To accelerate learning among the cities that have chosen to immerse themselves in the development of climate investment plans, Viable Cities organized a study tour to Belgium. By visiting cities with different characteristics and challenges, the group gained insights, ideas and important contacts for the future. The trip brought together a mix of process managers, financial strategists, economic strategists, urban planners, environmental strategists, and researchers.
We face complex societal challenges with declining trust and participation in democracy. To strengthen deliberative democracy in the Nordic region, a network - Nordic Deliberation - has been created. The aim of the network is to build resilient democracies and close the gap between citizens and the representative political system by accelerating the wave of deliberative democracy in the Nordic region. So what is deliberative democracy and why do we need it?
A prosperous municipality with growing pains. This is the socio-economic situation in Kalmar. This conclusion can be drawn from an analysis of the recently developed Social Compass for Kalmar. The focus is on the inhabitants - and their characteristics and conditions linked to where they live in the municipality. How many people go to work? How much do they earn? What percentage are born outside the EU and where do pensioners and families with children live?
Many higher education institutions are already actively contributing to climate transition of cities, but an acceleration is needed! This applies not least to working with students as agents of change as part of both education and research. Here the cities can contribute with relevant questions, recommendations and test environments. How is your institution doing? Use the checklist!
A ketchup effect that goes on a bit in secret. This is how one could describe what is currently happening in local energy landscapes around Sweden and the rest of Europe. Energy communities are here to stay and their potential is great. The question is what the role of municipalities will be in the future.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Drained wetlands will be rewetted to reduce carbon emissions from peat soils. Intercropping and new cultivation methods will increase the amount of carbon in agricultural land. These are two projects run by Kristianstad Municipality to reduce its climate impact.
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?
Mariestad is one of the smaller municipalities in the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative. On our blog, they tell how the municipality is successfully testing hydrogen as a climate-neutral energy source, both for vehicles and to create a climate-neutral preschool.
