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Blog: City of Stockholm - From chance to structure

Since October, 23 cities have been working together in the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative to accelerate the climate transition. The nine cities that have been involved since the start in 2019 are now sharing their most important experiences in a series of blog posts. This time it is about the City of Stockholm, which is working to implement pilot and demonstration projects on a larger scale, and sees that Climate City Contract 2030 strengthens the work for a sustainable climate-neutral society.

Climate breakfast 18: Equal children play best - Nordic collaboration for accelerated climate action

For two years, Viable Cities has, through the Nordic Transition Partnership project, supported Nordic collaboration between small and medium-sized cities to accelerate climate work with a special focus on the circular economy. In this Climate Breakfast, we were welcomed by Ulrika Holmgren from Smart Innovation Norway who leads the project, as well as Pelle Hallberg from Gästrike återvinnare in Gävle and Elisabet Farner from Kristianstad municipality with long experience of Nordic collaboration who share challenges and success factors.

Climate Breakfast 17: Innovation leadership for climate-neutral cities

To find solutions to the enormous societal challenges posed by global warming, we must work in new ways, within municipal operations but also across the private and public sectors public organisations. Accelerera, a joint initiative by Vinnova and Viable Cities, will develop support to achieve this. Climate Breakfast 17 was attended by, among others, Anna Fjällström from Accelerera, who is working to develop this support, and by Jenny Ångman, Järfälla municipality, and Sophia Sundberg, Barkarby Science, who talked about their experiences of creating and working in innovation teams.

Viable Cities and partners seek innovators from around the world

Viable Cities and its partners have now launched the Climate Smart Cities Challenge at the Swedish pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. The global competition will - through four cities' climate challenges - accelerate the transition to climate-neutral cities. We are now looking for innovators who want to take part in this important work.

Launching phase 2 of the 2030 Climate Neutral Cities project

Last Thursday 28 October, the highest political leadership of all cities gathered for the launch of Phase 2 of the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative. This means that a total of 23 Swedish cities - representing 40% of Sweden's population - are now working together to accelerate the transition to climate neutral and sustainable cities.

Registration open for EU's 100 climate-neutral cities

The European Commission has now opened registration for cities interested in participating in the 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030 mission. The formal call for applications will open later in November. However, a lot of material is already available in preparation.

Viable Cities Climate City Contract 2030 for export to the EU 

The Swedish Climate City Contract 2030 will inspire the design of the EU Climate City Contract, after Viable Cities became one of the partners in the EU's Net Zero Cities initiative.

- "Viable Cities has an important role in Net Zero Cities - connecting and sharing the lessons from the national climate contract process also in the European work," says Anders Wijkman, Vice Chairman Viable Cities.

Potluck in the architecture of the gaps

During the work on Climate City Contract 2030, several strategic development areas have been identified, areas that need to be strengthened to accelerate the climate transition. One of them is citizen engagement. This spring, Anthesis was commissioned to develop a strategy for how citizens and civil society can be engaged as co-creators of the city's future. On our blog, Agneta Persson, Anthesis, reflects on their findings.
It is also the theme of the Climate Breakfast on Oct. 6.

EU mission for 100 climate-neutral cities launched

The EU has now launched five missions for a new and innovative way of working together and improving people's lives in Europe and beyond. The five missions address major societal challenges such as health, climate and the environment and set ambitious and time-bound targets to be achieved by 2030. One of them is 100 climate-neutral and smart cities - with and for citizens.

It's done - 23 cities in Sweden are leading the way on climate change

It is now clear which 23 cities are joining forces with Viable Cities and four government agencies for climate-neutral and sustainable cities.

- "The transition work that we are doing together in Viable Cities is incredibly important, and has ripple effects both here in Sweden and in the EU. It is therefore very gratifying to be able to welcome another 14 cities that, together with the previous nine, are paving the way for the sustainable cities of the future," says Robert Andrén, Director General of the Swedish Energy Agency.

Government assignment to Viable Cities - to support sustainable development in Northern Sweden

Today it was announced that Viable Cities has been commissioned by the government to support innovation in sustainable urban and community development in Norrbotten and Västerbotten.

