Sollerö Parish Association

A hub for the parish's development

Background

Sollerö Parish Association is a non-profit association. It was formed on November 13, 1994. The first parish meeting was held on January 21, 1995 in a packed municipal building.

The initiative was taken at a meeting at Hembygdsgården the summer before in the wake of the campaign Hela Sverige ska leva, in which Sollerön actively participated with a group affiliated with the Hembygdsföreningen. At the meeting, pressing issues and the need for joint action for the good of Sollerön parish were discussed.

Several large meetings were held during the autumn with broad participation. Four issues were highlighted as topical and particularly important: a new bridge between Sollerön and Gesunda, the future of the municipal building, a village museum and the independence of Sollerö parish. An ideas list/bank with 75 ideas and proposals for measures was also produced and several working groups were formed to address the good ideas.

Purpose

The intention from the beginning was to create a forum or hub for the development of the parish where everyone would have an influence. The most important tasks were to stimulate collaboration within the parish and represent the area externally, primarily towards the municipality but also the County Administrative Board and other authorities, such as the then Swedish Road Administration.

The purpose of the association is described in the statutes as follows:

Sollerö Parish Association shall:

  • Together with the local associations, organizations and interest groups, work towards community and cooperation in the area and the development of the area's common interests.
  • Work to increase residents' influence over planning and decisions about the development of the area and thereby strengthen local democracy.
  • The association shall be non-partisan.

The association's statutes

 

 Organization – parish assembly, parish council, parish office and working groups

Several variants of the organizational form were discussed in detail. One alternative was that an existing association would take on the responsibility. The most suitable were considered to be the Local History Association and the Sports Association. Another alternative was to establish an association council, where the parish associations cooperated, but without any new association formation. A third alternative was a “regular” association with personal membership and membership fees. In the end, it was decided that “everyone” should be members – a general membership without membership fees. This is what the statutes state.

"Members are all registered and property owners with families within Sollerö Parish. Members over 15 years of age have the right to vote."

The intention was to distinguish the association from the parish's other 65 associations, the local community association excluded, which have the same relatively unusual organizational form. It would bring the idea of a small municipality – but of course without statutory powers and obligations. It was also important that the young people and those who were not involved in other existing associations were given space and influence.

The parish meeting is the highest decision-making body and the board is called the parish council.

Johan Boström was elected chairman of the first parish council, Ulla Göransson as secretary and Birgitta Wik as treasurer. Other regular board members: Staffan Bond, Gunnar Israelsson, Helmer Nilsson and Hans Persson. Substitutes: Kisti Mats, Hol Hans Persson, Eva Smeds-Danielsson, Dan Svensson, Sylvia Svensson, Ulrika Thorell and Mats Wik.

Gertrud Olsson was elected as elected auditor with Anna-Britta Svensson as deputy and also Per-Anders Hjelm and Gunnel Gyllander, both from Komrev Mora, appointed by Mora municipality.

The composition of the parish council has of course changed over the years, but the chairmen have been in office for quite a long time. Johan Boström was chairman from the start in 1994 to 2008, a total of 14 years. After that, Bosse Andersson took over until 2014, and then Staffan Bond, who is the association's current chairman.

Ever since its inception, the parish association has had a small office, a parish office, which has served as a meeting place and administrative hub. It was initially staffed by Monica Bäck and later by Mikael Eriksson for many years until 2020.

The activities were organized into working groups, where interested people were given space for their creativity and commitment. Already in the first year, 20 working groups were up and running. Several groups worked in the form of study circles. Although many initiatives were taken, it was obvious not to do what the other associations and companies in the area were already doing or planning. On the contrary, the ambition was to stimulate others to take action. In the early years, when many in the parish became unemployed in the wake of the national economic crisis, the association had many employees with the help of labor market funds.

Major projects, development plans and referrals

The parish association has addressed many important issues for the parish and has run major projects, several financed by EU funds. Examples include:

  • New Sollerön-Gesunda bridge with footpath along the road embankment and cycle path Gruddbo-Levsnäs
  • Soil Diversity/Sustainable Sollerön, including many initiatives to keep our beautiful cultural landscape open
  • Discover Sollerön about tourism and entrepreneurship
  • Soldtackan – a resource center for women that resulted in the Emgart weaving house and Lafvas Collector's Museum, among other things.
  • Sollerön Viking Village with many sub-projects that gave good results – and Soldi Café/Viking Museum which unfortunately had to close after a few years. But the house remains to the delight of, among others, Odd Fellows who acquired the building.

A local economic analysis (LEA) and several development plans for the parish have been produced, the most recent in 2013. During 2020-21, a special project was run primarily for the development of Sollerö city center, Båkkan, and which also included other parts and activities within the parish. The Business Improvement District, BID, method was used with Svenska Stadskärnor as the responsible party. In the plans that have been produced, the parishioners have prioritized initiatives for the development of the district, most of which they can manage themselves and some that have required the participation of Mora municipality in particular.

The association has served as a consultation body and provided comments and suggestions to the municipality on road maintenance, traffic safety, development programs, physical plans, etc. The association has also collaborated practically with the municipality on the library, premises rental, etc.

