In the evaluation report, which was prepared during the autumn of 2024, an overview is provided regarding how Leader Gute has delivered against the development strategy's goals during the program period, what has been difficult, what has gone well, and what we can learn from it.
The report also shows how Leader Gute's target groups have perceived the program period, their own work, as well as Leader Gute's and the Swedish Board of Agriculture's response.
The report also describes five projects that received support, which provides a deeper understanding of what the projects and Leader Gute's support have meant for its target groups, project owners, and rural development in Gotland. Following this is a summary from a roundtable discussion held in October 2024 with current and former management, project administrators, and operations managers reflecting on the program period and its results together.
– In the report, we can conclude that we have largely distributed the entire budget for support during the period and achieved almost all the goals in the development strategy, says Ellen Lundkvist, operations manager at Leader Gute.
Leader Gute's total budget for the period was approximately 73 million kronor, of which 16 million went to operations and just over 57 million to project support.
Of the total 250 approved supports, 120 went to larger project support and 130 to mini-supports. The supports have reached 60 of the island's total 92 parishes.
Most of the supports have been allocated within the goal area Live and Work across the entire island, while the demand for support within Renewable Energy Transition in Gotland was smaller.
Within each goal area, there were a number of more specified areas of intervention for support. Of the total 21 areas of intervention, the objectives via projects have been achieved well or very well within 18 of them.
A survey among those who carried out projects with support from Leader Gute during the period shows that 95 percent are satisfied with the results. 95 percent are also satisfied with the guidance they received from Leader Gute. The response rate in the survey was 80 percent.
– It is very encouraging that we have distributed almost the entire budget for support during this period, achieved most of the objectives, and that a clear majority of project owners are satisfied with their projects. We will carry lessons and experiences from this period into the new strategic plan that we are working on from 2023 to 2027, says Ellen Lundkvist.
The report is available to read HERE