Nordic-Baltic stories of LEADER and rural crisis preparedness

In Nordic-Baltic and eastern countries, where rural crisis preparedness is becoming increasingly important for National Networks (NNs), LEADER is increasingly contributing to rural resilience and security through projects focused on community safety and self-sufficiency.

Communities are strengthening everyday cooperation and building capacity for the unexpected. Rather than waiting for disaster to strike, they are rehearsing, training and connecting now, so that if and when ‘normal’ life is disrupted, neighbours know what to do and who to turn to.

On 28 October 2025, the webinar ‘Rural Readiness – How Communities can be Prepared and Resilient’, organised by Network2Innovate, showcased four approaches – from Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Sweden – that are strengthening rural preparedness through LEADER and CAP funding.

While these initiatives differ in scale and context and are shaped by local needs and resources, they share a common conviction: preparedness begins long before a crisis occurs.

Sweden: making crisis preparedness part of everyday life

The project ‘Redo’ (‘ready’ in Swedish), led by LAG Leader Sjuhärad, began with a simple question: what kinds of crises could affect us here and what would we actually do?

Those early discussions evolved into a broad collaboration involving eight municipalities, community centres, adult education associations, preparedness experts and NGOs such as the Red Cross and civil defence organisations.

To make preparedness tangible and welcoming, ‘Redo’ organised the ‘Pepp & Prepp’ fair, where over 60 exhibitors offered a mix of demonstrations and hands-on activities to more than 2 000 participants. Attendees learned practical skills, like lighting fires safely, filtering water and cooking outdoors, while also getting to know local emergency and response actors.

At the same time, ‘Redo’ focuses on making preparedness part of community life, not a one‑off campaign.

The project is equipping local drivers and entrepreneurs who spend a lot of time on the road with defibrillators, training them in first aid and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and linking them to Sweden’s SMS Lifesaver system. Thus, ordinary people on everyday routes turn into potential first responders: when someone nearby needs help, these volunteers receive an alert through the GPS-based app and can often arrive before the ambulance, dramatically shortening response times in situations where every minute counts.

Finland: building a rural air response network

In the Southern Savonia region of Finland, the story begins with a problem that is both very local and very modern: vast stretches of dark forest, scattered farms and limited capacity to search quickly when people or animals go missing, or when storms damage power lines.

Rather than accept these limitations, reservists and local actors launched the LEADER project KX and its follow-up, KX2, which trained and equipped volunteers with drones to provide aerial and ground support for authorities in case of search and rescue missions, in a region with little existing aerial capacity.

The projects attracted young people, many of whom might never have joined traditional search-and-rescue teams, but enjoy learning how to search with thermal cameras rather than ‘just walking in the woods’.

As a result, a 24/7 drone alert team is now based at Mikkeli Airport, ready to support police, the voluntary rescue service and electricity companies during major disruptions. This volunteer‑run 'air force' makes the countryside safer and more attractive to those who live there and has become the largest operator of this kind in Finland, with "a large network of experts and persons with a comprehensive security mindset," as explained by Oliver Lohman, readiness manager, Saimaan Drone Oy.

Everyday resilience

Other examples shared at the N2I webinar, partly funded by LEADER, show that resilience is not only about sirens, shelters and plans; it is also about trust, everyday cooperation and recognising that every citizen and small organisation matters long before a crisis makes the headlines.

In south-eastern Estonia, the small village of Peri is “a perfect story of resilience, with the local community working side by side with the rural municipality,” notes Karl Tammiste (Estonian Rescue Services Agency).

Peri has transformed its library and community centre into a resilience hub offering information, assistance and support during emergencies. When a 28‑hour power cut hit the area, residents were able to come to the centre to charge their phones, stay warm and get updates whilst the village was in darkness.

In an inventive initiative, sports competitions at the village’s annual summer games were given a civil defence twist: activities included packing evacuation backpacks, memorising essential items in just minutes, finding ‘victims’ in basements, filling sandbags, and even shooting down drone targets. Preparedness became a shared, confidence‑building experience involving some 150 participants from all age groups. Peri is sharing its experience with other villages and offering practical advice on crisis planning and equipment.

In Latvia, civil society organisations such as the Latvian Platform for Development Cooperation and Civic Alliance Latvia took the lead in building a framework for coordination between authorities and civil society to respond to crises – including massive refugee arrivals or extreme weather events.

They convened tabletop exercises where municipal officials, NGOs, fire and rescue services and volunteers sat around the same ‘imaginary’ crisis map to clarify roles, identify gaps and develop a shared language. These led to policy reflections, online training opportunities, events, a national NGO working group on civil protection and, eventually, new national guidelines on how local governments can engage citizens in emergencies.

Shared lessons

Across these four initiatives, the common elements are clear. Despite the different contexts and tools, each starts from a specific local gap and builds solutions that will last beyond the lifecycle of a single project.

Importantly, each project treats residents in rural communities as co‑creators of safety, and in each case, public authorities and communities learn to see one another as partners rather than strangers on opposite sides of a bureaucratic divide.

The message from Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Sweden is clear: if people learn, train and build trust together now, when there is still light, electricity and time to talk, they will be far better prepared to stand together when the unexpected comes. If the community can work together in times of peace, it can also work together in times of crisis. LEADER is a key tool to make this all possible.

Network to Innovate (N2I) is a collaborative initiative bringing together the NNs of Nordic-Baltic countries to foster innovation and knowledge exchange in agriculture and rural development. The initiative was originally launched by Estonia and Finland as a follow-up of joint events on smart villages and EIP-AGRI Operational Groups and now includes Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Poland as core partners.

Since February 2022, N2I has organised a series of thematic workshops covering topics such as smart villages, digitalisation and artificial intelligence in agriculture. These online events provide structured opportunities for stakeholders to exchange knowledge and build partnerships across borders, supporting innovation under national CAP Strategic Plans and strengthening Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS).