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System demonstrators for climate-neutral cities

The transition needed to achieve climate neutrality by 2030 requires bold new approaches to fundamentally change our social and economic systems. We need to work in new ways and find solutions that cover all the dimensions that affect our lives.

The ambition of the System Demonstrators for Climate Neutral Cities is to play an essential role in cities' ability to accelerate the transition towards climate neutrality by 2030. They are expected to generate high visibility and engagement locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

The overall mission of Climate City Contract 2030: Climate-neutral cities by 2030 - with a good life for all within the limits of the planet, underpins the system demonstrator initiative.

What are system demonstrators and why do we invest in them?

Viable Cities, Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency and others government agencies within Climate City Contract 2030 are investing in system demonstrators to create new approaches that accelerate the transition to climate-neutral and sustainable cities.

Achieving climate neutrality by 2030 requires bold new approaches that target change in multiple parts of a system simultaneously. This is what system demonstrators are meant to do, to become a force for mobilization for transition within the long-term process of Climate City Contract 2030.

The action will enable radical action towards scaling up, and help create the "new normal" in areas that are key to making transition happen in practice.

System demonstrators in Sweden

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Viable Cities System Demonstrator

STOLT Stockholm

The City of Stockholm and its partners will work for a comprehensive transition of travel habits, land use and vehicle fleet in Stockholm's inner city. This is a step towards an emission-free inner city and a climate-positive Stockholm in 2030. In the system demonstrator, the environmental zone planned in central Stockholm will be used both as an engine and a window of opportunity in the quest for a transport-efficient and emission-free transport system that eventually extends far beyond the boundaries of the zone.

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Viable Cities System Demonstrator

CoAction Lund

In one of Sweden's most densely populated areas with heavy traffic, Lund, together with a number of stakeholders, will create a mobility system with reduced emissions while maintaining accessibility. The mobility system will also be linked to a local climate-neutral energy system in the area where energy is produced and shared between the properties.

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Why is a new approach needed?

The concept of system demonstrators has emerged from the realization that previous initiatives, such as pilots and test beds, have rarely led to the systemic changes that a transition to climate neutrality requires. In particular, solutions and lessons learned have often been difficult to scale up on a large scale. An important idea of system demonstrators is that they should overcome the often recurring limitations of other initiatives when it comes to system change. These include, for example:

  • interventions often take the form of isolated projects focusing on individual solutions and limited contexts (see portfolio approach).
  • that project duration is often short (3-4 years), while system change requires a longer period of time.
  • that the mandate to pursue innovation is often limited and leaves out issues related to policy, behavior and financial logics.
  • that underlying structural challenges are not sufficiently addressed
  • they do not aim to change underlying relationships, power structures and value flows in existing systems.

One of the clearest characteristics of the system demonstrator is the strong emphasis on systemic perspectives, which is reflected in the emphasis on considering systemic dimensions in the analysis of the current situation and in the design of measures.

What is a system demonstrator for climate-neutral cities?

System demonstrators for climate-neutral cities are a new form of intervention that aims to address deep structural challenges within a designated and delineated system, thereby accelerating and amplifying the transition to climate neutrality. A system in this context can be both a specific physical location and one or more interconnected thematic domains (e.g. mobility or energy). What should be crucial in defining and delineating a system is its potential to create the 'new normal' - locally, nationally and internationally.

Visualization of some of the key components of a system demonstrator in practice

Common mission

Common mission

Ecosystem of actors

Ecosystem of actors

Multidimensional portfolio of interventions

Multidimensional portfolio of interventions

Local test bed

Local test bed

Learning and scaling up

Learning and scaling up

Creating the new normal

Creating the new normal

System demonstrators pave the way for large-scale transformation of systems and communities by illustrating in practice how a neighborhood or area can look, feel and function differently.

The shared mission serves as a guide to identify the transformations needed to achieve the mission, and a lever to identify and implement sustainable and scalable solutions.

Participating actors in the system demonstrator are involved in planning and implementing actions. The actors mobilized represent a wide range; public and private sector, academia and citizens / civil society.

Together, the actors develop a portfolio of interventions with the potential to change the system based on ideas, concepts and solutions, which are combined into innovation interventions. These are designed to be system-changing in one or more dimensions, such as governance, management and regulations, culture, behaviors and values, infrastructure and technology, and financing, purchasing and business models. As the interventions are implemented, developed and deliver results, they can be analyzed and revised, based on how well they lead to the mission and what impact they have on the system as a whole and on individual actors.

The innovation actions are implemented in practice in the system demonstrator, anchored in a geographical location or real environment to evaluate its impact and results. Learning by doing and continuous reflection means that the results of the interventions are monitored and analyzed over time, in order to adapt interventions, add actors and change direction if necessary to scale the changes to the system level.

Learning as a continuous activity is needed to understand and develop the system, to identify new skills and abilities needed and to enable scaling up and creating the "new normal" (in the city, nationally and internationally). This type of learning should include both what works and what does not. It is also important to enable learning between different actors in the system.

The purpose of system demonstrators is to find possible pathways that build new capabilities and structures that become the "new normal" climate-neutral way of living, dwelling and working in our cities. When new business models, collaborations, technologies, processes and regulations are scaled and broadly influence our values, norms and change our behaviors, the perception of what is normal shifts. The system has then switched to a new climate-neutral normal.

How are system demonstrators designed and built?

Dimensions of change

To change societal systems, several dimensions of the system need to be addressed, such as governance and regulations, infrastructure or financing, procurement and business models. These dimensions can be seen as leverage points or hindering/enabling factors. If the conditions are in place, it is easy, but if they are missing or sub-optimized, it takes more to bring about the change, or it is hindered completely.

The role of digitalization in a system demonstrator

There is widespread agreement that digitalization plays an important role in the path to climate neutrality. The World Economic Forum has estimated that digitalization can contribute up to one fifth of the needed carbon reductions by 2050 in energy, materials and mobility.

Digitalization should be a central tool in both the establishment and operation of system demonstrators. For this reason, it is important that a system demonstrator has expertise in digitalization, an understanding of its role in a system demonstrator for climate-neutral cities, and a plan for how digitalization will be used. It is important that the person(s) with digitalization skills have a central role in the orchestration of the system demonstrator.

It is the hope of Viable Cities and the Climate City Contract 2030 authorities that system demonstrators will lead to a general strengthening of digitalization skills and understanding of its potential for the transition to climate-neutral cities.

Climate Investment Plan

The system demonstrator should have clear links to the climate investment plan on which the city will work according to Climate City Contract 2030. It is also important that the lessons learned from the system demonstrator influence the design and further development of the climate investment plan. One ambition of the system demonstrator initiative is also to generate lessons from work on climate investment plans that can be shared with other 2030 cities. A climate investment plan as part of Climate City Contract 2030 covers both municipal investments and investments made outside the municipal sector, including the private sector.

Four-step model

Four overlapping, iterative steps help structure the process of designing and building system demonstrators. The four steps consist of key activities that help set the direction for effective implementation of the system demonstrator.

Key stakeholders co-create and formulate a mission specifically for the system demonstrator, based on the overall mission of climate-neutral cities with a good life for all within the boundaries of the planet. Climate City Contract 2030 is an important entry point in the process.

A mapping and analysis of the current system is carried out jointly by all stakeholders, based on five system dimensions:

  • Business models, financing and procurement
  • Policy and regulatory framework
  • Behaviour, culture and values
  • infrastructure
  • Technologies, products and processes

Key actors in the system jointly identify structural barriers and challenges to achieving the system demonstrator's mission based on the five system dimensions.

Based on the system analysis, the mission and the identified challenges and barriers, the actors in the system demonstrator co-create a portfolio of plans and actions, linking all efforts into a larger whole.

Calls for system demonstrators for climate-neutral cities in Sweden

In a close collaboration between Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency and Viable Cities, and in consultation with others government agencies involved in Climate City Contract 2030, three calls have been created to enable system demonstrators in Sweden.

