48 Swedish municipalities, representing more than half of Sweden's population, are now joining forces for the climate transition from local to global level. During the European Viable Cities Day, the highest political leadership from the municipalities, directors general from government agencies and other Swedish and international key actors gather to strengthen the mobilization for the climate across national borders.
48 of Sweden's 290 municipalities are joining forces to tackle the climate crisis. It is now clear which cities, together with Viable Cities and six government agencies , will join forces in the next phase for climate-neutral and sustainable cities. This is also part of a growing global mobilization for climate transition in cities, where the EU is taking the lead and Swedish cities are pioneers.
Anders Wijkman, Club of Rome, will be the new Chairman for Viable Cities, it was announced at the program's annual general meeting today. Annika Jacobson, Climate General of the City of Stockholm, has been appointed Vice Chairman.
Today, 20 more cities were awarded the EU Mission Label - a confirmation from the EU's 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030 (Cities Mission) that the city's plans for the local transition journey are ambitious and on the right track - including three Swedish ones: Gävle, Gothenburg and Umeå.
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.
In the midst of a burning climate crisis, the Swedish government is presenting a climate action plan that falls far short of what is needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees - the target agreed by world leaders in Paris in 2015. The Swedish government should do more to support the climate transition in the country's municipalities and support leading Swedish cities and municipalities.
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.
In Sweden, several researchers have worked closely together with cities and national innovation actors to support them in steering sustainability transitions by contributing to learning from practice, increased reflexivity and helping to identify evidence about system change. This role got the name of 'följeforskare' (literal translation from Swedish is 'following' or 'companion' researcher). Together we will explore what makes "följeforskning" special in terms of benefits and challenges, why it is especially relevant in accelerating the transition to climate neutral cities, and what role it can play for both cities and national support platforms.
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.
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.
Today, the City of Stockholm was one of ten European cities awarded the EU Mission Label for its efforts to accelerate the transition to a climate-neutral and sustainable city.
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!
This spring, Viable Cities and Digidem Lab are entering a deeper collaboration on citizen engagement. Pierre Mesure has for 5 years supported municipalities to involve citizens in decision-making, with a focus on the underrepresented in our institutions.
On behalf of Vinnova, Sweco has investigated key actors and environments in innovation for sustainable spatial planning. The results will form a strategic basis for Vinnova's continued work to support innovation that contributes to sustainable urban development. At this climate breakfast, parts of the results are presented together with reflections.
Patrick Child, mission manager for climate neutral and smart cities and deputy director general of DG ENV, is visiting Sweden in the context of the Swedish presidency in the European Union. Today, Viable Cities hosted a meeting where the acceleration of the mission was discussed with participants from multiple levels; European, national, local. Prominent participants from the European Commission, Swedish government agencies, the City of Stockholm, and stakeholders from different parts of society.
All Climate Neutral Cities 2030 actions involve businesses together with academia, public organisations and civil society. The municipal sphere has only partial control over the measures that need to be implemented, so business efforts and investments are crucial.
Sustainable, innovative solutions for buildings, outdoor environment and mobility that have been implemented in various pilot projects, projects and initiatives need to be captured and become standard solutions for both new construction and upgrading of urban areas. Then large-scale sustainable urban development can be achieved.
The transition to become climate neutral 2030 requires that cities work in new ways. In this climate breakfast we explore how the cities of Valencia and Stockholm have handled this challenge in terms of leadership, organization and capacity building. We also learn more about new tools such as portfolio management and the role of intermediary organizations such as citiES 2030 in Spain and Viable Cities in Sweden, for supporting this development.
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.
Climate and sustainability pioneers Umeå, Malmö and Stockholm are three of four nominees for the Swedish Architects' Award for the best plan of the year - the Plan Prize. The winner will be announced in April.
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...
Since October, 23 cities have been working together in the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative to accelerate the climate transition. The nine cities that have been involved since the start in 2019 are now sharing their most important experiences in a series of blog posts. This time it is about the City of Stockholm, which is working to implement pilot and demonstration projects on a larger scale, and sees that Climate City Contract 2030 strengthens the work for a sustainable climate-neutral society.
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.
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.
The starting point for Climate Breakfast 8 was the project One roof, five possibilities. The project has investigated how roofs - with a focus on water, energy, cultivation, recreation and biodiversity - can affect a property's economy and what socio-economic benefits they can generate. Watch the Climate Breakfast afterwards and take part in the presentations.
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.
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.
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.
On 11 December 2019, Viable Cities and the European Commission organized the European Viable Cities Day for the second year in a row. This is the same day that the European Commission's Chairman Ursula von der Leyen presented The European Green Deal.
Urban cultivation with waste heat from data centers and models of climate-smart music and sports events are examples of 12 projects receiving a total of €28 million to accelerate the climate transition.
Climate-neutral cities in 2030 were the focus of Viable Cities' participation during Almedalen Week 2019. A theme that was very topical. During the week, 3,700 events were held, bringing together 42,000 participants from a wide range of interest areas in society. Sustainability...
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...
This year, Viable Cities is participating with its own events and as a co-organizer in others and in some cases as a speaker. Among other things, a seminar focusing on climate-neutral cities will be held on Monday, July 1 at 16.15 with the directors general of Vinnova,...
In cooperation with the European Commission's Representation in Sweden, Viable Cities organized the European Viable Cities Day on 11 December in connection with Nobel Day. The theme was Research and innovation for Carbon Neutral Cities and a round table discussion was held with Jean-Eric Pacquet, Director General of the European Commission...
Can digitalization help growing Swedish cities take the lead in becoming climate neutral? Monday 2/7 at 16.00 - 17.00 Teaterskeppet (Lilla Matsalen), Visby hamn, Visby Digitalization is a powerful enabler of innovation. Things like artificial intelligence, blockchain technology and the sharing economy are opening...
Documentation from member meeting and workshop for the call for proposals April 16, 2018 - Viable Cities' first member meeting and workshop for the call for proposals Viable Cities has had its first member meeting on April 16. During the meeting, the board that has so far served as an interim board for...
Viable Cities has had its first general meeting on April 16. During the meeting, the board that has so far acted as an interim board for Viable Cities was elected and Chairman Allan Larsson was given continued confidence until the next AGM. After the AGM, a workshop was held with a...
Interested in sharing and sustainability in cities? Don't miss the launch of Sharing Cities Sweden, a strategic project within the Viable Cities strategic innovation programme. The event will take place in Lund on 23 April. Speakers include Professor Oksana Mont, of the...
