Apply
The application is made in the Swedish Board of Agriculture's e-service.
Application for support
If your idea aligns with Leader Närhetens development strategy and basic conditions are met, the secretariat asks you to submit an application. The application is made digitally in the Swedish Board of Agriculture's e-service. The Leader office will provide feedback on any additional information needed.
When the application is complete, the project should be presented to our board called LAG (Local Action Group), which will then make a scoring assessment according to our selection criteria and decide whether to ”prioritize” the project, i.e., that LAG advocates an approval from the Swedish Board of Agriculture. Factors influencing the decision include the extent of public benefit, collaborations, voluntary efforts, sustainability, and what results the project can provide for rural development.
The office processes the application and when everything is complete, we forward the matter to the Swedish Board of Agriculture for further processing, approval and formal decision.
Questions in the application
In the application, you must answer a number of questions about your project. You should describe the project's background; what need you see and how the project idea arose, target group, the project's purpose and goals – i.e., why the project is needed and what you specifically aim to achieve within the project, the project's planned activities, who you will collaborate with, expected results, etc. You should also describe the plan for the long-term management of the project's results.
We at the Leader office are available to support and answer questions about how to write the application.
Volunteer contributions
Leader projects should also include voluntary efforts in some form. You are expected to contribute voluntary time or voluntary resources to the project as a counter-performance. This counts as a form of co-financing. The higher the budget, the more voluntary hours you are expected to contribute to the project.
Budget and other attachments.
You also need to have a well-thought-out and specified budget that clearly reflects what you plan to implement in the project. Conduct thorough research on market prices for planned expenses, and save the information – this must also be attached to the application.
Other attachments may also be requested, but this varies depending on who is applying and the type of project. All attachments are uploaded in the e-service. We at the secretariat will help you with what is needed.
On the Swedish Board of Agriculture's ”Webshop,” you will find the forms, Excel templates, and other documents that may be relevant for a project application:
E-service
You make the actual application in the Swedish Board of Agriculture's e-service: ”E-service for Project support, business support, and investment support”. You must first go to the Swedish Board of Agriculture's website and log in to My Pages using an e-identification. Then you can choose to Open the e-service to start a new application.
The e-service works best on a PC with Windows 7 or later – unfortunately, there may be issues using a Mac computer. Remember to upload attachments as pdf A.
Detailed information on how to use the e-service is provided in this instructional video. It is Leader Östra Skåne that produced the film, but the e-service works the same way everywhere – you just search for Leader Närheten instead in the e-service.
(NOTE: The Swedish Board of Agriculture has recently made an update to the e-service, so it may look a little different from the instructional video below!)
Power of attorney
In most cases, a power of attorney may be needed to make an application. If you have a limited company or a trading partnership, you need to issue a power of attorney to yourself in order to log in to the e-services with your personal e-identification. If someone else is to represent you, your company, or organization, that person needs a power of attorney. You issue a power of attorney via My Pages on the Swedish Board of Agriculture's website, or via a form.
Read more about what applies regarding powers of attorney on the Swedish Board of Agriculture's website:
More information
On the Swedish Board of Agriculture website you will find further information about applying for support through Leader.
