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The Rural Development Regulation (RDR) within the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), as an exemplary manifestation of the New Rural Development Paradigm, has achieved significant results. Nevertheless, it has increasingly become liable to institutional complexity and central control in an emerging system - discussed as 'the project state' or 'projectified world' in recent literature. The intersection of different institutional realities (European, domestic, regional, local, sectoral, spatial, etc.) and the resulting institutional bricolage is inevitably contested. The dispute is even more apparent in CEE countries, where multi-level governance is problematic and the New Paradigm has good possibilities, but little tradition. This case study of the implementation of the Hungarian Agri-Environmental Programme (HAEP) intends to illustrate how a disfunctioning project state (clientalism, insufficient bureaucracy, direct political influence) can distort the implementation of rural development policies. We found that the design and the implementation of the programme (HAEP) was subjected to ongoing political influence and the power struggle of three main mindsets, representing different lobbies: the agriculturalists, the green-minded and the accountability-minded actors. As a consequence, the main emphasis remains on the distribution of financial resources, thus original objectives (environmental protection and effective social learning) are not fulfilled. The case study is part of my ongoing research "Local Development Policies in a European Project State - A Systemic Analysis of Institutional Bricolage" supported by an NFM-OTKA grant.

This article considers the relationship between centralised, exogenous institutions and the embedded, endogenous institutions of rural governance in Europe through an examination of the evaluation procedures of the European LEADER programme. LEADER is presented in the literature as progressive in terms of innovation and stakeholder engagement. Yet, while the planning and management of LEADER embraces heterogeneity and participation, programmatic evaluation is centralised and is held at arms length from the delivery organisations. The article reviews previous efforts to improve evaluation in LEADER and considers alternative strategies for evaluation, contrasting LEADER practice with participatory evaluation methodologies in the wider international context. Can evaluation in itself be valuable as a mode of social learn-ing and hence a driver for endogenous development in rural communities in Europe? The article concludes by examining the challenges in producing a hybrid form of evaluation that accommodates both endogenous and exogenous values.

AbstractThis article considers the relationship between centralised, exogenous institutions and the embedded, endogenous institutions of rural governance in Europe through an examination the evaluation procedures of the European LEADER programme. LEADER is presented in the literature as progressive in terms of innovation and stakeholder engagement. Yet, while the planning and management of LEADER embraces heterogeneity and participation, programmatic evaluation is centralised and is held at arms length from the delivery organisations. The article reviews previous efforts to improve evaluation in LEADER and considers alternative strategies for evaluation, contrasting LEADER practice with participatory evaluation methodologies in the wider international context. Can evaluation in itself be valuable as a mode of social learning and hence a driver for endogenous development in rural communities in Europe? The article concludes by examining the challenges in producing a hybrid form of evaluation that accommodates both endogenous and exogenous values.

Tanulmányunk a vidéki turizmusnak a vidék dzsentrifikációjában betöltött szerepét, az ezzel kapcsolatos sikereket és dilemmákat tárgyalja két divatos hazai desztináció példáján. Az utóbbi évtizedekben a vidéki (öko-, gasztro-, alternatív stb.) turizmusra a kutatók és a szakpolitikusok is Európa-szerte a vidékfejlesztési problémák lehetséges megoldásaként tekintenek. Ez a fejlesztési irány alapvetően kis léptékű, helyi erőforrásokra épít, miközben gazdasági fellendülést és életet visz a kiürülő falvakba. Első látásra tehát mindenben megfelel a szakirodalomból jól ismert neoendogén, fenntartható fejlesztés kritériumainak. Ezzel szemben kutatásaink szerint a turizmus előretörésének helyi következményei még a (gazdaságilag) sikeres lokalitások esetében is számos dilemmát vetnek fel, gyakran csak díszletként használva a természeti, épített és kulturális értékekben bővelkedő tájakat. Elemzésünk párhuzamot von a városrehabilitációs szakpolitikák jól ismert, sokszor leírt dzsentrifikációs működése és a vidékfejlesztés jelenleg kibontakozó dzsentrifikációs hatásai között. Az épített környezet megmentése, egy terület társadalmi és gazdasági státuszának emelése viszonylag könnyen elérhető a vidéki turizmus és az ekként bekövetkező dzsentrifikáció révén. Ugyanakkor a helyi értékek komplex védelme, a gazdasági-társadalmi struktúra fejlesztése, vagyis a "helyi életvilág" dinamikus megőrzése ennél összetettebb feladat, a helyi közösségbe ágyazott, integrált szemléletet, reflexivitást, a neoendogén fejlesztés elveinek következetes alkalmazását igényli.

