LAG Staff Exchange

ELARD's LAG Staff Exchange Program: 3rd edition

The third edition of ELARD's LAG Staff Exchange Program will kick off in April 2013!

During the autumn of 2011 ELARD piloted a new kind of initiative that aims to offer ELARD member LAGs an opportunity for reciprocal, international staff exchange. The purpose of the program is to promote the formation and training of the participants as well as the exchange of experiences, know-how and new ideas between the European LAGs.

The participants of the pilot program as well as the ones of the 2nd edition held in 2012, reported in their feedback that the Staff Exchange offered an excellent opportunity for learning and getting new perspective to their work. Moreover, most of the LAGs who participated were planning to start new cooperation projects with their exchange partners in the future!

Read more about the experiences of the participants of the pilot program!

How does it work?

ELARD coordinates the staff exchange by working as a contact point helping LAGs with similar interests to get in touch.

The staff exchange takes the form of educational visits arranged between two participating LAGs. The partner LAGs are free to define the length of the exchange according to their mutual preferences, needs and situation. Nevertheless, the duration of two weeks is recommended. It is important that the exchange lasts long enough so that the visitor can get a profound picture of the work of the host LAG.

The exchange is reciprocal meaning that the same LAG both sends and receives a visitor.    (Exchange in Hesselberg region. Picture by Ilkka Peltola.)

The financial investment required by the LAG is limited to the travel costs of the staff member sent to the exchange, the normal daily allowances as well as the cost that will incur for hosting the visitor. Please note that ELARD is no position to offer financial support for the practical organization of the exchanges. Before applying, please make sure that your LAG has available the financial resources needed.

The “Partner identification form”, which works as an application for those wishing to participate, should be sent to ELARD (elard@elard.eu) by the end of May 2013. The partner identification process will be carried out by ELARD during May – June 2013 and the pairing proposals will be sent to the LAGs by the end of June.

If both LAGs accept the pairing proposal, the new partners can get in direct contact with each other in order to agree on the exact time of the exchanges, the exchange programs and other practical matters. For a smooth organization of the exchange, the importance of a well-planned exchange program cannot be overly stressed.

The paired LAGs will be free to define the timing of the exchanges by mutual decision.  The exchanges can take place at the very earliest in June and at the latest in December 2013. It is important to note that the practical organizations of the exchanges and planning of the exchange program will take some time.  Hence, the schedule should not be too ambitious.

Timeline of the 3rd Edition: