THE INITIATIVE LEADER AS A MODEL FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT: IMPLEMENTATION TO SOME TERRITORIES OF MEXICO

Given the failure of quantitative development models and top-down approaches, since the early 1990's new values and trends have arisen in developed societies. In this context, the European Union favors the LEADER Community Initiative as an experimental way to tackle rural development, based on an area-based approach, the creation of new local government participatory structures and decentralized management. This study analyzes the foundations of a new model, and describes its implementation in five regions of Mexico, through a planning pattern based on social learning. The application of the model five years after onset shows how it is becoming a novel and effective vehicle for articulating rural development in Mexico.