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Climate Breakfast 33: How do we accelerate the contribution of higher education institutions to the climate transition?

Climate breakfast #33

Almost all cities involved in the Viable Cities program Climate Neutral Cities 2030 have a higher education institution. They provide highly relevant research and education at different levels. But in what other ways do they contribute to the climate transition and what could they do more of? During this climate breakfast, we explore how higher education institutions can accelerate their contribution to the climate transition, including through collaboration in new ways.

More people in the missions family

Viable Cities Portfolio

It is now clear which consortia will be granted funds within Impact Innovation: Net Zero Industry Programme, Water for Vital Environments, Metals&Minerals, SustainGov and Shift2Access. For Viable Cities, the initiative means that we now have many more colleagues in Sweden.

Room for more Viable Cities pioneer cities

Viable Cities Working together towards climate neutral cities

The door will soon open for more Swedish cities to mobilize for the mission of climate-neutral cities by 2030. In March, Viable Cities will open a new call to further accelerate the local transition journey and scale up the transition.

In what kind of forest does Little Red Riding Hood meet the wolf?

Carl Larsson's painting 'Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf in the Forest' is unmistakably Swedish.

By combining behavioral research and fictional storytelling techniques, we are developing a model for engaging storytelling, the first version of which will be completed before the end of the year. At regular intervals, Per writes about his reflections on storytelling as a tool, based on what is being done, meetings that happen and ideas from people and projects that are inspired.

Viable Cities gets a cousin in Romania - M100

Viable Cities was the first in the EU as a national node for the urban climate transition. For some time now, we have had cousins in Spain, CitiES2030, and in Ukraine, UniCities. Now Romania is joining forces with the M100 node, initially with three cities, which will quickly become 13.

Repeat favorite: Filling the climate gap - part 2

Repeat favorite: Filling the climate gap - part 2

The Hammarby Sjöstad district in Stockholm aims to halve its climate impact by 2030 through a citizen-driven process developed by Sharing Cities Sweden in Stockholm, in collaboration with local stakeholders. But what must Sjöstaden's citizens and entrepreneurs do to realize this goal? Here, Örjan Svane, Professor Emeritus KTH, continues to discuss this.

Theme of carbon sinks in Malmö City

People walking and hanging out at Ribersborg beach during sunset. Västra Hamnen and Turning Torso are visible in the background. Photo: Werner Nystrand

The City of Malmö aims to be climate neutral by 2030 and here we identified opportunities to create large biogenic carbon sinks to compensate for the emissions that cannot be avoided. The biggest impact would be a shift to renewable building materials when meeting the need for new construction. The second largest area for rapid and highly persistent carbon sinks is the large-scale use of biochar in the municipality's agriculture.

Radical implementation theme at European Viable Cities Day

The 2023 version of Climate City Contract 2030 was signed by the political leadership of the 23 cities and directors general from six government agencies and Viable Cities management on December 8. Photographer: Fredrik Persson

With seven years left to achieve the mission of climate-neutral cities by 2030, radical implementation is required. In 23 Swedish pioneering cities, many efforts are currently underway to contribute to the transition in various ways. The European Viable Cities Day on 8 December celebrated successes to date and sharpened future climate action.

Linköping named Europe's most innovative city

The municipality of Linköping yesterday won the EU's iCapital Awards. This is the first time a Swedish city has won the award. The award is given to EU cities that solve societal and sustainability challenges through innovation in an exemplary way.

Repeat favourite: Filling the climate gap

In a concrete and simple way, Örjan Svane, professor emeritus at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, describes the gap between efforts and climate targets and what can be done to bridge it. His starting point is the transition work in Hammarby sjöstad, Stockholm, run by the local association ElectriCITY. The text was first published on the Viable Cities blog in May 2021.

How do we create meaningful dialogue in a polarized era?

When the government official opened the question and answer session, the atmosphere became aggressive and hostile. He had just moderated a panel discussion between representatives of political parties on the topic of norm shifts and racism. People in the audience hurled accusations of bias and surreptitious activism at the moderator. He stepped in and replied: I have not taken sides, I am just delivering facts!

Major investment in digitalization to drive green transition

In connection with the world's largest conference for smart cities, Smart City Expo in Barcelona on November 7-9, the Urban Twin Transition Center is launched. In close cooperation with the Swedish Internet Foundation, Viable Cities, the University of Gothenburg and RISE, the initiative will help Swedish cities to become climate neutral.

15 studies for a faster climate transition

Photo: Ivan Dostal via Unsplash

Citizen engagement, climate investments and regional collaboration have a big impact on reducing emissions, but it needs to be faster. Now 15 initiatives across Sweden are receiving funding to explore how this can be done in a shorter timeframe.

Premiere of MOOC on climate transition of cities

To really speed up the climate transition, many people need to understand, be engaged and be able to contribute. Lund University, in collaboration with Viable Cities, has now launched a Massive Online Open Course, MOOC: Cities, Climate and Change: Pathways and Opportunities.

