Vers une organisation des associations en milieu rural : un exemple, le CELAVAR

The economic crisis as well as the decentralization process have deeply modified the working conditions of associations, which are particularly active in rural areas. These associations have taken up the challenge of launching new economic activities and creating jobs. They established contacts with local authorities, but have difficulties in laying down a clear and binding set of rules for their cooperation : associations want to preserve the autonomy of their project, while local authorities want to make use of them to implement their own policies.To a certain extent, these associations run the risk of becoming too centered on local issues and so they seek to establish outside links. The cost of setting up regional networks is too high, which explains the tendency to reinforce a national network such as celavar.