- "It is a great honor to receive this assignment, and it fits very well with the processes we are already working on in the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative," says Olga Kordas, Program Manager Viable Cities.

On the blog: Climate City Contract creates engagement and pride

Viable Cities' Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative is growing. From October 1, 2021, more than 20 cities will join the initiative to accelerate the climate transition. The nine cities that have been part of the initiative since the start in 2019 are now sharing their most important experiences in a series of blog posts. First up is Växjö municipality, which has worked for 25 years to become a fossil fuel-free municipality and sees that Climate City Contract 2030 strengthens the work for a sustainable climate-neutral society.

Swedish Climate City Contract 2030 inspires Spain

The Spanish cities of Barcelona, Madrid, Seville and Valencia and representatives of the Spanish government signed a Memorandum of Understanding in September as a first step towards a Spanish Climate City Contract for cities. The inspiration for this comes from Viable Cities' work on Climate City Contract 2030.
- "It feels unreal and wonderful that we have contributed to the development of a Climate City Contract in Spain", says Olga Kordas, Program Manager Viable Cities.

On the blog: Together we are accelerating the pace of climate change in Gothenburg

At the premiere of the Frihamnsdagarna in Gothenburg, the city participated with a seminar series on the theme "Fair climate transition". Participants included civil servants and politicians from the City of Gothenburg as well as representatives from business, civil society and academia. They all agreed that we need to accelerate the pace of transitioning our society to climate neutrality.

On the blog: Taking the pulse of the Gothenburg sharing economy

On the blog, Tove Lund from Sharing Cities Sweden writes about how the City of Gothenburg has coordinated the Sharing City Gothenburg test bed where they have tackled the sharing economy from a consumption perspective. Here we can read about the various services created to promote the sharing economy, ranging from the Toy Library to co-working concepts.

On the blog: Closing 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 do the citizens and entrepreneurs of Sjöstad have to do to realize this goal?

On the blog: Sharing the future in Sege park and how to get there

"Wow, what a journey it has been!" On the blog, project manager Juliet Leonette and her team talk about the work on the sharing economy in Sharing Cities Sweden's test bed in Sege park, Malmö. The goal? In Sege Park, it should be possible to live a good and healthy life with a minimal negative environmental and climate impact - at a reasonable cost.

Transition Lab Forum 6 - Climate Smart Mobility 2030

Most of the greenhouse gas emissions in cities come from transportation, of people and goods. Viable Cities and Drive Sweden are now joining forces to accelerate the transition to climate neutral mobility in our cities, we call the initiative Climate Smart Mobility 2030. Our first joint event, on June 4, offered international perspectives, panel discussions and inspiring examples.

On the blog: Coordinator gives boost to circular economy

The transition to a circular economy is an important piece of the puzzle in the work for climate-neutral and sustainable cities. Umeå municipality was the only Swedish municipality to participate in the OECD circular economy program and has signed the European Circular Cities Declaration. On the blog, Liv Öberg, project manager for the circular economy in Umeå, shares her thoughts on her work.

On the blog: Close the climate gap!

Fill the climate gap, writes Örjan Svane, one of the researchers in Sharing Cities Sweden's test bed in Stockholm, who has followed ElectriCITY's work and the establishment of the Hammarby sjöstad district from the beginning. The district aims to become climate neutral by 2030 through a citizen-driven process developed in collaboration with local stakeholders.

Climate breakfast 12: Circular economy for climate-neutral cities

The last climate breakfast of the season was about circular economy. We were hosted by Liv Öberg, project manager in Umeå municipality. Umeå was the only Swedish municipality included in the OECD program for circular economy and has signed the European Circular Cities Declaration. She was joined by Stina Behrens, Barkarby Science, who drives innovation for sustainable urban development in Järfälla together with the municipality and other stakeholders.

Climate smart mobility 2030 - a joint effort by Viable Cities and Drive Sweden

Viable Cities and Drive Sweden are now launching a collaboration to join forces to accelerate the climate transition in cities, with a focus on climate-neutral mobility. "Now, together with our partners, we want to develop a process that accelerates the transition to climate-neutral and sustainable transport in cities," says Olga Kordas, Program Manager Viable Cities.

