LEADER is an EU development method that aims to stimulate local actors to cooperate and co-produce ideas and projects that otherwise would not be possible. Therefore, the Local Action Groups (LAGs) should not only focus on implementing the Local Development Strategies but also to actively contribute to the development of their territory. The aim of the present paper is to underline the most important tangible indirect multiplier effects produced by the LAGs in Romania in the 2014–2020 Programming Period and to identify the enabling characteristics and conditions for maximizing such effects in future LEADER actions. The study was conducted using the structured interview as a primary method for collecting data. The results were analyzed using the Principal Component Analysis and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. The most important multiplier effects were the amount of non-LEADER grants that LAGs managed to attract and the innovation level of the projects supported from LEADER funding. The results show that the performance of LAGs is linked to the size of their team, their experience, and the involvement of their partners. However, not all LAGs managed to generate significant multiplier effects, suggesting that they still lack the experience necessary to successfully implement the method in their territories.

LEADER is a rural development method based on a participative approach, which was tailored in 1991 as a complement to the traditional common agricultural policy (CAP) measures. One of its most important objectives is to reduce the differences between rural and urban areas by building on local knowledge and potential. The aim of the present paper is to identify what are the most important characteristics of the LAGs that can counterbalance the existing economic disparities in the rural regions. The research was conducted in the northwest development region of Romania (2014–2020 programming period), using the principal component analysis and the hierarchical cluster analysis. Two types of data were collected: indicators of performance, such as the number of projects contracted and jobs created, were used to assess the success of the method, while the territorial and LAG characteristics were used to explain these results. The findings confirm the presence of an unequal distribution of LEADER support in favor of the most urbanized and developed areas. However, the results also show that the experience and economic and administrative capacity of LAGs could help counterbalance the influence of the territorial features previously mentioned, and therefore to reduce the gap between them and the more developed groups.

The paper investigates the role of the Common Agriculture Policy support in the economic sustainability of sheep breeding farms from North-Western Romania (Transylvania), focusing particularly on the Agri-Environment Schemes (AES). The region has important High Natural Value (HNV) grassland areas significant for bio-conservation. To analyze their importance in the overall economic viability, individual data was collected from 207 farms using a stratified sample. A principal component analysis based on 45 socio-economic variables reveals that the most important difference between farms is explained by the relationship between the livestock density index and different types of revenues. It was proved to be a strong correlation between the level of intensification, the complementary payments received per head of livestock and the total income, while the index was negatively correlated with the AES payments. Without them, the livestock density on the marginal areas might increase, which could have knock-on effects for biodiversity. A cluster analysis showed seven farm types in the region. The most economically vulnerable group is represented by farms located in the mountain area which used HNV grasslands. Without any financial support, around half of them would obtain negative incomes, causing giving up farming. On the other hand, there are two groups that proved to be economically self-sufficient but they represent only 30 % of the entire sample. The results suggest that in the future financial allocation (2014-2020), the Agri-Environment Schemes have to be reinforced into the Common Agriculture Policy in order to prevent land abandonment.

The paper investigates the main changes that have taken place in the Romanian fruits and vegetables supply chain over the past twenty years. Its sustainability is assessed using time-series data from different official and private data-bases applying statistic research methods. Results showed that the Romanian supply chain is dominated in terms of both inputs used and offer, by imports originating from different EU countries. The local subsistence and semi-subsistence farms cannot provide enough qualitative and quantitative products such as to penetrate the supermarkets, the main players from the market. Agritourism, a potential niche market, was investigated using sampling techniques. The guesthouses from one of the most important ecotourism destinations where assessed by face-to-face interviews. Results showed that even such short-marketing chains are unsustainable tools for the fresh fruits and vegetables products sectors. The lack of governance for the local producers does not allow them to enter on such niche market. All this findings can provide important incentives for better future targeted sectorial agricultural policies.

Although the Faculty of Horticulture from Cluj-Napoca was founded in 1977, the higher education in horticulture has a long and important tradition and history in Transylvania, Romania. It started in 1869, when the Agricultural Institute Cluj, Manastur (today, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca), one of the oldest higher education life sciences centres from East-Central Europe, was created. This ‘Agronomy Academia’ was established due to the efforts of the Transylvanian Agricultural Association and the Status Romano-Catholicus Transylvaniensis, which rented to the Ministry of Agriculture 400 ha of land and the buildings of an old Benedictine monastery near a city that can track its routes back into the Roman Empire. For more than 140 years, the efforts and the predecessors contribution have been creating an important higher education and research institution. In 2012, to celebrate 35 years of excellence, the Faculty Council organised a special event in ‘Aula Magna’ of the University, in November the 29th, 2012. It brought together special guests from partner institutions, forebears of the faculty, academic staff, students, graduates and members of the horticultural business, sustaining the Faculty’s new mission of being a catalyst for the horticulture education and research. On this occasion, the prestigious honorific title of Doctor Honoris Causa was granted for two academic personalities, related to the faculty: Jaime Prohens, from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, and Ioan Vasile Abrudan, rector of the ‘Transylvania’ University from Brasov, Romania.