The fundamental principles of the EU LEADER Programme are common in every member states. However the Programme was fit to the national legislative framework, institutional culture and social features, thus it was implemented with significant differences in the different EU countries/regions. Our study examines the LEADER implementation in one of the Spanish autonomous regions, Andalusia, which has many parallels with Hungarian rurality in terms of political culture, rural economy and society. The Andalusian implementation of the LEADER Programme is especially advanced on various ways. Resulting from the genuine decentralisation of the programme, local action groups enjoy a great degree of independence. They act as paying agencies, make independent and fast decisions and provide tailored assistance for their local clients. The Andalusian implementation of LEADER clearly proves that it can be successful, even in less advanced socio-cultural circumstances. Many elements of this system could be usefully applied in Hungary too, given that we find a way to embed a similar approach to rural development in various levels of our institutional system. We recommend our study to all those who aim for a better rural development system for Hungary in 2014-20.

The EU LEADER initiative has been running for 20 years and plays an important role in the development of European rural areas, however, in countries joining to the EU after 2004 it is still a relatively new phenomenon. In Hungary, for example, the LEADER+ programme was launched in 2005 with an experimental phase (called a "LEADER type initiative") and has developed to be a fully applied EU programme only in the current programming period. This paper explores the implementation of the LEADER programme in eastern Hungary. The examined Local Action Groups face diverse challenges concerning human, social, physical and financial capital, networks and social learning. The study investigates the opportunities and threats faced by the LAGs, with special regard to institutions, governance and applied initiatives. The roles of the LAGs within the social, economic and cultural context of given areas are examined through Lukesch's (2007) model FOG - forms of governance. The model is a tool to explore the interrelationships local partnership, local needs and local socio-cultural environment. The results of the FOG test show that the prevailing mode of governance in the examined LAGs emphasises animation actions as important elements of operation. Although the importance of animation actions is underlined by the result of the test, their presence between the initiatives is less than it should be. Good examples of animation actions are given: participatory video and a case study of its Hungarian application are introduced. Finally the role of Universities in animation actions is emphasised and closer relation of them with RD networks is called for.

AbstractThe special issue titled 'Values‐based Territorial Food Networks – Benefits, challenges and controversies' and this introductory editorial aim to bridge conceptual and disciplinary differences within the literature on alternative agro‐food networks and related concepts. In the editorial we outline a new umbrella term, Values‐based Territorial Food Networks (VTFNs), which synthesises the key commonalities that characterise alternatives to the mainstream food system (see Reckinger 2022 for a more detailed analysis). VTFNs are defined as networks that connect agro‐food and related stakeholders within a defined territory that operate according to a coherent set of ethical values centred on social justice and wellbeing, environmental integrity, participatory governance and economic fairness. We discuss how VTFNs relate to earlier concepts, showing the evolution from 'alternative' to 'values based', from 'local' to 'territorial' and from 'supply chains' to 'networks'. The editorial also gives an overview of the empirical case studies in the special issue, which explore 10 place‐based food initiatives (from Austria, France, Greece, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Australia, Brazil and Japan) and address benefits, challenges, social learning and controversies associated with VTFNs. The cases are grouped into three thematic areas. 'Social learning and resilience' focuses on collaboration through diverse partnerships as a necessary condition for social innovation and for understanding new socio‐technical practices. 'Agency, negotiations and food governance' explores the socioeconomic struggles, interrelations and negotiated values associated with VTFNs. 'Sociocultural environments, social capital and reflexive localism' discusses the interplay between the economic and sociocultural dimensions related to VTFNs. The transversality of VTFN allows us to think about these dimensions from a systemic perspective, thus advancing debates on the diverse sites and modes of agro‐food sustainability.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major stress test for the agri-food system. While most research has analysed the impact of the pandemic on mainstream food systems, this article examines how alternative and local food systems (ALFS) in 13 countries responded in the first months of the crisis. Using primary and secondary data and combining the Multi-Level Perspective with social innovation approaches, we highlight the innovations and adaptations that emerged in ALFS, and how these changes have created or supported the sustainability transition in production and consumption systems. In particular, we show how the combination of social and technological innovation, greater citizen involvement, and the increased interest of policy-makers and retailers have enabled ALFS to extend their scope and engage new actors in more sustainable practices. Finally, we make recommendations concerning how to support ALFS' upscaling to embrace the opportunities arising from the crisis and strengthen the sustainability transition. ; Hungary's input was funded by NKFIH contract numbers K-129097 and FK135460, and by topic research number 2000412, contributed by the Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Institute of Economics (Hungary). Research in France has been supported by the Fondation de France, the Fondation Carasso and self-funding; in Australia by the Australian Research Council (DE190101126), in Japan by the FEAST Project (No.14200116), Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN); in Spain by the ROBUST project, as part of the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union, under Grant Agreement No. 727988. The information and views set out in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. ; publishedVersion