Areas of intervention

Here you can read about our areas of intervention

Smart rural areas

Local methods, strategies, and solutions in collaboration

Smart rural areas develop creative solutions to local challenges. By utilizing the unique strengths and opportunities of the locality, active residents contribute to sustainable development in the area. They develop and realize strategies based on economic, social, and environmental sustainability, often through innovation and with the help of digital technology. It can also involve an increased circular or sharing economy.

Examples of project interventions:

– development of local development strategies
– new solutions for preparedness and/or community-promoting interventions
– new service or housing solutions

Meaningful leisure, culture, and community

A vibrant association life, built on democratic foundations, for all ages, backgrounds, and lifestyle choices, is of great importance for a lively and attractive countryside and is one of the cornerstones for the development of smart rural areas. Associations often possess significant experience and knowledge about the locality with strongly engaged individuals who are eager to drive development issues.

Examples of project interventions:
– New or preserved leisure and cultural activities
– New networks, methods, working practices, or processes

Innovative solutions for business development in rural areas

Healthy businesses with a functioning labor market are a prerequisite for a vibrant countryside. Businesses in collaboration can apply for support for various types of business development interventions. These can be both ”soft” interventions, such as joint marketing, and ”hard” interventions, such as construction or other investments.

The requirement is that there are at least two parties collaborating in the project and that all parties will benefit from the intervention. You need to cover at least 30% of the financing in the project, you can apply for a maximum of 70% of the cost from Leader.

Innovative solutions for local food

Examples of interventions can be projects in food security and crisis preparedness, information efforts for attitude and behavior change, attracting new entrepreneurs, or solutions for accessibility such as opening hours and digital presence. It can also involve joint skills development, collaboration processes, innovative working methods, new methods for processing, quality development, distribution, and sales of locally grown food, etc. Common methods for wildlife management or projects to encourage public kitchens and restaurants to procure local food are other examples.

You can apply for support for a feasibility study.

Feasibility studies:

investigate needs/wishes and current situation
explore possible goals, effects, and scenarios
provide consensus
lead to new knowledge
create a financing plan
structure the content of an implementation

Measurable indicators

Smart rural areas to facilitate living and working locally

Smart transition of the economy in rural areas
New meeting places
New leisure and cultural activities
New networks and collaborations
Project participants who translate new knowledge into practice
Preserved leisure and cultural activities
New associations
New service solutions
New methods, working methods or processes
Expanded networks

Strengthened conditions for and development of local food

Develop the economy in rural areas
New products
New services
New networks and collaborations
New meeting places
Project participants who translate new knowledge into practice
New methods, working methods or processes
Companies that collaborate
Companies that receive support
Expanded networks

Developed innovative rural entrepreneurship in collaboration

Develop the economy in rural areas
New products
New services
New networks and collaborations
New meeting places
Project participants who translate new knowledge into practice
New methods, working methods or processes
Companies that collaborate
Companies that receive support
Expanded networks

Do you have a project idea you want to test?

First, test if your idea meets our basic requirements.

The Leader office helps you explain the principles of the Leader method and what type of initiatives best contribute to the area's strategy and goals.

Link to test your idea

Innovation

Think new

Innovation is about doing things in new or developed ways. It can involve technical inventions and innovations, which have traditionally been what we see as innovations, but today innovation is viewed in a broader perspective. It can be about offering services and solving societal needs in new ways. As research in the field of innovation has developed, it has become clear that increasing importance needs to be placed on working methods, tools, and ways of thinking, reflecting, and acting.

Think sustainably

Diversity and people's different conditions are an asset and generally lead to better results, among other things in development work.

Sustainable development includes ecological, economic, and social sustainability. This means you need to describe how you work with these issues, set in relevance to the project idea. It could be, for example, how the environmental impact looks in your project. Can the project contribute to improving conditions for socially disadvantaged individuals? How does the project affect the area's economic conditions?.