Viable Cities is a network organization and the program office is staffed by KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, Lund University, RISE - Research institute of Sweden, and SEI - Stockholm Environment Institute. We are also supported by a number of expert advisors.
The program team is geographically distributed and works from different locations around Sweden. Hemmet is our central node on Campus KTH, Villan is our northern node in Umeå and soon we will also have a southern node, Byn in Lund. KTH is the host organization of the program. Most of the team works part-time for Viable Cities, often in projects with external funding.
Olga Kordas
Program Manager (Viable Cities/KTH)
Middle node
olga.kordas@viablecities.se
Olga has been the Viable Cities Program Manager since 2017 and is also a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Urban Development at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Olga has always been fascinated by science and the beauty of mathematics, while being passionate about issues related to sustainable development, climate and democracy. Her main research interests are complex systems, innovation systems, participatory modeling and reflexive learning aimed at energy and climate transition in cities.
Åsa Minoz
Deputy Program Manager / Innovation Strategist (Viable Cities/KTH)
Mittnoden
asa.minoz@viablecities.se
Åsa has been part of the Viable Cities program management since 2018 and has the role of innovation strategist. She has a background in innovation policy with experience from Vinnova and the Government Offices. For a number of years, she has run her own company in innovation for sustainable social development and is also an experienced process manager and strategic communicator.
Albert Edman
Internationalization Strategist (Viable Cities/RISE)
Norrnoden
albert.edman@viablecities.se
Albert coordinates the internationalization work of Viable Cities and the link to the EU mission platforms NetZeroCities, CapaCITIES and Driving Urban Transitions. He also contributes to the development of the link with the New European Bauhaus. Albert splits his time between Viable Cities and RISE. He has a background in sustainable community development at European and national level from the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning and the Swedish Institute for Ecological Sustainability and several Swedish municipalities.
Anna-Lena Ekenryd
Communication Strategist (Viable Cities/KTH)
Mittnoden
anna-lena.ekenryd@viablecities.se
Anna-Lena has experience in journalism, communication and leadership. From helicopter perspective to word choice, Anna-Lena works to ensure that Viable Cities' communication accelerates the transition to climate-neutral and sustainable cities. Communication must explain, inspire and facilitate action. This is done, among other things, through an active presence in digital channels and through a number of meeting places for change leaders during the year. Anna-Lena also coordinates the Viable Cities communication network KOM2030 and works with the long-term strategic communication work.
Anette Olovborn
Strategic designer (Viable Cities/DML)
The hub
anette.olovborn@viablecities.se
Anette is a committed change leader and designer with a passion for the environment and sustainability. She is driven by the desire to build a society where we live within the limits of the planet and everyone is included with equal value. She has extensive experience in leading organizations and driving service and business development in both the public and private sectors in roles such as manager, service designer, project manager and trainer. Within Viable Cities, Anette works with the initiative on system demonstrators.
Carina Aschan
Project Manager (Viable Cities/RISE)
Norrnoden
carina.aschan@viablecities.se
Carina works primarily internationally within NetZeroCities with a focus on multi-level governance, just transition, collaboration and climate-neutral cities. Carina has many years of experience in international collaboration, sustainability work and innovation in urban development and Smart Cities. She has previously worked strategically with sustainable growth and urban development at the municipal level, but also with business development and infrastructure issues regionally and internationally, as well as with sustainable mobility and fuel and energy issues. Carina divides her time between Viable Cities and RISE Samhällsbyggnad.
Caroline Byh
Communications Strategist (Viable Cities/KTH)
Mittnoden
caroline.byh@viablecities.se
Caroline Byh leads the work of Viable Cities' communications team. She has previously worked for the Swedish United Nations Association, where she was communications and collaboration manager for the Glokala Sverige project and project manager for the annual Mötesplats Agenda 2030 conference. Prior to that, Caroline worked at the Quit Smoking Helpline (Region Stockholm) in various roles, including change communication, campaigns, events, MI coaching, and collaboration. She has a background as a designer and graphic designer. Caroline is passionate about climate issues and is one of the Swedish EU Climate Pact ambassadors for 2026 and a board member of the Climate Club.
