Who should really decide how our rural areas develop? For us within Leader Östra Skåne, the answer is obvious – the people who live and work in a place must also have the opportunity to influence its future.
Therefore, the board of Leader Östra Skåne has decided to submit statements on two important proposals that affect the future of rural development: Regional Plan for Skåne 2045 and the government investigation A cohesive, robust, and competitive Sweden (SOU 2026:46).
In both statements, we highlight the importance of development not only being planned from the top down but also emerging from the bottom up – through local initiatives, engagement, and collaboration. We emphasize that associations, businesses, and engaged residents must be given real influence and that development resources need to be shared across the entire country, not just in places that already have strong conditions.
We also want to protect the leader method and the local partnerships that have created opportunities for people to shape their rural future for many years. For us, rural development is not just about where money is invested, but about who gets the opportunity to influence, take initiative, and realize ideas.
It is the local development power that we want to continue to fight for!
Regional Plan for Skåne 2045 – the whole of Skåne must have the opportunity to develop
We welcome that rural areas are given a clearer place in the Regional Plan for Skåne 2045 and that their significance for, among other things, food production, entrepreneurship, services, and preparedness is highlighted.
But we lack clear answers on how local development power will be utilized in practice. Associations, businesses, and local partnerships need to have a clearer role in the implementation, and locally led development should be highlighted as an important working method.
We also call for concrete measures for better regional balance, where eastern and northeastern Skåne are also given good development opportunities. There needs to be clearer responsibility for rural issues within Region Skåne and better monitoring of how investments and resources are distributed geographically.
Read our full statement on the Regional Plan for Skåne 2045 (PDF)
SOU 2026:46 – the rural perspective must not disappear
We view positively the proposal for a more cohesive development policy that takes greater account of the conditions of different places. At the same time, we see risks in rural policy ceasing to be its own policy area and becoming part of regional development policy.
It is not enough to say that the whole country should develop – it must also be reflected in how resources are distributed and decisions are made. Therefore, we call for clear steering instruments and follow-up that ensure that even rural areas with weaker development conditions benefit from the investments.
We also emphasize the importance of local engagement and want Leader and other existing structures for locally led development to be utilized. They play an important role as bridges between public decision-makers and the people who actually drive development in their places.
Read our entire statement on SOU 2026:46 (PDF)
Leader Östra Skånes styrelse står bakom dessa båda yttranden
