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 The Region on the map of Finland Leader in Finland
Finland as one of the most prominent countries in Europe in Leader’s work has 56 Local Action Groups (LAG) - registered non-governmental organizations, that are covering the whole country by their activities. The main purpose of these LAGs is to develop rural areas by funding local rural development projects and supporting local enterprises.
The first LAGs in Finland were created in 1995, when the country joined the European Union, and they had found Finnish rural environment highly suitable for their activities. The Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry was encouraged by the plan achievement and success of the program period 1996-1999 and decided to extent LAGs’ work to the entire country and increase amount of the groups to 56 in program period 2000-2006.
For the program period 2007–2013 Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry had coordinated three main directions for the Finnish Rural Development Strategy:
The Ministry is supposed to support LAGs by annual funding, but also it evaluates and monitors their activities.
Rieska-Leader
Rieska-Leader LAG covers 8 municipalities (Ylivieska, Oulainen, Merijärvi, Alavieska, Kalajoki, Kannus, Kokkola, Sievi), where about 57 thousand people live. Activity of Rieska-Leader as well as other LAGs is directed on supporting projects of commercial and non-commercial organizations, mostly small ones and those, that just have started up. Participation in Leader’s program is open to all, but has strongly local focus. Being aimed on the development of local rural infrastructure the related LAG can appreciate any local initiative. For the first half of the program period 2007-2013 there were supported more than 100 organizations’ projects, where 50% are non-commercial ones.
There exists so-called Tripartite Principle, which helps to obtain the most convenient result for the all interested parties:
The whole process of a project implementation goes through this principle. Usually it takes about 2-3 years for applier to receive whole amount of support from the related LAG. The application goes through three instances, that control effectiveness, suitability for the region, and legality. Almost each month Rieska-Leader has meeting with the board, which includes local authorities, local people and representatives of local associations, where current applications are discussed.
Information about the Region The region is located in the middle of Finland on the coast of Gulf of Bothnia and covers area about 5.5 thousand square kilometers. Nice sandy beaches can be found by the cities of Kokkola and Kalajoki, whose history have started in 17th century. Being influenced by the Gulf Stream, the coast of the subregions offers attractive sea resorts in summertime. As a part of Central Ostrobothnia region, which is famous of its rich nature, the area can show the whole beauty of it – infinitely green pine forests, the cleanest lakes, and fertile fields.
During a few last years the role of agriculture and forestry has been reduced in this area with raising importance of industrial and service sectors, but still remains the main in the context of whole Finland. The local farms are the largest suppliers of milk in whole Finland and the local brand of flatbread “rieska” is the nationally recognizable symbol of the area. Wood companies dealing in the territory use the most modern methods and tools and their products are internationally well-known.
The region offers the modern conditions of well-being for their inhabitants. The variety of possibilities for leisure time is easily accessible for everyone: sport facilities, theaters and music halls, annual feasts and fairs. Fans of wild nature will find local countryside roads perfect for hiking and cycling in summertime and skiing in wintertime.
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