Much has been done

Many ideas and suggestions from the original idea list/bank have been implemented. Some under the auspices of the parish association, others by other associations, companies, individuals, the municipality and authorities, primarily the Swedish Road Administration, now the Swedish Transport Administration. Examples are

  • Completion and extension of the apple tree avenue
  • Fruit orchard to inspire fruit growing and make use of apples from the avenue
  • The Viking ship Bjork, cultural trail at the Viking burial ground, restoration of the sacrificial fountain, more replicas of the rich grave finds, and brochures and writings about the Viking Age on Sollerön
  • Reconstruction of the Steamboat Pier and improvement of the harbor in Bengstarvet
  • New pier and boathouse at Bäckstabadet
  • Sollerömålet - the dictionary Färdär fra Soldi
  • A follow-up to the Gruddboboken – Return to Sollerön by the Nordic Museum
  • The book series Markernas Mångfald with the books Sollerö Flora, the Herb Garden on Sollerön Äppelträdsallén
  • Mukå 99 – archaeological excavation at the burial ground which unfortunately yielded meager results
  • Clearing the island's crown ditch
  • Two grazing associations Ser Sjön and Fårskallarna – both unfortunately now defunct
  • Hiking trail around the island that needs improvement
  • Village play about the parish saint Malin
  • Markets, exhibitions and theatre performances
  • Pre-study on a circular preschool – which became a regular and a cooperative
  • Place name boards and notice boards in the villages
  • Improvement of roads, such as Sundsvägen, "Burmavägen" and the Vinäs bypass
  • Efforts for Sollerön's once well-developed mountain pasture system - resulted in, among other things, the purchase and restoration of Lundgard in Gesunda
  • Inventory of old log houses in the countryside
  • Bus tours on weekends

A lot that was not on the first list also became the subject of the association's efforts early on, e.g. school forest with a shed, Soldi Café, pensioner bingo, initiative for the Church Head of the Year award and Tännsilma in Estonia as a twin town. A more recent example is Sollerömacken, which is run by the parish company Sollerö petroleum AB. It was completed after diligent work by many on the board, primarily Bosse Andersson and Rune Bäck. The fibreing of the parish is another example with both mobilization of property owners and extensive contacts with Mora Stadsnät.

There are things that have taken time to come to fruition. Sollerö Parish Hall has now finally become a reality through the Parish Association's takeover of the municipal building. Extensive improvements have been made since 2016 when it was purchased for 1 krona by the municipality. A fitness center can now be said to exist in the form of a multi-arena at the Sports Park and Hälls Gym in the Business Building.

A current improvement is increased traffic safety by reducing the speed to 40 km/h at the entrances to the buildings on Sollerön. This was completed in the spring of 2021. A significant amount of work has been done to stimulate outdoor activities and market the parish for both moving in and visiting. The latest is brochures with marked trails for hikers and cyclists as well as information signs at many interesting places.

Wind money good resource

In the autumn of 2007, an agreement was reached with the then Vindkompaniet regarding wind/local funds from the eight windmills on the mainland. A wind group with representatives from the Parish Association and the Local History Association decides on how the funds will be used. The windmills are now owned by EnBW Sverige AB. So far, 1.6 million SEK has been distributed to 37 associations for 90 investments and projects. The largest investment is 100,000 for the gas station. Some other examples are the Gesunda-Ryssa cycle path, frisbee golf course at the Sports Park, improvements to Strandstigen, improvements to the Rävnäs bathing area in Bodarna, restoration of the threshing machine and improvements to the dam in Mångberg, driving trips to Romania and Germany and defibrillators in the parish's general store Koopen and at Stoltgården.

Parish office with website and parish magazine

The parish office has been located in various locations, for the past 15 years in the current Parish House. Since Mikael Eriksson left in 2020, the office has been staffed by volunteers with limited opening hours. The website has been gradually developed by Torbjörn Nääs. The Solleröbladet is managed by Ninna Lundin and distributed by about ten village representatives. It provides valuable information in all mailboxes in the parish.

Parish resident of the year

The "Parishion of the Year" award is presented to parishioners who have worked for the good of the parish in a meritorious manner. The menu under the Parish Association includes everyone who has received the award since 1998.

Current board

See The Parish Council in the menu under "The Parish Association"

 

More to do, new challenges

The parish house is in a state of disrepair and in recent years the renovation has taken up both energy and money. But continued improvements are needed, which require a financial buffer. A lot of other things are also in the pipeline. Among the initiatives highlighted in the latest development plans are a more attractive, accessible and traffic-safe Båkkan, an expansion of the Stoltgården retirement home, which is so important for Sollerön, with both dementia and senior housing, the construction of cheap apartments for young people, among others, preservation of the cultural landscape/land use and the participation of young people in the development of the parish.

Some current projects and activities include improvements to traffic safety within the parish, improvements to Strandstigen, establishment of a communication hub with a church boat as an eye-catcher in the center of Sollerö, efforts in Klikten for the cultural environment and accessibility, participation in the Vildmarksriket project in the forest area between Sollerön, Siljansnäs and Dala Järna and in efforts to restart and develop operations on Gesundaberget.

We are constantly facing new challenges. We must be prepared for that. The parish association must initiate and run projects and processes and take on tasks that the parishioners find important.

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