Viable Cities

Viable Cities

Linköping talks about climate work now and in the future

Mikael Sanfridson, Mayor of Linköping, talks about Linköping's climate work during the year and how the municipality will increase its ambitions and the pace of climate change in the future. The film is recorded before European Viable Cities Day 2022 where 23 Swedish cities in the Viable Cities initiative Climate Neutral Cities 2030, of which Linköping is one of them, sign the 2022 Climate City Contract 2030.

Borlänge talks about climate action now and in the future

Lena Lagestam, Chairman of the Board of Borlänge Energi, talks about Borlänge's climate work during the year and how the municipality will increase its ambitions and the pace of climate change in the future. The film is recorded before European Viable Cities Day 2022 where 23 Swedish cities in the Viable Cities initiative Climate Neutral Cities 2030, of which Borlänge is one of them, sign the 2022 Climate City Contract 2030.

Lund talks about climate action now and in the future

Anders Almgen, Chairman in the municipal board in Lund, talks about Lund's climate work during the year and how the municipality will increase its ambitions and the pace of climate change in the future. The film is made ahead of European Viable Cities Day 2022, where 23 Swedish cities in the Viable Cities initiative Climate Neutral Cities 2030, of which Lund is one, sign the 2022 Climate City Contract 2030.

Smart City Expo World Congress

Smart City Expo World Congress (Barcelona, November 15-17) is the leading international event for the smart city sector, a key meeting point for experts and leaders of the world's most innovative cities, companies, research centers and international organizations. Over 24,000 professionals are expected from more than 700 cities and over 400 international speakers that will share their vision on how to build a more sustainable and livable urban future.

Evolving dialogue on climate change in Götepod

In all 23 cities that are part of Viable Cities' Climate Neutral Cities 2030 program, intensive work is underway with citizen engagement where they experiment with different forms. For more than a year now, Gothenburg has hosted Götepod, where city architect Björn Siesjö talks to guests about Gothenburg's urban development from different perspectives. In episode 18, he was visited by Karin Bjerner, Development Manager at the Environmental Administration, City of Gothenburg and Viable Cities Learning Strategist Lena Holmberg.

Gothenburg's climate transition from a geopolitical perspective

Carl Mossfeldt, who heads Gothenburg's climate transition function, used Karin Boye's poem Ja visst gör det ont in his opening speech at Lindholmen Open Day to illustrate the situation in which Gothenburg and many other cities find themselves in terms of daring to let go of the old. In his speech, he also emphasized the importance of seeing the climate transition in a geopolitical perspective ...

Climate Breakfast 25: Leadership and capacity building for climate neutral cities 2030

Viable Cities Climate Breakfast

The transition to become climate neutral 2030 requires that cities work in new ways. In this climate breakfast we explore how the cities of Valencia and Stockholm have handled this challenge in terms of leadership, organization and capacity building. We also learn more about new tools such as portfolio management and the role of intermediary organizations such as citiES 2030 in Spain and Viable Cities in Sweden, for supporting this development.

Developing and testing new innovation methods for complex societal challenges

Viable Cities System Demonstrator

The development of so-called system demonstrators is a way to enable system innovation with great power and mobilization to meet complex societal challenges. With system demonstrators, Vinnova and Viable Cities want to test and demonstrate the transformation of a system in a real environment, where space is created for experiments and where areas with great potential can be scaled up. Six projects have been granted funding for a design phase.

Viable Cities participates at SCEWC

Smart City Expo World Congress (Barcelona, November 15-17) is the leading international event for the smart city sector, a key meeting point for experts and leaders of the world's most innovative cities, companies, research centers and international organizations. Over 24,000 professionals are expected from more than 700 cities and over 400 international speakers that will share their vision on how to build a more sustainable and livable urban future.

