Two Swedish system demonstrators for climate-neutral cities recently held their fall meeting. The initiatives, in Lund and Stockholm, are leading the way and exploring how to work to implement the radical systemic changes required for the climate transition. The initiative is part of the Viable Cities Climate Neutral Cities 2030 mobilization, which currently includes 23 Swedish cities.
The purpose of Current Sustainability's ranking is to show how far municipalities have come with the climate transition and highlight the challenges that exist. 14 of 16 cities that placed in the top are 2030 cities and mobilize for the mission of Climate Neutral Cities 2030 within Viable Cities.
The fourteen Swedish and Spanish cities among 112 European Cities Mission cities have created a joint declaration for the EU Cities Mission - Development Declaration for the Cities Mission: Upscaling the EU Cities Mission - European cities and platforms joining hands. The aim is to strengthen and develop the work of the Mission, accelerate the pace of the transition and support cities in their important work towards climate neutrality by 2030.
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.
Already ten years ago, the journey towards the strategic innovation program Viable Cities began. To further accelerate the transition and strengthen Viable Cities' presence across Sweden, Viable Cities' new office and meeting place in Umeå was inaugurated this week.
The EU Cities Mission to deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030 include seven Swedish cities; Gothenburg, Gävle, Helsingborg, Lund, Malmö, Stockholm and Umeå. The seven Swedish Mission Cities have formed a joint Development Statement, which solidifies the Swedish cities' support of the visions of the Spanish Mission Cities, as well as stresses the need for a common strategy on "scaling as the new normal" when working towards climate neutral and sustainable cities. The statement was presented at the 1st Swedish Cities Mission Forum in Umeå, Sweden, on May 29th 2024.
The room was full of warmth and energy during the Stockholm Spring School on April 24-26. This was appreciated by the participants, as the city did not show its most welcoming weather to the representatives from cities all over Europe. People from around 25 of the 112 mission cities in Europe were present at the NetZeroCities Spring School, organized by Politecnico di Milano (Polimi) and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), in Stockholm. Previous editions of the Seasonal School have taken place in Spain, Italy and Hungary.
On March 6, 2024, we opened a call that gives several Swedish cities the opportunity to increase the pace of transition and show the way for others in Climate Neutral Cities 2030 3.0. During this Climate Breakfast, we talked about the international aspect of Climate Neutral Cities 2030 and what role internationalization plays in the local transition work.
Viable Cities is, together with Sweden-US Green Transition Initiative and partners, exploring collaboration between Sweden, the European Union, and the United States, towards climate-neutral and smart cities globally.
Many higher education institutions are already actively contributing to climate transition of cities, but an acceleration is needed! This applies not least to working with students as agents of change as part of both education and research. Here the cities can contribute with relevant questions, recommendations and test environments. How is your institution doing? Use the checklist!
With seven years left to achieve the mission of climate-neutral cities by 2030, radical implementation is required. In 23 Swedish pioneering cities, many efforts are currently underway to contribute to the transition in various ways. The European Viable Cities Day on 8 December celebrated successes to date and sharpened future climate action.
Citizen engagement, climate investments and regional collaboration have a big impact on reducing emissions, but it needs to be faster. Now 15 initiatives across Sweden are receiving funding to explore how this can be done in a shorter timeframe.
In September, 40 so-called twin cities were selected for the NetZeroCities twin cities program - a new program within the framework of the EU's mission on climate neutral cities. Lund and Luleå are the two Swedish cities that have been selected and matched with pilot cities.
The climate transition in Sweden is now taking a big step forward. Lund Municipality and the City of Stockholm have been granted funding to develop a powerful tool for the transition to climate-neutral cities.
We are organizing 2 sessions, and partnering for a day at the Sustainability Arena at Teaterskeppet. We look forward to the sessions that have broad representation from political leaders in cities, key actors from national government agencies, the European Commission and our sister program in Spain CitiES2030. Together we accelerate the transition to Climate Neutral Cities 2030!
Last week, Lund was also visited by Patrick Child from the European Commission! Patrick Child is responsible for Mission Cities, an initiative where a hundred cities in Europe will become climate neutral by 2030. In the interview, Patrick says that the most interesting thing from the visit to the city is Lund's mobilization around the climate neutrality agenda, where the authority works together with citizens and companies and explores different governance models for the mission climate neutral cities 2030.
Anders Almgen, Chairman in the municipal board in Lund, talks about Lund's climate work during the year and how the municipality will increase its ambitions and the pace of climate change in the future. The film is made ahead of European Viable Cities Day 2022, where 23 Swedish cities in the Viable Cities initiative Climate Neutral Cities 2030, of which Lund is one, sign the 2022 Climate City Contract 2030.
The development of so-called system demonstrators is a way to enable system innovation with great power and mobilization to meet complex societal challenges. With system demonstrators, Vinnova and Viable Cities want to test and demonstrate the transformation of a system in a real environment, where space is created for experiments and where areas with great potential can be scaled up. Six projects have been granted funding for a design phase.