Charlotte G Brynielsson
Sustainability Strategist (Viable Cities/KTH)
Mittnoden
charlotte.g.brynielsson@viablecities.se
Charlotte focuses on supporting the transition towards a holistic approach to sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda. She also works with the collaboration of multi-level governance and supporting structures, to scale up and increase the pace of the transition. Charlotte has extensive experience of development and change work from local, regional and international levels, among other things, she has been head of sustainability in Växjö and Kalmar, where she was responsible for the municipalities' work within the framework of "Climate Neutral Cities 2030".
Daniel Dersén
Digitization Strategist (Viable Cities/Internet Foundation)
Mittnoden
daniel.dersen@viablecities.se
Daniel is part of the project management of the Urban Twin Transition Center, which works with digitalization as a tool for the climate transition. He has previously held leading roles in the internet, e-commerce and telecom companies, including as CEO of Spray, Studentkortet, Plus46, Telenor, and others.
Erik Engström
Analyst (Viable Cities)
Middle node
erik.engstrom@viablecities.se
Erik is a senior climate analyst and focuses on supporting cities in data collection and climate calculations to facilitate follow-up and reporting of the measures in their transition work. This is partly done by developing and offering methods, guides and systems for this, as well as identifying the need for new indicators and key performance indicators. The work contributes to improving the basis for decision-making to drive the transition work forward. Erik is passionate about the transition to a sustainable society, which has been his guiding principle as he has defended his PhD in atmospheric science, worked with climate change, climate adaptation, meteorology and air environment at SMHI and most recently as a sustainability consultant and senior advisor at Goodpoint.
Erik Tellman
Analyst (Viable Cities)
Middle node
erik.tellman@viablecities.se
Erik is working in the Climate City Contract 2030 process, supporting the cities' work on the joint commitments, with a particular focus on agricultural carbon sequestration. Through knowledge coordination, increased measurability and identification of multiple benefits, the work aims to strengthen decision-making and implementation and contribute to achieving climate goals.
Jonas Persson
Project Manager Internationalization - PED (Viable Cities/RISE)
Mittnoden
jonas.persson@viablecities.se
Jonas works with the Viable Cities international initiative, focusing on the Positive Energy District (PED), one of the Transition Pathways within Driving Urban Transitions (DUT). Jonas has several years of experience in the energy transition of cities and districts in both strategic and operational work. Through innovation management, stakeholder-driven collaboration and process and project management, the focus is on increased resource utilization and sector coupling, interaction between different technologies, proptech, energy communities, positive energy districts and the energy issue in the planning process. Jonas divides his time between Viable Cities and RISE, where he works at the Energy and Resources department.
Josefin Levander
Project leader
(Viable Cities/RISE)
Sydnoden
josefin.levander@viablecities.se
Josefin is a committed and communicative strategist and project manager with 15 years of experience from public organisations, from the Council of Europe to region, government agency and most recently from the City of Malmö where she has worked on developing the city with the help of digitization. Josefin divides her time between Viable Cities international process / Driving Urban Transitions and RISE where she is employed. Her main focus is sustainable community development and supporting cities in their transition work, including through experience and knowledge exchange.
Karoliina Pilli-Sihvola
Researcher (Viable Cities/KTH)
Middle node
karoliina.pilli-sihvola@viablecities.se
Karoliina's expertise is climate change adaptation, and her focus in Viable Cities is the integration of climate change mitigation and adaptation. She is working on Climate City Contract 2030 and the Viable Cities international initiative. She has previously worked at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the National Audit Office and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Finland.
