Evaluation of Social Capital in LEADER: What's In and What's Out?

The European Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (CMEF) determines the different types of common indicators for the evaluation of the two pillars of the Common Agricultural Policy, inclusive of LEADER. Moreover, the European Evaluation Network on Rural Development, under the responsibility of the EC Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, proposes guidelines for enabling evaluation practices at different European, national, regional as well as local levels. This chapter reveals some of the shortcomings in the conceptualisation and operationalisation of social capital in LEADER and consequently it raises critical questions relating to the current evaluation system proposed for LEADER. This points to the need to propose an innovative evaluation method, which explicitly operationalises social capital and rural governance in LEADER initiatives, by thoughtfully considering the requirements set by the EU regulations.