Luleå and Lund selected as twin cities in NetZeroCities

Visuals for the Twinning program. The image belongs to NetCeroCities.

In September, 40 so-called twin cities were selected for the NetZeroCities twin cities program - a new program within the framework of the EU's mission on climate neutral cities. Lund and Luleå are the two Swedish cities that have been selected and matched with pilot cities.

Climate Breakfast 32: Driving competitiveness through the climate transition

Competitive businesses in climate-neutral cities - how do we accelerate collaboration between municipalities andbusiness? The role of businesses in the climate transition has become increasingly high on the agenda in Sweden and internationally. Viable Cities is therefore investing in the Climate Competitiveness initiative in 2023 to accelerate collaboration between municipalitiesbusiness to both strengthen companies and achieve the mission.

How can cooperation with the US benefit the mission of climate-neutral cities?

The local transformation journey must happen at a rapid pace in cities and communities across the planet. Last week, Lars Johansson, Viable Cities change leader, was in Washington DC, USA, to do just that. How can strengthened cooperation between Sweden and the US contribute to the mission of Climate Neutral Cities 2030 with a good life for all within the planet's borders?

Ten years for climate-neutral cities

At the Viable Cities General Assembly in October 2023, members discussed the strategic development of the program.

Within Viable Cities, today, in 2023, a growing number of cities are mobilizing together with a wide range of stakeholders to accelerate the local transition journey to climate-neutral and sustainable communities. The mobilization is happening at several levels simultaneously - local, regional, national and international. But how did it start?

Climate Breakfast 31: Nature-based carbon sinks for climate-neutral cities

Negative emissions, i.e. the capture of carbon dioxide, have been highlighted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as necessary to meet climate targets. A natural carbon sink - such as vegetation or water bodies - is a feature where carbon dioxide is taken out of the air through a natural process and then stored for a period of time, from a decade to thousands of years. Knowledge about carbon storage in forests and soils has great potential to help municipalities reduce their climate impact, thus contributing to achieving the mission of climate-neutral cities by 2030.

Climate neutral Örebro

Halved electricity consumption, the opportunity for district heating to contribute with negative emissions and a citizens' assembly - a lot is happening in Örebro! Last week, the Viable Cities program office visited the Climate Neutral Örebro kick-off.

Sustainability becomes standard

Successful projects and pilot projects in municipalities are not scaled up. It is more chance than structure that makes projects continue, and it is often down to a single enthusiast to make it happen. How can we move away from this?

Almedalen 2023

Viable Cities Civic engagement in the city

We are organizing 2 sessions, and partnering for a day at the Sustainability Arena at Teaterskeppet. We look forward to the sessions that have broad representation from political leaders in cities, key actors from national government agencies, the European Commission and our sister program in Spain CitiES2030. Together we accelerate the transition to Climate Neutral Cities 2030!

University education to work on climate change and transformative innovation

In collaboration with Viable Cities and Accelerera, Linköping University offers a course for those who work strategically with climate transition processes in municipalities; "Working with climate transition and transformative innovation", 7.5 credits, November 2023 - June 2024. The course aims to deepen and broaden your knowledge of transformative innovation, mission-oriented innovation policy and strategic innovation management in municipalities. The program will also provide a deeper understanding and insight into current research in the field as well as practical strategies and tools for working with climate change.

Viable Cities at the National Climate Summit

Today, Viable Cities was present at the National Climate Summit with our Program Manager Olga Kordas. It is crucial that we continue to work together to accelerate the transition to climate-neutral cities, aiming for a good life for all within the planet's boundaries. We must not forget the human perspective when we talk about the future.

NetZeroCities call for Twin Cities is open

Visuals for the Twinning program. The image belongs to NetCeroCities.

The Twinning program will guide twin cities in their learning and replication efforts from pilot cities, with a practical focus on replicating the systemic transformation methods and innovative approaches demonstrated by the pilot activities, on the path towards climate neutrality.

EU Missions - from policy to implementation

Panel discussion at the Swedish Research and Innovation Office in Brussels (SWERI) (image taken from the recording of the seminar).

As part of Sweden's EU Presidency program, on April 12, the Swedish Research and Innovation Office in Brussels (SWERI) hosted a seminar on EU Missions, focusing on how the missions are translated from policy to implementation. Viable Cities Internationalization Strategist Albert Edman, who is also Senior Project Manager at RISE and focus area leader for Cities and Communities in Change, participated in the seminar in a panel discussion.

Civic engagement

Pierre Mesure, expert on civic engagement

This spring, Viable Cities and Digidem Lab are entering a deeper collaboration on citizen engagement. Pierre Mesure has for 5 years supported municipalities to involve citizens in decision-making, with a focus on the underrepresented in our institutions.