Lars Johansson
Coordinator Climate Neutral Cities 2030 (Viable Cities/RISE)
Mittnoden
lars.johansson@viablecities.se
Lars works primarily with the 48 municipalities in the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative, for example with transition support and change management at system level. Lars has a background in politics, public administration, academia, business and the innovation system, and has in various roles and contexts worked with sustainability and climate since 2004. During 2019-2021, Lars worked within Climate Neutral Uppsala 2030 and close to Climate Neutral Enköping 2030 as innovation leader and advisor.
Luciane Borges
Project manager, temporary (Viable Cities/RISE)
Mittnoden
luciane.borges@viablecities.se
Luciane is an architect and researcher, with a PhD in Planning and Decision Analysis from KTH Royal Institute of Technology. In her work, she focuses on sustainable and inclusive urban development, where she particularly contributes with expertise in urban design, regional mobility and green infrastructure planning. Luciane is committed to developing governance and cooperation frameworks that foster partnerships between different sectors and actors, in order to enable innovation and effectively implement solutions that contribute to reaching climate goals.
Madelene Törnkvist
Trainee (Viable Cities/RISE)
Mittnoden
madelene.tornkvist@viablecities.se
Madelene is passionate about transition work towards a more sustainable society that puts the well-being of people and the planet in focus. She comes from a technical education with a focus on systems theory, sustainability, transition and leadership. Her interest lies mainly in the transformation of systems and structures that can be developed to strengthen trust and collaboration within society and also believes in the local drivers of social, ecological and economic sustainability. As a trainee, she is working on how to support process leaders in cities according to innovation leadership standards.
Madeleine Bergman
Communications Officer (Viable Cities/KTH)
Mittnoden
madeleine.bergman@viablecities.se
Madeleine is part of the Viable Cities communication team. She contributes, for example, with an active presence in digital channels, as well as by planning and implementing a number of meeting places during the year, such as the Climate Breakfast and the Transition Lab Forum. Madeleine also contributes to the development of communication as a strategic tool for accelerating the climate transition, for example through the KOM2030 communication network.
Maria Tengvard
Internationalization Strategist (Viable Cities/KTH)
Middle node
maria.tengvard@viablecities.se
Maria has many years of experience in international collaboration and leading climate, energy and business development initiatives from a Quadruple Helix perspective. She has previously worked strategically with export promotion, urban development and climate policy at municipal, regional and national level. At Viable Cities, Maria works mainly internationally within NetZeroCities and CapaCITIES, with a focus on multi-level governance, collaboration and climate-neutral cities.
Marie Ivarsson
Internationalization (Viable Cities/RISE)
Middle node
marie.ivarsson@viablecities.se
Marie works within Viable Cities with internationalization with a focus on the European partnership Driving Urban Transitions where she is part of the management team and leads the work package responsible for impact. Marie shares her time between Viable Cities and RISE. She has a long background in innovation and research policy and international collaborations at regional, national and EU level with experience from the Government Offices and Region Västra Götaland.
Natalie Gustafsson
Innovation Leader (Viable Cities/RISE)
Mid-Node
natalie.gustafsson@viablecities.se
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Olena Tatarchenko
Administrator (Viable Cities/KTH)
Middle node
olena.tatarchenko@viablecities.se
Olena is a research engineer in sustainable technologies. She has previously been involved in research and administration of several international projects such as Climate Neutral Urban Districts in Europe (CLUE), Central Baltic Cooperation in Energy Efficiency and Feasibility in Urban Planning (ENEF), and Alive and KICing - Products and Services of Living Smart City Energy Lab. Olena works in Viable Cities on financial and practical matters, planning and administration.
Olle Dierks
Head of Large Scale Investments and Chairman of Team Sweden Smart Cities (Viable Cities/KTH)
Mittnoden
olle.dierks@viablecities.se
Olle leads, among other things, system demonstrators for climate-neutral cities and an initiative for cooperation between Sweden, the EU and the US for climate-neutral cities. Olle is Chairman for Team Sweden Smart Cities, one of about ten sub-groups within the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Team Sweden, coordinated by Viable Cities. He shares his time as a specialist on partnerships for innovation and investment at UN-Habitat.
