New ideas suggest that a distinctive feature for successful rural development includes a high degree of mobilization and organization of local actors and institutions. These relationships are referred to as an area's "relational assets" and are argued to be central local factors for rural development since they draw on social properties of networks made up of local institutions, economic agents and rural residents. This paper explores "relational assets" and their relevance and perspectives for the Baltic countryside. The paper is an initial discussion on whether networks and relational assets are meaningful notions in Baltic rural development work. What are the assets, how can they be assessed and what challenges does a post-socialist setting pose
