Abstract
In this chapter, the LEADER approach is analysed from the perspective of the different forms of local public action in support of territorial innovation. Instead of focusing on economic competitiveness, the LEADER approach seeks to promote innovation through the dissemination of new techniques or new production and service processes (technological innovation). Innovation also takes the form of new ways of organization and functioning of the economy (social innovation), and new ways of using or consuming a product or service (innovation in use). These three forms of innovation form the frame of reference for the LEADER approach, a frame of reference established by public policy with the intention of creating added value in public action in support of territorial development. In general, the LEADER approach is intended as a source and stimulator of multiple experiments and innovative solutions for the rural environment, in terms of both method and action.As part of a detailed analysis of the coordination of local action in support of territorial innovation, in this research we carried out a case study based on the evaluation of projects financed by the LEADER programme in two LAGs (Local Action Groups): the Pays Pyrénées Méditerranée, located in Roussillon, and the Pays Cœur d'Hérault, in the hinterland of Montpellier. The study focused on identifying the innovation processes at work in a total of 251 projects using a common assessment grid for both LAGs, the creation of a database with the characteristics of each project, and statistical and cartographic processing.