Hela Sverige ska leva was established in 1989 as the result of a campaign under the theme "All Sweden shall live".
The depopulation of the Swedish countryside formed the setting for this campaign. Especially the sparsely populated areas in the northern inland regions faced a troublesome situation with a lack of jobs and service facilities. The ones who moved away were mostly young people. The villagers felt abandoned by the authorities.
The aim of the campaign was to mobilise the people in the rural districts and to change the attitudes of the general public and the decision makers. Last but not least, the objective was to improve national rural policies.
The campaign was very successful. Letters were sent across the country that filled up with suggestions, ideas and demands from individuals and various organisations levelled against the government. When the official letter was handed over to the politicians, it contained approximately 6 000 suggestions and demands that treated the rural issues!
At the end of the campaign around 1 000 village action groups had formed. The most important insight we gained by this is the enormous capacity that the rural population can muster.
There is hope for every village if only people are given the chance to act.
