About us

Leader Närheten is a non-profit association that works for sustainable rural development in the municipalities of Karlstad, Hammarö, Grums, Kil, Forshaga, Kristinehamn, Storfors, and Filipstad. We distribute project support to good ideas with funds from the EU, the state, and the municipalities in our area.

Our Statutes

Sustainable local development

The activities shall strengthen local development in the area and are conducted via the Leader method, which is based on collaboration between voluntary forces, the business sector, and the public sector.

We believe that local forces in collaboration can achieve a lot and provide the best results for the countryside.

We want to create local development where people together build opportunities for the future countryside. Through our work, we want to create opportunities and engagement that lead to future confidence, inclusion, resource efficiency, and business opportunities to increase people's quality of life and opportunities to live and work in the countryside.

Our projects are based on local needs, local engagement, collaboration, innovation, and sustainability – for better opportunities and quality of life in the countryside. The projects should be grounded in local needs and implemented at the local level.

A leader project shall work for sustainable development and consider fundamental principles of equality, equal treatment, non-discrimination, and gender equality.

The Leader Method

The Leader method is a working method for rural development that is based on a three-partnership between public actors, representatives of the business sector, and the voluntary sector.

Leader is an abbreviation of a French expression; ”Liaison entre actions de dévéloppement de l’économie rurale” – which means ”Collaboration/link between actions to develop the rural economy.”.

The development work consists of local anchoring, bottom-up perspective, innovation, collaboration, and network building. The work is conducted in collaboration with the Swedish Board of Agriculture, which is our principal and makes the final decisions on the disbursement of support. Leader is part of the Rural Development Program and a working method found throughout the EU. .

The process in brief

The Swedish Board of Agriculture is our principal and allocates budget to approved leader areas. The board in each leader area is called LAG, which stands for Local Action Group and consists of representatives from the voluntary, private, and public sectors. LAG is responsible for the local development strategy and prioritizes applications based on the strategy's goal fulfillment.

Applications for support are made in the Swedish Board of Agriculture's e-service, but it is the leader office that receives and processes applications, which are then assessed by LAG. If the application is approved (prioritized), it is forwarded to the Swedish Board of Agriculture, which makes the final decision. Project reporting and applications for disbursement are also made to the Swedish Board of Agriculture but are checked by the leader office's case handlers. We are here to provide support and guidance all the way!

Opportunities and engagement in Närheten - together!

Leader Närhetens arbete utgår från vår utvecklingsstrategi som tagits fram utifrån noggranna analyser av de behov och möjligheter som finns i vårt område. Syftet är att uppnå maximal nytta och resultat av projektmedlen – var behövs insatserna bäst och hur får vi bäst effekt av insatserna? Vi ska genomföra den godkända strategin för Leader Närheten på ett professionellt, kvalitativt och kostnadseffektivt sätt. Och i det är det lokala engagemanget och samarbete nyckeln till framgång!

We have developed four Areas of Intervention that will promote development towards our overarching goals:

Engage more – Development of the association life to create a maintained and greater engagement in the rural areas and create new opportunities for the non-profit sector. The development should take place, for example, through renewal, rejuvenation, collaborations, arrangements, business development, and other measures related to the non-profit sector.

Smart rural areas – Create better conditions for circular economy, self-sufficiency, increased preparedness, developed services, and digitalization solutions in the countryside.

Entrepreneurship and business development – Promote new business creation, create profitability, develop the important tourism sector for the area within nature and culture, work with skills development, skills matching, and networking.

Resource-rich Vänern – Develop both recreational and professional fishing in Vänern in an economically, socially, and ecologically sustainable way.

We run our operations as a long-term project with support from the EU and the municipalities in our area. The goals of Leader Närhet's work are to

spread information about the operations to the public, to potential project applicants and partners
assess and decide on project priorities based on the local development strategy
provide guidance and support to project owners so that they can achieve a desired and optimal result
follow up and evaluate the approved projects in the leader area and their results