30 cities want to take the lead on climate change

We were looking for cities that want to take the lead on climate change. And many do. 30 cities from all over the country have applied to become part of the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative. "We are so pleased with the great interest, and very curious about which cities we will work with in the coming years," says Olga Kordas, Program Manager Viable Cities.

We are looking for a brilliant communicator

Viable Cities is strengthening its communication work. We are now looking for a creative team player who likes to think in new ways, who is also thorough and efficient. Viable Cities offers dedicated and ambitious colleagues and a creative, dynamic and international environment. Deadline 20 May.

Ramboll and Anthesis awarded Viable Cities contract

Our search for partners to develop two strategic projects was very successful - we received over 30 high quality bids. It is now clear who will be commissioned to develop two parallel strategies for the transition to climate-neutral cities. Ramboll will lead the work on the strategy for digitalization and digital tools and Anthesis will drive the strategy for citizen engagement.

Sharing Towns publishes sharing guide for small towns

This spring, the Sharing Towns project will publish a handbook on the sharing economy for small and medium-sized municipalities, with good examples and strategies for successful work. The book is based on Yuilya Voytenko Palgan's framework for how municipalities can run and manage the sharing economy.

Climate Breakfast 10: Allan Larsson on the journey to the climate transition

Climate breakfast in general

Allan Larsson has been Chairman on our board since Viable Cities started, and since then he has made invaluable contributions to our development. At the Annual General Meeting on April 15, he will hand over to a new Chairman. A lot has happened along the way and at Climate Breakfast 10 Allan Larsson developed his thoughts on the journey with Viable Cities and some of the stops along the way. Per Grankvist, our chief storyteller, led the conversation.

The Viable Cities project Xplorion was the Building of the Year 2021

The magazine Byggindustrin has named the Viable Cities project Xplorion "Building of the Year 2021" in the housing category. Xplorion is a house that is built to give the residents the conditions to live climate-smart. Collaboration with others has resulted in innovative solutions. For example, there are alternatives to the privately owned car, so only one parking space is needed.

Climate Breakfast 9: Citizen engagement in Hammarby sjöstad, Sweden

To speed up the climate transition, everyone in society needs to be involved. The Hammarby Sjöstad 2.0 project in Stockholm is a citizens' initiative to reduce the climate footprint of the district. In the project, 55 housing associations with 12,500 residents, companies, researchers and the City of Stockholm are working together to become climate neutral by 2030. Climate Breakfast 9 was hosted by Jörgen Lööf, ElectriCITY Innovation, and Charlie Gullström, Sweco/RISE.

On the blog: Viable Business Hub - a collaboration for sustainable industry in Umeå and northern Sweden

Industry and business have a very important role in the transition to the climate-neutral and sustainable cities and communities of the future. In the Viable Business Hub, several major industries in Umeå and the surrounding area, together with various social actors, have been gathering for a year to develop the sustainable industrial environments of the future.

Climate Breakfast 7: How municipalities structure their climate work

On behalf of Viable Cities, our member Klimatkommunerna has made an overview of how municipalities structure their climate work. Among other things, they have identified some key factors for successful climate transition in cities. Listen to Filippa Borgström, Klimatkommunerna, Elin Sundqvist, Helsingborg City and Sara Olsson, Järfälla Municipality, at the first Climate Breakfast of the spring, which you can watch here.

Time for phase 2 of the Climate Smart Cities Challenge

Phase one of the Climate Smart Cities Challenges, Viable Cities' first global collaboration, closed at the end of January. Now all partners will review the 58 applications from cities across four continents to be selected for Phase 2, the innovation competition that will be launched at Expo 2020 Dubai.

New call: ENUTC - European projects for sustainable urban development

The world's cities are facing major challenges. We need to act quickly, forcefully and together to contribute to more sustainable urban development. You can now apply for support within ENUTC to explore how research and innovation in urban transition processes can contribute to sustainable urban development. The Swedish Energy Agency, Formas and Viable Cities together announce approximately SEK 28 million to Swedish actors in 7-9 projects.

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Viable Cities is a strategic innovation program with the mission Climate neutral cities 2030 with a good life for all within the planetary boundaries. The program is funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, Vinnova and Formas and is coordinated by KTH.

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