At today's Annual General Meeting, the Viable Cities board has new leadership. New Chairman after departing Allan Larsson is Cecilia Schelin Seidegård, former county governor and hospital director. The new vice Chairman is Anders Wijkman, Chairman in the Club of Rome and Climate-KIC.
At the Viable Cities Annual General Meeting on 15 April, Allan Larsson, Chairman of the Board and an invaluable driving force since the program was at the idea stage, stepped down. He was surprised during the meeting by video greetings from many colleagues he has worked with over the years, from the cities in the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative, from the Board and government agencies.
- "We are extremely grateful for Allan's dedication to the development of the program, his experience and visionary skills have been invaluable. We will miss him," says Olga Kordas, Viable Cities Program Manager.
- At the same time, it is great that we have such a strong new leadership of the board. It will be exciting to continue to develop the business and Climate City Contract 2030 together with them.
To new Chairman Cecilia Schelin Seidegård was elected, she is a biochemist and has held leading positions in both the private and public sectors. Among other things, she has worked at Astra Zeneca, she has been hospital director at Karolinska Hospital and governor of Kalmar and Gotland counties. She has also been Chairman for the KTH Board.
To Vice President Chairman Anders Wijkman, social commentator and Chairman in the Club of Rome since 2012. He has a past as a politician and has also been Secretary General of the Swedish Red Cross and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.
- The climate transition will largely be decided in cities. This is where a majority of the population lives and where at least 70% of CO2 emissions are generated. Individual technology solutions are not enough to make the transition. What is needed is a change at the system level. Viable Cities stands for a systems approach and I would like to help develop and spread it," he says about the new assignment.
A new member was also elected, Magnus Thulin, Chief of Staff, City of Stockholm. He replaces Gunnar Björkman who, like Allan Larsson, has contributed a lot of energy to the development of Viable Cities.
The meeting also approved the annual report and the direction of the program for phase 2, 2021-2023.
