When the South Iceland Development Fund was awarded in April, many interesting and enjoyable things came to light. This year, the fund received 134 applications, divided into 89 cultural projects and 45 business development and innovation projects.
There are seven regional development officer offices in South Iceland, but regional development officers can be found in Mýrdalshreppur, the lower part of Árnessýsla, Vestmannaeyjar, Rangárvallarsýsla, Uppsveitur Árnessýsla, Skaftárhreppur and Hornafjörður. It can be estimated that a number of the projects received by the Development Fund are relevant to the regional development officers, who support and assist with the application process for those who wish to do so, free of charge.
Ingunn Jónsdóttir is the regional development representative for the lower part of Árnessýsla, which includes Ölfur Hveragerði, Árborg and Flóahrepp. The lower part of Árnessýsla received 48 applications for the fund, of which 28 were approved, 23 projects from the category of cultural projects, and 5 from the category of business development and innovation projects. The lower part of Árnessýsla therefore received 20% of the total number of applications in the spring allocation of the South Iceland Development Fund, and 15 million was awarded to the region. Culture and the arts are prominent and it will be exciting to reap all these interesting projects that will see the light of day this year. Projects in the category of business development and innovation often take longer to develop and expand, and we await their results with great anticipation.
Of the 28 projects that received funding, 64% of applicants were women and 36% were men. In the business development and innovation category, the applicants were divided into two men and three women, but it is interesting to see how many women have embarked on this journey that the South Iceland Development Fund offers. Many rewarding projects in the form of music and history, filmmaking and food production can be expected and we look forward to seeing these projects grow and prosper in the coming months.