1st Swedish Cities Mission Forum

The 1st Swedish Cities Mission Forum aims to push the frontier of the Cities Mission and will be organized inspired by the Viable Cities Transition Lab methodology and will take place in the beautiful city of Umeå, Sweden. It is co-organised by the seven Swedish Mission Cities: Umeå, Stockholm, Malmö, Lund, Helsingborg, Gothenburg and Gävle, with support from Viable Cities in cooperation with NetZeroCities, CapaCITIES and Driving Urban Transition.

May 28-29 Driving Urban Transitions CityPanel Meeting (May 29 joint programme DUT/Cities Mission).

Please note that the event is by invitation only, on site, and organized in English. Invited are key stakeholders from all relevant sectors of society and levels of government, necessary for the successful implementation of the EU Cities mission. This includes the European Commission, EU Cities Mission Platform(s) NetZeroCities, CapaCities, Driving Urban Transition, and relevant local, regional and national stakeholders in Sweden and across the EU.

The Forum is organized back to back with the Driving Urban Transition City Panel meeting, also in Umeå, May 28-29.

Programme

May 29th

Venue: Walking + bus tour
Setting the stage for the forum. Meet-up at Listen (a red panther monument at the main city square, Rådhustorget), go on a walking tour, and then we hop on a bus to visit several interesting locations.

Venue: Umeå Folkets Hus

Venue: Umeå Folkets Hus
Opening session for the 1st Swedish Cities Mission Forum (jointly with closing of DUT City Panel meeting):

  • Navigate the Ecosystem of European Climate Neutrality-initiatives for Cities
  • Spanish and Swedish cities share their perspectives/visions of the Mission
  • National platforms experiences from Romania, Spain and Sweden with CapaCITIES
  • Challenges for cities regarding scaling up, out, deep – European cities share their perspectives
  • Reflections from the European Cities Mission platforms

Venue: Umeå Folkets Hus
Swedish national government agencies and Viable Cities share their experiences on multi-level governance approaches in practice. We also listen to other European experiences and discuss next steps for scaling out the EU Cities Mission.

Venue: Scharinska villan (Storgatan 65, Umeå)
Viable Cities works for the mission Climate neutral cities 2030 with a good life for everyone within planetary boundaries together with cities and national authorities. The work takes place in close interaction with the European mobilisation towards Mission Climate Neutral and Smart Cities 2030. Viable Cities is now strengthening our presence in the country. You are warmly welcome to the opening of Viable Cities’ new mission-driven office and meeting place in northern Sweden. We offer something to drink, refreshments and finger foods.

Please let us know if you plan to attend this event, since there is limited space, by emailing Albert Edman.

May 30th

Venue: Umeå Folkets Hus
We explore methods and tools to involve and engage cities beyond the 100+12 cities in the EU Cities mission. With examples from:

  • EU Regional development – Sustainable urban development in Sweden and other countries
  • NetZeroCities twinning programme
  • Viable Cities – wave 3; from 9 to 23 to 50 cities in Sweden by the end of the year?

Venue: Umeå Folkets Hus
Building and engaging a transition team with a strong mandate to enable a just transition. Listen to experiences from Swedish transition teams.

Venue: Umeå Folkets Hus
Listen to reflections from the participants and organisers of the focus sessions, and explore the next steps.

Venue: Umeå Folkets Hus

Locations and venues information

Umeå Folkets Hus (website) centrally located in the middle of Umeå. See map further down.

Suggestions for hotels in the city center, all short walking distance from the meeting venue.

Most hotels have a very similar price range, possibly the two last options (Comfort and Profil are slightly more economical). These are just some suggestions based on proximity to the meeting venue but should anyone want to explore even more options, there is a long list of hotels at Visit Umeå (but then they need to double-check the location as some are outside of Umeå).

Two airlines fly from Stockholm/Arlanda airport to Umeå, there are ten flights daily each direction. The flight time from Stockholm to Umeå is approximately 50 minutes.

There is an airport bus that goes to the city center from where it is walking distance to all the suggested hotels. The bus takes 10-15 minutes.

There are both night and day trains from Stockholm to Umeå. The direct day trains take around 6 hours. The night train takes just over 9 hours. You can book a sleeper coach and go to bed in Stockholm and wake up in Umeå. The trains between Stockholm and Umeå stop at Stockholm/Arlanda airport, so it is possible to fly to Stockholm and take a train from there to Umeå.

The train station is located in the city center, walking distance. The closest hotel would be Profil. Please note that there are two train stations in Umeå and the one to get off at is Umeå Central (see map below).

Programme summary

Note, more information about each activity is available in the accordion on this page.

May 29th

May 30th

Find your way

Here is a map with the locations marked out. Venues are marked in purple, the central station in orange, and hotels are marked in blue. Please, click on the links to get to Google Maps to find your way. 

Umeå Central Station

Google Maps link 

Umeå Folkets Hus

Google Maps link 

Listen, Rådhustorget

Google Maps link 

Scharinska Villan

Google Maps link 

Hotel Winn

Google Maps link 

Hotel U&Me

Google Maps link 

Hotel Scandic Plaza

Google Maps link 

Elite Hotel

Google Maps link 

Comfort hotel

Google Maps link 

Profil hotel

Google Maps link