Today, Viable Cities program director Olga Kordas and John Hultén, program director for Shift Sweden, have co-authored an opinion piece in Aktuell Hållbarhet arguing that Sweden must push for sustainable urban development in the EU's next framework program for research and innovation, Horizon Europe.
The European Commission's current focus risks steering us away from the major societal challenges of our time and instead prioritizing technology-oriented and short-term competitiveness-driven initiatives.
This is problematic, and Sweden needs to take a clearer position now that the next framework program is up for negotiation, the authors write.
Cities account for 70 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions and are the arena where innovation and climate solutions must be implemented. Sweden has a strong ecosystem for collaborative research and innovation—something that risks being weakened if the EU shifts its focus away from mission-oriented and system-oriented work.
Read the entire debate article at Aktuell Hållbarhet
