FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Legal entity. Anyone seeking support must have a corporate registration number, i.e. associations, companies, authorities, municipalities, regions, foundations, etc. Private individuals cannot apply for support to carry out a project.

Implementation capacity. Applicants must be able to demonstrate administrative, financial and operational capacity to implement the project.

Administrative ability means being able to report and account for the costs that have been incurred in the project.

Financial capacity means being able to come up with money, as support is paid in arrears. You therefore need to be able to ensure good liquidity and have sufficient solvency to finance the project costs yourself while waiting for the support to be paid. Certain forms of organisation have the option of applying for an advance.

Operational capability means being able to carry out the project's activities in a correct and cost-effective manner to meet the project's objectives. This means a clear division of roles and responsibilities and ensuring that the project has access to personnel to carry out the planned activities.

It mainly depends on what you want to do, the larger the project, the greater the expectations for results. Leader Polaris has three different benchmarks depending on the type of project. More information can be found under each project type on the page "”Current support”".

A project refers to an effort to create and develop something new/different, in addition to the regular activities within an organization. Projects are characterized by:

• It is time-bound, with a start and end date
• There are special personnel working on the project, e.g. a project manager
• It has its own budget
• There are activities that are specific to the project
• There are clear goals for the project

A feasibility study is done to develop the conditions for a larger project. If your organization has a project idea that could contribute to one of our areas of focus, but it is uncertain whether the project is actually feasible – then a feasibility study may be appropriate.

• What new knowledge do you need to acquire?
• Is the intervention relevant to the target group?
• Which actors need to be included in an implementation?

As a rule, no.

Yes. There are two different types of co-financing: Cash (actual money) and resources (non-monetary contributions, such as volunteer time).

The project support should cover all or part of the costs incurred in the project. The more public benefit a project is, the more project support the project can receive.

• If the main benefit of the project accrues to a wider public
  = 40–100 % support for the actual costs of the project. For public benefit projects, the private contribution consists of usually of ideal time.

• If the project is beneficial to a few commercial businesses
  = 40–70 % support and a maximum of SEK 200,000. For projects that benefit a few commercial businesses, the private contribution consists of always in cash.

You can apply for support for initiatives/projects that contribute to fulfilling the objectives of Leader Polaris development strategy and as:

• Is beneficial to many people in the area, i.e. a wider public, a destination or an industry
• Provides conditions for business development, living environment, knowledge, service or the area's attractiveness
• Is beneficial for two or more companies

The costs can be salaries, indirect costs, purchased services, investments and other costs. Furthermore, the costs must be reasonable and clearly contribute to meeting the project's goals.

Project support cannot be given for maintenance/running costs.

Note! Once a project has been approved, it is only possible to receive support for expenses that are included in the project budget. Therefore, it is important to have carefully thought through the implementation of the project in advance.

Leader projects are decided in two stages. In the first stage, Leader Polaris' local LAG board decides which applications should be prioritized, and in the second stage, the Swedish Board of Agriculture makes the final authority decision.

The LAG board reviews all applications against pre-established conditions and selection criteria, which can be found at here on our website.

Project ideas are received on an ongoing basis, but the Leader Polaris LAG board has four decision-making sessions per year.

1. First deadline for new applications around the turn of January/February – Decision date at the beginning of March
2. First deadline for new applications around the end of April/May – Decision date at the beginning of June
3. First deadline for new applications in early August – Decision date in mid-September
4. First deadline for new applications in mid-October – Decision time around the turn of November/December

Exact dates and deadlines for the next decision-making opportunity are communicated in our calendar here on the web. For more information, you can always contact the development office.

A maximum of 4 applications are processed by the LAG board per decision-making occasion. Queue management of applications is done based on each application's arrival date in the e-service. Since the application cannot be submitted in the e-service without the applicant having been in contact with the development office in the area, it is important that contact is made at an early stage.

Yes, but it is at your own risk. From the day your application is registered in the e-service, the expenses incurred in the project are eligible for support. We strongly recommend that you wait at least until the LAG board has made a decision to prioritize the application.

From the time the LAG board has decided to prioritize an application, it currently (December 2025) takes about 10 months to receive an authority decision from the Swedish Board of Agriculture.