In 2022, the first nine Viable Cities cities were invited to participate in a design phase. The design phase moved into a planning phase in October 2024, when two cities, Stockholm and Lund, continued working on their respective initiatives. In June 2024, two projects, Stockholm's initiative STOLT (formerly SnabbSam) and Lund's initiative CoAction Lund, were granted funding for a two-year implementation phase from June 2024 to June 2026.

The first step in the initiative for system demonstrators for climate-neutral cities was Viable Cities and Vinnova's call #11 System demonstrators for climate-neutral cities, design phase. The design phase, which has already been completed, was open to the first nine cities that signed Climate City Contract 2030, and was available in spring 2022. The ambition was that the system demonstrators would strengthen the cities' ability to accelerate the transition to becoming climate neutral by 2030.

Six projects were supported in the call, aiming to develop ideas and proposals for system demonstrators, mobilize stakeholders, identify barriers and deepen the understanding of the system. The project duration was September 2022 to February 2023.

The second part of the initiative on system demonstrators is structured in two calls from Viable Cities and Vinnova: call #12 System demonstrators for climate-neutral cities, planning phase.and System demonstrators in practice (spring 2024).

The purpose of the planning phase was to create the processes, structures and functions necessary to establish a full-scale system demonstrator for climate-neutral cities. Completion of the planning phase is a prerequisite for receiving funding under the System Demonstrators in Practice call.

In call #15 System demonstrators in practice, the system demonstrator moves from the planning phase to establishment and implementation. The larger budget included in this phase makes it possible to gather stakeholders on a broad front and implement the measures identified to achieve the system demonstrator's mission. Based on the mission, actions are designed and implemented in an iterative way. System Demonstrators in Practice runs for two years. Two projects were granted funding in the planning phase, SnabbSam in Stockholm and CoAction in Lund, and they are the only ones that can apply for and be granted support in System Demonstrators in Practice.

Read more in the white paper written by Vinnova and Viable Cities.

System demonstrators in the world

Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm, Sweden

Lund, Sweden

Lund, Sweden

Bogotá, Colombia

Bogotá, Colombia

Bristol, United Kingdom

Bristol, United Kingdom

Curitiba, Brazil

Curitiba, Brazil

Makindye Ssabagabo, Uganda

Makindye Ssabagabo, Uganda

Around the world, system demonstrator-like initiatives are underway. Viable Cities is collaborating with UN-Habitat on system demonstrators for climate-smart cities in four non-EU countries under the joint Climate Smart Cities Challenge.

Sister initiatives and partnerships

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Two school children, photo: Johnér
11 June 2024

Rallying for climate-neutral mobility in Stockholm and Lund

The City of Stockholm and the Municipality of Lund are mobilizing actors in an innovative initiative to accelerate the transition to climate-neutral cities. The cities are placing particular focus on transport and mobility. They are each receiving SEK 20 million from the Swedish Energy Agency and Vinnova under the Viable Cities innovation program.

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Fictional stories of system demonstrators in practice

System demonstrators may sound complicated. To explore what they could achieve in our cities and towns, we have created these three speculative examples from 2035. Each one tells the story of the impact of successful system demonstrators in fictional cities, but based on real-life experiences.

Click on an example to travel into the future and discover an interactive timeline showing how these fictional system protesters evolved.

Reconstruction of blocks

How do we achieve a step change in the pace of modernizing our neighborhoods and cities so that every citizen has a healthy, affordable and climate-resilient place to live?

This story explores how an imaginary town, Cradockville, got there in 2030, by exploring how it designed and implemented a "system demonstrator".

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Urban tree pitcher

How do we achieve a step change in the pace of modernizing our neighborhoods and cities so that every citizen has a healthy, affordable and climate-resilient place to live?

This story explores how an imaginary town, Cradockville, got there in 2030, by exploring how it designed and implemented a "system demonstrator".

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Mobility shift

How do we achieve a step change in the pace of modernizing our neighborhoods and cities so that every citizen has a healthy, affordable and climate-resilient place to live?

This story explores how an imaginary town, Cradockville, got there in 2030, by exploring how it designed and implemented a "system demonstrator".

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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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