Leaders in Rural Development Structures (Case Study on the Territory of the Lag Dolní Morava, Moravia)

Abstract

This paper is focused on local actors who are actively involved in the development of their villages. The area of rural development involves stakeholders of different levels and various positions. However, their roles differ, as do their positions in networks collaborating in the development of the rural community. In order to carry out this research, active citizens in member municipalities of the Dolní Morava Local Action Group (covering the territory of the South Moravian Region in the Czech Republic) were selected. Several techniques were used for their identification (analysis of local media, questionnaire survey, semi-structured interview). In this manner, it was possible to acquire a number of local actors from the public, private and non-profit sectors. Firstly, leaders in municipal development, whose position was examined by employing several approaches (positional, reputational and problem), were detected, and then social networks were analysed. The content transmitted within the networks, with an emphasis on social capital – a theme closely related to this issue – was also observed.