Led by the Local Action Group LEWEL (LEADER Region Wels), representatives from the Austrian Wels-Land region visited the ENRD Contact Point to learn more about the structure and the role of the ENRD and its activities. Particular focus was put on LEADER and transnational cooperation projects.

Based on the idea that ‘to learn one needs to go on a journey’, the LAG LEWEL organises an annual trip abroad in order to allow its stakeholders to learn from best practice cases. This year, it was the European dimension of their work they wanted to explore. The visit to the Contact Point was the last step of the group’s study trip to Brussels, during which they also met with Austrian MEP Elisabeth Köstinger at the European Parliament. Together with MEP Josef Weidenholzer, the group came to the Contact Point and engaged in a lively discussion on the future of LEADER under Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) and the challenges of multi-fund financing. Practical solutions were proposed – e.g. to harmonise databases across NRNs and the ENRD to make the sharing of RDP projects easier – and enduring issues, such as depopulation, were discussed.

Wolfgang Pichler, the LAG’s Managing Director, concluded that the trip has spurred everyone’s motivation to continue developing the Wels-Land region and to bring the European dimension to the local level.