1. Who am I & why am I'm here ? My name is: Roger Silfver, born in Finland emigrated to Sweden 1974 Background : Social worker & Family Care 25 years 1990 I became active in rural/local development in Sweden 1997 Chairman of the LAG in LEADER II Sommenbygd 2000-2007 Program Manager LEADER + Sommenbygd Worked as LEADER “adviser” in Latvia & Lithuania Working with rural development in Byelorussia since 2006 (local self governance democracy) 2007 Working for the Government of Åland as LEADER coordinator My Commitment : - to support local grassroots to gain knowledge & influence over their everyday life. - to ensure local, regional & national politicians that “ordinary peoples” engagement is a complement to existing system, not competitors of power.

2. Leader+ area of Sommenbygd Situated in South East of Sweden Named after the Lake of Sommen –360 islands –Clear water –Popular for recreation & boating Consists of parts of two Counties –Östergötland –Jönköping 50 000 inhabitants Sparsely populated No big cities in the area Large forest areas

3. The Municipalities Area 3 802 km/2 50 400 Inhabitants 7 Municipalities 2 Counties 40 Parsons

4. Governance of Leader + in Sommenbygd A non profit association = Local Action Group of Sommenbygd The LAG – group consists of 29 members 7 Community representatives - The chairmen of the municipality boards 6 From the private sector - representatives from local enterprises and or municipality's business adviser. 6 From local development groups - grassroots 6 youth representatives ( under 25 years) 4 - Regional authorities & other actors ( not decision makers )

5. Today's Governance of Leader + in Sommenbygd Administration: 3 employees full time, responsible for all project management, preparation, finances, marketing, support, evaluation, interregional & transnational cooperation A free office/administration with no “ties” to other actors or authorities ! LAG – makes all project decisions, responsible for carrying out the Leader+ plan “Sommenbygd” board 6 persons from LAG responsible for the administration/staff LAG – projects/initiatives can also be located to the Leader+ office

6. LAG Projects – ”Start - Gas ” Youth check´s15 000 Skr Support for new ideas (Private persons)15 000 Skr Local mobilisation & planning30 000 Skr Cooperation support (3-partners)30 000 Skr/ partner Arrangment support30 000 Skr Large Youth project Tourism project Project for small village schools

7. 1. Young People in LAG & LEADER Question: How to involve youth/Children in the activities of a LAG 2. Processes within the LAG & LEADER work that can be obstacles & possibilities Question: How to avoid the situation that local authorities (governments) will start to influence the funding decisions of the LAG Focus on 2 topics

8. Young people in LAG today, our decision makers of tomorrow ! Open up the LAG for young people One young LAG member from each municipality Prepare special strategy for youth and children (LAG –project) Let them work together as a group, adults must guide but not lead LAG -youth should support processes in the area that can lead to projects LAG should

9. How to get young people interested to join a LAG ? –Se them, listen to them and notice them ! –Talk to them not about them ! –Let them work together! –Make LEADER fun modern and interesting ! –Let them know that they are important !

10. An example from my village BOET in Sweden We asked the children of our village to write and draw pictures of their future dream of how our village will look like 10-15 years from now. We got a lot of interesting ideas from their dreams Children wants the village to be more urban We also learned that children are aware of our concern of the future for the village, we need more children to be born.

11. How to get young persons active in a LAG –Shear power and responsibilities with them ! –Give them influence over youth issues in the area ! –Let them travel and meet other LAG youths in and outside Estonia ! –Support a LEADER network for young people in Rural areas

12. What makes young person leave the Village ? –Work – money – better future ? –Studies – carrier ? –The urban lifestyle - fast and anonymous? – Freedom? –To create a personality - grow up? –Bored of living in rural area – nothing happens?

13. What makes a young person return to the Village? Work/money/family/friends Place to live (housing) The Village is a part of me and I am a part of the Village Good memories from growing up in the Village The Rural lifestyle, safe and slower When planning to have family

14. Is there a risk that organizations/authorities’ will try to have influence over LAG and project decisions Leader is open for all and as such vulnerable LAG members can only represent one sector Release a LAG member from duty if he/she is running a project No one should be a LAG member for more than 2 years then1 year quarantine LAG Chairman exchanged halfway into the program Separate chairman's in LAG/Board Mistakes made (Rogers experience)

15. How to avoid the risk of one person taking over? I don’t have to be takeover, it can also be because the group All the time hands over the responsibility to one active person Transparency Mutual thrust Allow all to speak Specify what is expected from LAG member ( on paper ) Talk openly about compensations Examples of takeovers Rogers experiences

16. Is there a risk that all knowledge will be lost if/when Project Manager leaves or when a project is finished ? Can we avoid that ? Open discussion Long term contract with employees Consider employees as investment in human resources Educate staff & LAG Have fun

17. What is really local in today's globalized economy ? The simple and most obvious answer is “ THE PEOPLE”

18. How to get in contact Roger Silfver LEADER Coordinator E-mail:roger.silfver@regeringen.ax E-mail: roger.silfver@telia.com(private)roger.silfver@telia.com SKYPESilfvers Mobile phone +46(0)706376684