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Greater support for rural areas

Local Action Groups in Castile and León join forces to combat youth unemployment and rural depopulation.


Grupos de Acción Local de Castilla y León

10 de March de 2021
Dinamización rural

March 10, 2021. Strengthening the socioeconomic fabric of rural areas is one of the general objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Thus, the EAFRD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development) establishes three areas to guide the development of European rural areas: rural services, rural employment, and social inclusion.


  • The "Activate" project brings together 7 Local Action Groups managing the LEADER program
  • The program lasts 2 years

For this reason, seven Local Action Groups (LAGs) from Castile and León have joined forces under the same project, "Activate," which aims to:

  • Supporting young people.
  • Fight against depopulation.
  • Promoting youth entrepreneurship in rural areas of Castile and León.

The “Activate” programme, created under the LEADER approach, is coordinated by the ADERAVI GAL (Ávila), and the Local Action Groups ADRIMO (Ávila), Northeast of Salamanca (Salamanca), ADRI Palomares (Zamora), ASODEBI (León), AIDESCOM (Segovia) and A DRI Cerrato Palentino (Palencia) participate in it.

Objectives and measures

The project's objective is to engage young people in the development of economic, social, and cultural activities in the participating territories. To this end, the following are intended:

  • Promote a sense of belonging and roots among young people, and thus halt the process of depopulation.
  • Promote the associative and entrepreneurial spirit.
  • Promote intergenerational relationships between the region's youth and the older population to achieve greater engagement.

What measures will be implemented to achieve these goals?

  • Creation of a manual of good practices .
  • Definition of a youth animation strategy.
  • Design and development of a virtual resource center.
  • Support work on social networks .
  • Production of promotional material , final project seminar, and editing of the final project report.
  • Plan for the animation and revitalization of youth associations in each territory.
  • Youth development plan for each region for students in their first, second, and third years of compulsory secondary education.
  • Youth entrepreneurship development plan for students in their 4th year of compulsory secondary education, 1st and 2nd years of high school, and equivalent training courses.
  • Organization of a youth entrepreneurship fair .

The "Activate" program has a total investment of 193,257 euros and will be implemented this year and next.