Introduction

Making up more than 80 per cent of the total territory of the European Union (EU) and constituting 30 per cent of its population, rural areas are a prime focus of EU policy (European Commission, 2018). In its endeavours to promote rural development, the involvement of the local population is particularly emphasized. This orientation is predicated on the idea that top-down approaches fail when they overlook the in situ communities while their involvement may further the success of rural development.

Whereas the role of citizens in rural development is widely discussed, another aspect has entered the agenda: the adoption of ICT in rural areas is considered as being beneficial in several respects. With regard to the challenges of rural areas, it is expected that digital applications can help to counteract the declining provision of public services and communal activities, to build social networks, and to improve the quality of life in general (Ko et al, 2019; Meyn, 2020). However, because the challenges differ from region to region, it is important to adequately address the diversity of rural areas in terms of both civic participation and ICT rollout. In this context, digital technologies are growing in importance, but so are activities aimed at improving the peculiar living conditions of rural residents.

Thus, the advent of digital applications has been welcomed to promote opportunities for actively involving citizens so to implement demand-driven rural development. Consequently, within the EU's financial framework, a number of initiatives have been brought forward geared towards actively promoting this approach, LEADER being one of the most robust and long-standing of such schemes.