A Factors for successful and effective CBC: legal framework for CBC, quality of partnerships, degree of institutionalisation Literature review

15. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Experiences of Cross-border Cooperation (CBC) IPA CBC / Council of Europe - For each Western Balkan country:, multi-annual indicative planning document (MIPD) - Focus: -people-to-people contacts -small-scale investments and prep. to larger investments -(since 2006) cross-border institution building (CBIB) - Experiences in: FYROM, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro Literature review

16. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Recommendations / Lessons for ABD ABD intervention – design - Accurately define target area - Focus intervention on needs and priorities of the area - Promote early involvement of stakeholders & donors - Ensure unbiased participation - Match resources (time, budget) with objectives - Guarantee coherence ABD progr. with macro-situation Literature review

17. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Recommendations / Lessons for ABD ABD intervention – management - Coordinate activities (also across donors) - Monitor and evaluate regularly - Reduce transaction costs - Foresee exit strategy Literature review

18. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Pilot target area – Drina & Lim rivers / Tara mountain Features 13 municipalities, all border with one exception 380.000 inhabitants 7.860 km² Case study

19. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Target area – Drina river / Tara mountain

20. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Case study Assessment of the baseline development situation – Critical needs o Data collection / analysis o Identify development gaps /problems to be addressed o Local stakeholder consultation Assessment and selection of priority interventions – Proposing main outcomes, objectives and outputs o Options for solution to development problems o Prioritisation o Different levels of intervention (from local to national ; public – private) o Local stakeholder consultation

21. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Preparation of an Area-Based development programme o define detailed activities o identify actors o specify inputs o establish monitoring mechanisms Case study

22. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Surveys/Questionnaires (2) * web / facebook based * targeting population not using internet Stakeholders group: 25-30 selected stakeholders * cross border representation * 1/3 public; 1/3 private; 1/3 civil society * four areas: business (including farms), social sphere, environment, local administrations Delphi group – Helicopter view: 5-10 experts Thematic working groups Local enlarged workshop Local support: * young researchers SSL * supporting local NGO Main implementing tools foreseen Case study

23. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Sep – Oct 2010 Survey/Questionnaire #1 Expert knowledge Setting up SG / DG Result expected: draft baseline assessment Oct - Nov 2010 Stakeholders group + Delphi group interaction Expert knowledge Thematic working groups Result expected (D2): improved draft baseline assessment, participatory draft critical needs, priority intervention, main outputs Preliminary internal timing

24. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Dec 2010 – Feb 2011 Feedback project SG / AB Survey/Questionnaire #2 Expert knowledge SG / DG Thematic working groups Local enlarged workshop Result expected: final baseline assessment, participatory critical needs, priority intervention, main outputs Feb - Mar 2011 Stakeholders group + Delphi group interaction Expert knowledge Thematic working groups Result expected (D3): detailed activities, output monitoring mechanisms Preliminary internal timing

25. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Adapted methodology for similar ABD programmes in cross border rural WB o build on the existing (ABD & local development approaches / LEADER / cross border experiences) o lessons learnt from the case study o dissemination plan Map other potential areas Dissemination, Transferability

26. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Workshop o identify target attendance -Locals - Nationals - Bilaterals - Multilaterals / Eastagri network - Others: OSI-LGI o disseminate the pilot case study results oraise awareness on adapted ABD potential use in the area o seek commitment to participate in implementation Dissemination, Transferability

27. Project Western Balkans, XVIIIth meeting of the SWG, 16 September 2010 Thank you for your attention