LOCAL ACTION GROUP AS A ACTORS IN THE REGIONALADMINISTRATION (RESULTS OF A CASE STUDYIN THE REGIONOF THE CZECH REPUBLIC)

Abstract

A membership in a Local Action Group (LAG) is the oportunity for gettingfinancial means from the European program LEADER and in this way the LAGbecomes an attractive partner of the regional development. Local Action Groupsareestablished onthe principle of partnershipand abottom-up principle supportsthe inclusion of local inhabitants into the solution of local problems and createsthe space for cooperation and partnership. The aim of a theoretical part of thecontribution is the Leader program introduction and the purpose of LAG.Apractical part of the contribution is created by the results of a case studyof aparticular LAG. The paper comeout from the study of documents, a secondaryanalysis of the data and from the outputs of non-standardized and semi-standardized interviews with the representatives of chosen state, private andentrepreneurial subjects.An investigationof knowledge of LAG activitieswascarried out among citizens and acquired data were statistically evaluated.On thebasis of acquired knowledge, the importance of the local action group as one ofthe regionaladministration anddevelopment agents is evaluated