Patrik Rydén
Collaborative Strategist (Viable Cities/LU)
South Node
patrik.ryden@viablecities.se
Patrik is one of Viable Cities' veterans. Patrik has more than 15 years of experience working with innovation and development. Within Viable Cities, he coordinates the work with calls, is the spider in the web when calls are planned, opened and closed, and not least, he is the one who can answer questions from all stakeholders. Patrik works 50 percent for Viable Cities from his position at Lund University.
Per Grankvist
Chief Storyteller (Viable Cities/What We Know)
Middle Node
Per works to explain things in a thoughtful and entertaining way that creates understanding, relationship and commitment. He is working on developing a storytelling method that will increase engagement and understanding of the climate transition in cities and communities.
Per Lindahl
Member Strategist (Viable Cities/RISE)
Nordnoden
Per works to include and engage Viable Cities members in the work for climate neutral cities. With experience from evaluation, innovation support and business development in civil society in Sweden and the non-profit sector in Canada, he has a special interest in how the transition can be made in a way that is inclusive and contributes to a good life for everyone.
Rebecka Engström
Researcher (Viable Cities/KTH)
Middle node
rebecka.engstrom@viablecities.se
Rebecka works on exploring and conceptualizing how cities can demonstrate systemic change in the energy system beyond pilot and demo projects - for example in system demonstrators - and how their transformative potential can be evaluated along the way. She also builds on her previous research on how climate adaptation, resilience and risk perspectives can be built into the transition work in cities from different perspectives.
Sara Ghaem Sigarchian
Process management internationalization PED (Viable Cities/RISE)
Mittnoden
sara.ghaem@viablecities.se
Sara works within the Viable Cities international initiative focusing on the Positive Energy District (PED), one of the three Transition Pathways within Driving Urban Transitions (DUT). She has broad experience in renewable energy systems, decentralized solutions and energy communities, through both research and innovation projects. Sara splits her time between Viable Cities and RISE, where she is a researcher and project manager, leading projects related to energy communities and local energy systems.
Sara Brave
Analyst (Viable Cities/KTH)
Middle node
sara.modig@viablecities.se
Sara works with analysis and follow-up of Climate City Contract 2030. She has a long background in research and innovation policy, with experience from Vinnova and the Government Offices. She has also run her own company in innovation for sustainable social development and worked as a consultant with design-driven development of services, organization, strategy and systems. Sara is passionate about people's potential and power to learn, grow and co-create a sustainable society.
Sofie Sandin Lompar
Analysts and researchers (Viable Cities/LU)
Sydnoden
sofie.sandin-lompar@viablecities.se
Sofie is involved in the Climate City Contract 2030 process, where she follows climate policy developments and trends at local and global level, and analyzes the development of Climate City Contract. She will also be involved in refining the policy lab format to address practical challenges and drive actionable changes. Sofie has both experience and passion for environmental policy instruments and their evaluation, and she will split her time between the Viable Cities program team and research at Lund University.
Therese Bennich
Researcher (Viable Cities/SEI)
Central node
therese.bennich@viablecities.se
Therese is a researcher and program manager with a background in sustainability science, economics, and systems analysis. Her work at Viable Cities focuses on supporting cities' climate transitions through analysis of climate investments and strategic planning.
Parents on parental leave
Celine Berggren-Clausen, Process Manager for Internationalization (Viable Cities/RISE). Available from summer 2025.
Lovisa Vildö, Process Manager (Viable Cities/RISE). Available from summer 2025.
Jonas Joelsson, Process Manager for Internationalization (Viable Cities/RISE). Available from fall 2025.
Expert advisor
Viable Cities expert advisors include:
Viable Cities expert advisors include:
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