Gävle, Gothenburg, Helsingborg, Lund, Malmö, Stockholm and Umeå. It is now clear which Swedish municipalities will now be part of the EU's mission for climate-neutral cities in 2030 - Cities Mission. A total of 100 cities across Europe have been selected. But what does this mean for the cities that joined? And how can it contribute to the climate transition in all Swedish cities?
Gävle, Gothenburg, Helsingborg, Lund, Malmö, Stockholm and Umeå. These are the Swedish municipalities that are now part of the EU's mission for climate-neutral cities in 2030 - Cities Mission. A total of 100 cities have been selected out of 377 applicants. And seven of them are Swedish cities.
On Wednesday, a milestone event for the European climate transition in cities took place. For the first time, representatives from Swedish and Spanish cities met to exchange experiences on how to speed up the transition to climate neutral and sustainable cities through Climate City Contract.
Yesterday, the call for expressions of interest to become one of the 100 cities in Horizon Europe's Mission 100 Climate Neutral Cities closed. In total, 377 cities have submitted an application, representing 18% of the EU population. However, the countries from which the applications come are not specified.
Climate City Contract 2030 is revised every year, evolving and sharpening every year to accelerate the transition to climate-neutral, sustainable cities. The first version was signed in December 2020 by nine cities, four government agencies and the Viable Cities program. On 8 December...
23 Swedish cities - representing 40% of Sweden's population - are now working together to accelerate the transition to climate-neutral and sustainable cities. Today, the top political leadership of all cities gathered for the launch of Phase 2 of the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative.
We were looking for cities that want to take the lead on climate change. And many do. 30 cities from all over the country have applied to become part of the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative. "We are so pleased with the great interest, and very curious about which cities we will work with in the coming years," says Olga Kordas, Program Manager Viable Cities.
New ways of collaborating, thinking and investing were widely discussed during the Viable Cities Transition Lab Forum 5 on March 24. The theme of the conference - investment plans for climate-neutral cities - was explored from different perspectives with representatives from finance, academia, government agencies and, of course, from the host cities of Lund and Malmö.
The magazine Byggindustrin has named the Viable Cities project Xplorion "Building of the Year 2021" in the housing category. Xplorion is a house that is built to give the residents the conditions to live climate-smart. Collaboration with others has resulted in innovative solutions. For example, there are alternatives to the privately owned car, so only one parking space is needed.
It is now clear which projects have been granted funds in the call for Energy Positive Neighbourhoods, a collaboration between Viable Cities and JPI Urban Europe. Cities4PEDs, Interact, PED-ID and Trans-PED, all with Swedish partners, are now tasked with facilitating learning between cities and countries to create energy positive neighbourhoods in Europe.
To transition to climate-neutral and sustainable cities, we need to communicate with citizens, business and many other stakeholders. In this climate breakfast, communication strategist Therese Ek talks about how Lund municipality works to coordinate sustainability communication. We also get reflections on the topic from Annika Egan Sjölander, who researches communication for sustainable societies.
Today, December 11, 2020, is a big day for the climate transition in cities. The first climate contracts in Europe have now been signed by the political leadership of nine Swedish cities as well as by the Directors-General of four government agencies and Viable Cities. "Swedish cities are now taking the lead in Europe," says Allan Larsson, Chairman of the Board of Viable Cities.
Self-driving buses, collaboration with construction companies and an ambitious carbon budget. These are some of the things happening in Järfälla municipality as they work towards a climate-neutral city. Read more about the construction of the new Barkarbystaden area in the fourth blog post from the cities in the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative. Progress reports from Enköping, Växjö and Lund have already been published.
Lund municipality has achieved its climate targets for 2020 - they have reduced their emissions by 50 percent between 1990-2020 for the entire geographical area of the municipality. Thea Ohlander Arfwidsson, Project Manager Climate Neutral Lund 2030 and Therese Ek, Communications Strategist, tell us more about what is happening in Lund Municipality right now on our blog.
Within the framework of Viable Cities, eight cities are now inspiring and inspiring other cities, in Sweden and around the world, so that as many as possible reach climate neutrality by 2030.
On Thursday, April 23, eight Swedish cities will take a big step forward to accelerate the climate transition - Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Lund, Växjö, Uppsala, Umeå and Enköping. They want to lead, test and experiment to become climate neutral by 2030.
The climate challenge is a critical issue where cities have a key role to play. From Lund in the south to Umeå in the north, nine cities are now receiving funding for projects that can accelerate the climate transition. The aim is to become climate neutral by 2030. The funding...
Car traffic in the city needs to be reduced - both to create a more attractive city, and to reduce the climate impact of traffic. With funding from Viable Cities, "car-free living" is being demonstrated in the Xplorion property at Södra Brunnshög in Lund by offering...
