Technical assistance to the LAG Oglio Po, located in the Southern Provinces of Mantova and Cremona

Technical assistance to the LAG (Local Action Group) Oglio Po in the Italian administrative region of Lombardy for the implementation of the LEADER + programme (EU Structural funds). The objective of the programme was to promote local economic development, with an emphasis on integrated rural development, sustainable management and promotion of rural, cultural and environmental resources, including the promotion of local SMEs. General activities of the technical assistance were aimed at supporting the definition, implementation and management of the local development plan. Specific inputs of the first phase (2003-2004) included:
- the design, organisation and delivery of ten participatory workshops involving all local stakeholders.
- the definition and revision of the contents of the LAG’s communication strategy.

Specific inputs of the second phase (2005-2006) included:
- reprogramming of the Local Action Plan through the planning of the activities and investments to be carried out under the EU structural funds (programming period 2007-2013);
- identification, design and set-up of an innovative decentralised cooperation approach aimed at strengthening the international linkages between Italian and Bosnian local rural economies.

The programme promoted and identified through the initiative and support of the technical assistance (co-financed by IFAD, local institutions and associations of local producers) the definition, set-up and implementation of active partnerships between actors of the private sector and local institutions operating in the same sectors. The pilot programme brought together private and public actors operating in the agri-business sector in the two countries and foresaw the exchange of know-how with a view to expanding the business opportunities of all concerned actors.