About us

Leader Västra Småland is a non-profit association that works with rural development in our part of Småland. With us, there is money to apply for! We support ideas that make a difference where you live – and we help from start to finish.

What is Leader?

Leader is a method for developing rural areas. It is based on the idea that you who live and work in our area know best what your locality needs to develop! There are several thousand Leader areas in the EU – only in Sweden, there are 40. We are one of them.

The money we distribute to various projects comes from the EU, the state, and the municipalities that are part of our local Leader area.

Our board makes decisions about which projects will receive support from us. The board consists of representatives from the municipalities, the business sector, and the association sector from our area.

Our Leader office has staff who help the projects along the way. This can be, for example, by brainstorming project ideas, guiding during the application process, explaining regulations, and ensuring that the final report is correct. We are here as support throughout the entire project period.

The Swedish Board of Agriculture is our administrative authority and controls our operations. They also make the formal decision after our board has approved a project. It is in the Swedish Board of Agriculture's e-service that one applies for our large project grants and submits reports.

Here is our Leader area

You who live or work in our area can, together with your association, business, or other organization, apply for project funds from us. Our Leader area consists of four municipalities in Jönköping County:

Gislaved
Gnosjö
Vaggeryd
Jönköping (not the urban area)

The Leader method

This is how we work

In order to receive project support from us, the projects must have a clear local focus. The project idea should come from, or be well anchored with, those who live in the area affected by the project.

The idea should also be innovative and forward-thinking based on the conditions at the location you are in. The project should be long-term, continuing to live on and have effects even after the project's end.

We also want to create new collaborations! These can be collaborations between the non-profit, private, and public sectors. Or why not with other countries within the EU?

All of this is included in our method – The Leader method.

Our local strategy

Each Leader area has developed its own local development strategy. It is based on the conditions and needs in each area. In our strategy, we have identified several goals. In order to receive support from us, your project must contribute to these goals. We have created a short version of the strategy that shows the different project supports we have and what results we want to see. Please read it!

Short version of the strategy

Full version of the strategy