Click here to learn more

System demonstrators for faster climate transition in cities

Viable Cities System Demonstrator

In response to the climate crisis, the world's cities must make a huge transition. The whole notion of urban life and how we travel, eat, shop, work, build and heat homes must change to address climate change. This requires a systemic shift that involves new innovative approaches and solutions that include multiple dimensions such as policy and regulation, business models, behavior and infrastructure. Thus, a new form of intervention, called system demonstrator, has been developed by Vinnova and Viable Cities as a way to enable system innovation to meet complex societal challenges with great power and mobilization. Read more on Vinnova's website.

Study visit to Drottninghög

H22+50 The session in the city of Helsingborg ended with a study visit. Viable Cities Lena Holmberg chose to go to Drottninghög, which aims to be a socially, ecologically and economically sustainable neighborhood.

Wide range of people at the Urban Future conference

The Vinnova and Viable Cities workshop "Essential system transformation" gathered a wide range of people at the Urban Future conference in Helsingborg on June 1. Co-facilitated by UN-Habitat and Dark Matter Labs, experiences from the work of the Climate Smart Cities Challenge were transferred to the design of system demonstrators for climate-neutral cities in Sweden.

Lunchtime seminar on climate communication

The researcher Sol Agin from Karlstad University participated today in our lunch seminar on climate communication where she presented results from her research. There is much to learn from her analysis of the consequences of different ways of communicating to different target groups where the expectation of the sender plays a major role.

Climate Breakfast 23: Seven Swedish cities in the EU Cities Mission - what does it mean?

Climate breakfast in general

Gävle, Gothenburg, Helsingborg, Lund, Malmö, Stockholm and Umeå. It is now clear which Swedish municipalities will now be part of the EU's mission for climate-neutral cities in 2030 - Cities Mission. A total of 100 cities across Europe have been selected. But what does this mean for the cities that joined? And how can it contribute to the climate transition in all Swedish cities?

How can cities reduce emissions by 20% this year?

Already this year, emissions in Sweden need to be reduced by more than 20 percent to meet our share of the Paris Agreement's 1.5 degree target. This is according to a carbon budget developed by WWF together with researchers at Uppsala University. Meeting the target requires a completely different societal transition than the one currently being discussed in the Swedish debate. So how can cities accelerate their climate work and help to speed up the climate transition? Lars Johansson explains more about this in his blog.

Steps towards a climate-neutral Borlänge 2030

On April 11, thirteen actors gathered in Borlänge to launch and manifest the partnership they have entered into to accelerate the transition to a climate-neutral Borlänge by 2030. On the blog, project manager Salomon Abresparr tells us about the gathering of forces around a local Climate City Contract.

Viable Cities Olga Kordas - one of Sweden's sustainability champions

The magazine Aktuell Hållbarhet has now published the list of the country's most powerful people in sustainability. Viable Cities Program Manager Olga Kordas is ranked 34th.
- "It's fantastic to be on the list," says Olga Kordas. I am honored and see it as the entire Viable Cities team has been appointed, we do this job together.

Help shape the EU's climate transition

The European DUT partnership, of which Viable Cities is a member, is now looking for participants from Swedish cities for three thematic city panels: one will be on energy positive districts (PED), another on circular economy and the third on 15-minute cities. The deadline for cities to register their interest is April 25.

External call for proposals from Formas: Climate neutral and inclusive municipalities

The societal challenges we face relate not only to climate change but also to housing segregation, exclusion and health inequalities. With less than 10 years to go before the 2030 Agenda goals are achieved, the time to act is now. It's time to turn knowledge into action and ensure that research is put to good use in order to transition to a sustainable society that does not exceed the planetary boundaries.

Climate Breakfast 22: Events as the engine of the climate transition

Events are a growing billion-dollar industry and a key component of the economy and profile of many cities. At the same time, they are an increasingly important tool for community development. The joy and excitement of an event is something special. There is a strength and power to influence and change. This is why events have a great potential to contribute to, push and accelerate the climate transition.

