Local Development Strategy: A Key Element of Rural Development

There are three elements thought fundamental to Community Led Local Development (CLLD) approaches: the area or territory; the partnership; and the integrated Local Development Strategy (LDS). The local development strategy is a document that has to present the vision and concrete steps of community development, by capitalizing on the local potential. Such a document is the basis of all the initiatives, actions to be taken in the territory of a Local Action Group and is a particularly useful managerial tool. Through this paper we aim to emphasize that the rural development projects, the attraction of European funds for the development of the Romanian rural area function correctly only if they are in a well-defined, correctly coordinated and applied framework in the interest of the local community they represent, and the starting point for such an approach is the Local Development Strategy.