”In other words, I was served a really good shrimp sandwich..”
”In January 2009 my own Leader journey began. It started at Leader MittSKåne, a small area in the middle of Skåne. I had never heard of leader before I saw the ad for a business manager, but I was immediately attracted to the method and the opportunities that the method entailed. Moreover, it felt like a really fun job (which it also was) to be involved in developing the countryside, to meet all the passionate individuals around the area, and to be part of their opportunities to realize their dreams. The difficulty then was that no one knew what leader was. I don't know how many times I had to say that no, I was not from Lidl, or no, it was not the English word for leading that I was talking about. It took some time, but then more and more began to understand what it was about and what opportunities the leader method and the money one could get entailed.
Another thing that made it very fun, but also significantly easier, was the work that had been put into starting up the area and anchoring the method with the municipalities. When I started, the three municipalities were fully on board, had great confidence in the new association, and helped in many different contexts. In other words, I was served a really good shrimp sandwich.. At that time, there were a total of eight different areas in Skåne, and it was not quite as easy in all the areas. The conclusion I have drawn from this is how important it is for the Leader association to have a close and open collaboration with the various municipalities involved.
Now many years later, the method is quite well anchored and known in the countryside. However, there are not eight areas in Skåne anymore, as most areas have been merged into larger areas (at the recommendation of the Swedish Board of Agriculture). For the past year, I have been the chairperson of the new area Leader Skåne Mitt Nordväst, an area with 13 municipalities. It goes without saying that it is not as easy to have the same good collaboration with 13 municipalities as it is with three, but it is equally important. A little over a year ago, I, the association's vice chairperson, and the business manager did a tour and visited all the municipalities. This led to many pleasant conversations, some questions that were answered, handled, but also uncertainties that could be resolved.
Now a year into the work, we have managed to meet many potential project owners, the business office has had many conversations about what is possible and what is not possible. The new board (which is indeed a whole year old) has approved a number of projects, and more are on the way. Now I look forward to another year of work together with the other board members and the business office to hopefully help realize dreams and needs of people around our area.”
Katarina Borgstrand, Chair. Regular member, public mandate, Eslöv municipality