Energy-efficiently renovated houses in Valla square - a sustainable solution in urban development that Stockholmshem implemented in the GrowSmarter project.
Sustainable solutions must become standard in urban development
An important part of society's development towards increased sustainability concerns how our cities are designed. Many smart, innovative and sustainable solutions in urban development are developed in pilot projects - but stay there. Work is now underway to ensure that successful results from pilot projects are integrated into the regular operations and permeate the entire city.
- Many pilot projects develop sustainable solutions with great climate and societal benefits, but despite this, the upscaling is a bit random. One reason may be that the municipalities lack structures that capture the results when the pilot project is completed, another that solutions implemented in new construction are not transferred and used in renovation and refurbishment, says Lisa Enarsson at the City of Stockholm, who leads the project.
Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö all have extensive experience of developing innovative solutions in pilot projects concerning buildings, transport and the outdoor environment. It can be about energy efficiency, solar cell investments and mobility hubs or bicycle schools and walking school buses.
Despite this, there are often shortcomings when the pilot projects are to be linked to the regular operations. Therefore, the three metropolitan municipalities work together with Sweden's Municipalities and Regions, IVL Swedish Environmental Institute, KTH and Fastighetsägarna Stockholm to facilitate that matter.
Methods for analysis and collaboration
The project, which is called Sustainability becomes standard, develops an analysis method to identify what measures are needed to scale up the solutions that are well-tested and have good results based on the sustainability goals. It will also examine how different types of collaboration can contribute to upscaling and what collaboration is needed for the analysis method to become an effective tool. The project's ambition is to spread the pilot projects' solutions within each city but also to other cities, both in Sweden and Europe.
- A lot about sustainability is a learning process and cities need to find ways to be sustainable in their entire business. This means a lot for the solutions to lead to a socially and ecologically sustainable city, says Åsa Romson at IVL Swedish Environmental Institute.
The work will be presented more on October 7 during Innovation Week, when actors in the public sector share smart solutions with each other.
The Sustainability project will become standard until the end of 2023 and is financed by Vinnova and the strategic innovation program Viable Cities with SEK 7 million. A feasibility study, funded by Viable Cities, included experiences from the Mälardalen municipalities.
For more information contact:
Åsa Romson, IVL Swedish Environmental Institute, asa.romson@ivl.se, tel. 010-788 66 75
Lisa Enarsson, City of Stockholm, lisa.enarsson@stockholm.se, tel. 076-122 89 82