Climate Breakfast 30: Public mobility for climate-neutral cities

Much of the emissions in cities come from the transportation of people and goods, making mobility a key issue in the transition to climate-neutral cities. Climate Breakfast 30 explored how the mobility of the future can be designed for the transition; what sustainable climate-neutral mobility and accessibility can look like in practice; what collective mobility and micromobility are and what role they play; and how Linköping and Järfälla work with mobility as part of their climate transition work.

Is my microphone on?

Press photo from Riksteatern showing the youth ensemble in Växjö.

The performance Is my microphone on? is inspired by the speech given by climate activist Greta Thunberg on April 23, 2019. The performance is written for an adult audience and is performed by youth ensembles around Sweden. It depicts young people's concerns, fears and frustrations, and connects to how we now need to speed up the transition to climate-neutral cities by 2030.

Accelerate for successful transition

In the transition towards social, economic and environmental sustainability, innovation can be a powerful enabler. By equipping key people in municipal projects and municipal management with tools, strategies and skills, Accelerera builds concrete knowledge about innovation, creates new behaviors, and enables transformative change and increased sustainability.

Rebuilding cities in Ukraine to become climate-smart

Many of Ukraine's cities are destroyed and bombed out. A new EU initiative - UniCities - led by KTH, and initiated and coordinated by Viable Cities program manager Olga Kordas, will support actors in Ukraine to build skills to rebuild the cities so that they can become climate neutral and sustainable for the future.

Climate-neutral Kristianstad - site visit

This week, the Viable Cities program management has met with the municipal executive committee, managers and colleagues in Kristianstad municipality and several other actors in and outside the municipality to look forward together. What does a climate-neutral Kristianstad look like in 2030? How do we get there? In which areas does the work need to be sharpened? Who needs to be mobilized in order for us to move forward faster?

Three of the Viable Cities Climate Neutral Cities 2030 are part of the NetZeroCities Pilot Cities Program.

Among the first group of 53 cities from twenty-one countries selected to initiate climate action through the NetZeroCities Pilot Cities Programme are three of the Viable Cities Climate Neutral Cities 2030. Working individually and together, these cities will implement systemic and locally tailored innovative actions spanning multiple areas. The 53 cities have been selected from a wide range of over 100 applications.

Viable Cities Program Manager Olga Kordas will participate in the Sweden Innovation Days.

Viable Cities Program Manager, Olga Kordas, will join the conversation on The climate city contract - At the EU, national and municipality levels, during Day 2 of Sweden Innovation Days! The conversation will cover how to build cooperation between citizens, politicians, businesses and civil servants, how national, regional and local levels need to cooperate in new ways, and how to do it all faster.

Viable Cities Chairman Cecila Schelin Seidegård receives a medal from The King.

We are incredibly proud that our Chairman, Cecilia Schelin Seidegård, receives HM the King's medal in the 12th size in the ribbon of the Order of the Seraphim "for outstanding social contributions". We are all extremely happy for Cecilia, and proud that she is leading Viable Cities' important work forward with a view to climate-neutral cities in 2030 with a good life for everyone within the boundaries of the planet!

Climate breakfast 29: Sustainable urban development

On behalf of Vinnova, Sweco has investigated key actors and environments in innovation for sustainable spatial planning. The results will form a strategic basis for Vinnova's continued work to support innovation that contributes to sustainable urban development. At this climate breakfast, parts of the results are presented together with reflections.

Future engagement in Viable Cities

Viable Cities is now entering a new phase where the strategic innovation programs are being redesigned. The next generation of innovation programs "Impact innovation" will be stakeholder-driven and long-term efforts to contribute to global competitiveness through the transition to sustainable development. Let's explore what the future of engagement in Viable Cities might look like!

EU inspired by Viable Cities

Last week, Lund was also visited by Patrick Child from the European Commission! Patrick Child is responsible for Mission Cities, an initiative where a hundred cities in Europe will become climate neutral by 2030. In the interview, Patrick says that the most interesting thing from the visit to the city is Lund's mobilization around the climate neutrality agenda, where the authority works together with citizens and companies and explores different governance models for the mission climate neutral cities 2030.

Multi level governance in practice

Patrick Child, mission manager for climate neutral and smart cities and deputy director general of DG ENV, is visiting Sweden in the context of the Swedish presidency in the European Union. Today, Viable Cities hosted a meeting where the acceleration of the mission was discussed with participants from multiple levels; European, national, local. Prominent participants from the European Commission, Swedish government agencies, the City of Stockholm, and stakeholders from different parts of society.

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Viable Cities is a strategic innovation program with the mission of achieving climate-neutral cities by 2030, ensuring a good quality of life for all within the planet’s limits. The program is funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, Vinnova and Formas and coordinated by KTH.

Viable Cities is funded through a joint initiative by the Swedish Energy Agency, Vinnova, and Formas

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