Vinnova and Viable Cities in design phase for system demonstrators

Achieving the mission of climate-neutral cities by 2030 requires a transformation of the entire social system. We need to work in completely new ways and find solutions that encompass all dimensions that affect our lives: from regulatory frameworks and business models to the behavior of all citizens.
Vinnova, Viable Cities and several cities are now developing a new tool to achieve this - system demonstrators. Anna Gemzell from Umeå municipality believes the tool can make a difference.

Mini meeting in Borlänge paid big dividends 

Gävle, Borlänge and Eskilstuna are three of the "newer" municipalities in the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative. This week, the project managers from the three met at the Palladium in Borlänge for joint learning.
- "There is great value in developing existing and finding new forms of cooperation between the cities when climate work is accelerated," says Evelina Loberg, project manager in Gävle municipality.

Climate Breakfast 21: From the EU to Karlstad - circular economy for climate-neutral cities

Nature is a good example of a circular system, nothing becomes trash that needs to be disposed of, everything is recreated into something new. To keep the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees, we need to find circular systems for the resources we use. During Climate Breakfast 21, we went from broad brushstrokes in the EU to local initiatives in Karlstad. How can the circular economy contribute more to the climate transition?

Transition Lab Forum 8: Climate mobilization at all levels

During Transition Lab Forum 8, we shared experiences from Skellefteå as part of the transition in northern Sweden, and we explored some key issues in the transition process and Climate City Contract 2030 - multi-level governance, sustainable construction, business strategies for sustainability and citizen engagement. The power of the transition in the north is a golden opportunity to use to accelerate the climate transition throughout Sweden and the world.

Climate Breakfast 20: Building with wood - sustainable and strong!

Climate breakfast in general

Many of the emissions we need to address come from construction, including the materials used, such as concrete. But it is possible to use other materials, the forest contributes a material that is both strong and sustainable. Sustainable construction in wood is the theme of Climate Breakfast 20, where we are hosted by Tomas Nord from RISE / Smart Housing Småland and Britt-Inger Brisádottir, development strategist, Gustaf Ulander, project manager, both from Skellefteå municipality.

Climate Breakfast 19: A deep dive into Climate City Contract 2030

Climate breakfast in general

This breakfast is hosted by our program manager Olga Kordas, who develops the thoughts about Climate City Contract 2030's innermost essence, and by Henrik Johansson from Växjö municipality and Charlotte Brynielsson from Kalmar municipality. Both municipalities are part of the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative and will talk about the value of Climate City Contract, the iterative process, what they have achieved and their plans for the future. Welcome to the Viable Cities Climate Breakfast 2022!

Call #10 open: Solutions for sustainable mobility in European-Chinese cooperation program.

Do you want to contribute to the development of sustainable urban mobility? Now you can apply for support for Swedish participation in the call for proposals within the European-Chinese cooperation program ERA-Net Cofund Urban Accessibility and Connectivity Sino-European. The Swedish Energy Agency and Vinnova with Viable Cities and Drive Sweden together announce about SEK 9 million to Swedish actors.

377 European cities want to become one of the 100

Yesterday, the call for expressions of interest to become one of the 100 cities in Horizon Europe's Mission 100 Climate Neutral Cities closed. In total, 377 cities have submitted an application, representing 18% of the EU population. However, the countries from which the applications come are not specified.

9 Swedish organizations finalists in the Climate Smart Cities Challenge

From nearly 200 entrants, 45 innovative companies from around the world have now been selected to tackle climate challenges in four cities. All entries were reviewed by experts, representatives from the four cities and Climate Smart Cities Challenge partners, including Viable Cities and UN-Habitat. Nine of the finalists are from Sweden.

Net Zero Cities website launched

The Net Zero Cities website is now launched. Here you can find more information about the EU initiative for climate-neutral cities, which Viable Cities is part of. Among other things, we will contribute to the development of a European Climate City Contract, Climate City Contract. You can find the website here: netzerocities.eu