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Abstract
The Helpdesk of European Evaluation Network for Rural Development supported by a group of
external experts has prepared a Working Paper on ”Capturing the impacts of Leader and
measures to improve the Quality of life (QoL) in rural areas”. The working paper provides
methodological support for evaluators, managing authorities and other interested parties.
The main evaluation challenges include: assessing the “double scope” of Leader (it is both a
process and generates impacts); the need to adequately define what is QoL in the context of
Rural Development Programmes (RDPs); tackling the qualitative nature of the effects;
identifying contributions from small-scale interventions; and the fact that the EU’s Common
Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (CMEF) requires assessment of impacts ultimately at
programme level.
The working paper is targeted primarily at practitioners involved in the evaluation of the
current RDPs (2007-2013). It proposes a framework of reference which provides a conceptual
model in order to assess Quality of Life around four dimensions – environment, socio-culture,
economy and governance.