The Swedish Board of Agriculture's project POI, Project – and investment support, invited Local Development Sweden to a process workshop from May 26-28 under the title ”Together to create a common understanding of today's Leader process and the challenges that exist.”.
One of the goals was to ”develop some proposals for improvements, more satisfied customers, and a better working situation for both the Swedish Board of Agriculture and employees within Leader in the future”.
Representatives from LUS participated together with various professionals from the Swedish Board of Agriculture who work with different parts of the Leader process (including case officers, unit managers, lawyers, and process leaders).
The days were preceded by, among other things, surveys and interviews with about 20 people, a mix of project owners, operational leaders for leader offices, and LAG members.
The discussions resulted in identified problem areas such as double handling, unclear interpretations of regulations, and silo systems. Together, a number of possible measures were developed that can lead to simplifications and improvements for applicants and thereby contribute to rural development.
Now the work with the project continues for the project group at the Swedish Board of Agriculture and LUS is involved in the ongoing process by allowing us to continue providing feedback that is actually incorporated into future changes.