Current focus: Collaboration, digitalization, innovation, and circularity to accelerate climate change mitigation.

Then, from 2024:

  • Created a new type of climate fund that engages non-profit organizations.
  • Strengthening the role of civil society through the SPIRA network
  • Organized Transition Lab Forum 19 with 200 participants
  • During Terra Viva, a sustainability festival in Linköping organized by the municipal company Sankt Kors together with Klimatklubben Linköping, we tested organizing the event "Hurra för klimatet" (Hurray for the climate) for the first time. The aim is to gather together everything good that is being done in Linköping to accelerate climate change and showcase it, as well as celebrate the successes together!
  • Began to take a national leadership role in "Twin Transition" together with RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
  • Continued distribution of test bed checks to SMEs with climate-smart solutions
  • Expanded transition team and brought in the twin town of Mjölby Municipality.
  • We welcomed four new members to the Linköping Initiative and two Mjölby companies as trainees. In December, we signed a new agreement covering the period 2026-2028. We have brought the Linköping Initiative closer to Climate Neutral Cities 2030 by drawing inspiration from good examples from other cities' local Climate City Contract.
  • The Climate Council has submitted its first report, which this year focuses on mobility and sustainable transport.

Goals and decisions:

Net zero by 2045. Decided by the municipal council via the Climate and Energy Program. Ambitions have been raised through increased external collaboration and broader use of tools.

Deep dive into Linköping's transition

In the city's latest update, they talk about the work, the transition arena, the project portfolio and much more.

I am particularly proud of how broadly we have anchored the transition in Linköping. This is not a project for a single administration—it is a joint commitment for the entire city. The business community, civil society, the university, and our young people – everyone is involved. The Climate Fund, our test bed checks, and the circular transition arena are concrete examples of how we are creating participation and enabling innovation.
Pictured: Mikael Sanfridson (S), Mayor of Linköping Municipality.
Mikael Sanfridson (S)
Mayor of Linköping Municipality

Stare and steal

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- Now it is easy to know exactly where we should implement measures in our property portfolio, says Martin Ekdahl, Operations Manager at Stångåstaden.

For the past two years, small and medium-sized enterprises in Linköping municipality have been able to apply for test bed checks. The aim is to speed up the climate transition by giving companies space to test innovative ideas in reality together with municipal companies. And the positive results have not been long in coming.

2025

Other cities and stakeholders are warmly welcome to draw inspiration from several aspects of our work. These include:

  • Green Travel Plans – where we test and scale up structures for more sustainable everyday travel in broad collaboration with various actors and within an Accelerator project in 2025.
  • Innovation support through test bed vouchers, which enable companies to test and scale climate innovations in real urban environments.
  • And last but not least – our model for supporting and collaborating with civil society, as a fourth force in climate change. Through initiatives such as SPIRA, the Climate Fund, and Smarta Kartan, we are creating participation, support, and change from the grassroots level and upwards.

2024

Linköping highlights additional actions that they believe could be of particular interest to other municipalities to spy and apply. Contact the process leader to spy and apply.

  • Smart map Linköping - The smart map shows places where you can rent, share, swap, borrow, repair and buy recycled goods in Linköping. You can find the map here.

Linköping Climate City Contract 2030

Climate City Contract 2030 is a collective effort to achieve the climate transition that we need to implement in a short time to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees. It is an agreement between municipalities, government agencies and Viable Cities where all parties undertake to make a concrete contribution to increasing the pace of climate change.

Linköping invests and tests

To achieve deep change, we need to move from fragmented projects to an ecosystem of efforts that all pull in the same direction. Cities are doing this together with Viable Cities, funders government agencies and other partners, in different constellations and with different objectives. It is about moving beyond dealing with symptoms and instead focusing on underlying problems in our social structure. Here you will find the initiatives and studies within the city that have been granted funding under Viable Cities.

[It does not appear that the city has any ongoing initiatives at this time.]

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Linköping works internationally

In November 2023, the municipality of Linköping was the first Swedish city to win the EU's iCapital Awards. The award is given to EU cities that solve societal and sustainability challenges through innovation in an exemplary way.