Collaboration on sustainable urban development in Mistra Urban Futures 1 Contents The Gothenburg Region wants to contribute where research and practice meet .... 3 Highlights from the Gothenburg Region’s Mistra Urban Futures Network 2018....... 4 Urban Station Communities ............................................................................................ 6 Thematic Networks within Mistra Urban Futures ......................................................... 8 Ongoing Projects ............................................................................................................ 10 Mistra Urban Futures events during 2018 .................................................................. 12 Agenda 2030 .................................................................................................................. 14 WHAT IS MISTRA URBAN FUTURES? Mistra Urban Futures is an international research and knowledge centre for sustainable urban development. We develop and apply knowledge to promote accessible, green and fair cities. Co-production – jointly defining, developing and applying knowledge across different disciplines and subject areas from both research and practice – is our way of working. The centre was founded in and is managed from Gothenburg, but also has platforms in Skåne (southern Sweden), Stockholm, Sheffield-Manchester (United Kingdom), Kisumu (Kenya), and Cape Town (South Africa). www.mistraurbanfutures.org The Gothenburg Region (GR) consists of 13 municipalities The Gothenburg Region 2019. who have chosen to work together. We run development The report has been compiled by Sarah projects, have government assignments, conduct research, Johnstone, GR’s coordinator for Mistra organize courses and we are the voice of the metropolitan Urban Futures, and Gunnel Rydberg, region in western Sweden. In our networks, politicians and Communications Officer for GR’s work with Mistra Urban Futures. officials meet to exchange experiences and ideas, and to Layout: Tony Dahl, the Gothenburg decide on joint ventures. Our goal is for the region’s one Region. million inhabitants to have as good a life as possible. 2 The Gothenburg Region wants to contribute where research and Helena Söderbäck, Executive Director of the practice meet Gothenburg Region (GR) An important task for the Gothenburg Region (GR) is to The Gothenburg Region’s strategy document ‘Sustai- build knowledge for the future, together with and on the nable Growth’ is a starting point for GR’s work and our initiative of our member municipalities and partners. At development of social sustainability perspectives. This is the Gothenburg Region, research and practice meet. The well in line with what Mistra Urban Futures has formula- development of skills, knowledge and activities go hand ted, where one of the most important challenges is: How in hand. This is why the municipalities in the Gothenburg can we achieve sustainable urban development so that we region have for the past ten years been one of the part- stay within what our planet can withstand? Accessible, ners in Mistra Urban Futures—an international research green and fair cities are central concepts that guide the center aimed at promoting sustainable urban develop- Center in highlighting what constitutes sustainable urban ment in collaboration between academia and practice. development. Researchers and practitioners from different disciplines The report that you hold in your hand has been work together in projects using a co-productive approach, published annually since 2011 to provide a picture of the developing new and necessary insights. This enables the Gothenburg Region’s work on sustainable urban develop- Center to be part of making a real difference to the envi- ment within Mistra Urban Futures. The report is based ronment and people’s lives in the metropolitan area. on the collaboration and knowledge-building that takes In 2017, the Gothenburg Region grew to more than one place in GR’s network for Mistra Urban Futures—where million inhabitants. We have grown by about 150,000 all 13 member municipalities participate to a greater or since 2000, which corresponds to a whole Linköping— lesser extent. The report also outlines which projects and Sweden’s fifth largest city. The year 2018 has continued activities the Gothenburg Region has been involved in to be characterized by strong growth, which offers both throughout the year. opportunities and challenges for our metropolitan area. The work being undertaken in GR’s municipalities Sustainable urban development, across all three sustai- within the framework of Mistra Urban Futures is urgently nability dimensions, is a complex field with many actors required, and I am happy to once again be able to submit and many different types of issues, which are also linked our annual report to readers. to several conflicting goals. The need for new and inno- vative ways to approach future choices is obvious. The Helena Söderbäck challenges must be met from the combined experience of Executive Director of the Gothenburg Region (GR) the public sector and academia, as well as businesses and civil society. 3 Highlights from the Gothenburg Region’s Mistra Urban Futures Network 2018 The Gothenburg Region (GR) has a network of municipal representatives linked to Mistra Urban Futures, tasked with: • Initiating, monitoring, and disseminating joint research and development projects that benefit the entire region and individual member municipalities. • Ensuring that the process results in useful tools and methods for the sustainable development of the metropolitan area. • Contributing to employee development through creating a shared arena. Both researchers and municipal representatives attend the network meetings to discuss current initiatives and research results. Below are some highlights from the network meetings in 2018. An inclusive cultural heritage From 17 global goals to a strategic plan for Cultural heritage is something used to build community, Härryda municipality but there is also a risk of exclusion. This means there is a When Härryda Municipality began developing its strate- need for approaches to make cultural heritage more in- gic plan, they took Agenda 2030 as a starting point. The clusive. Ale Municipality has some good examples. “Plan- process has been conducted through broad dialogues and ners can look at cultural heritage as something that en- in partnership with managers, employees, the business ables diverse groups of people to meet each other, similar community, associations and civil society actors. to green areas,” says Andreas Antelid, archaeologist and The initial step was to map what the municipality was cultural coordinator at Ale Municipality. already doing in relation to the global goals, such as ur- He shows how cultural heritage can be used to build an ban agriculture, creating more green spaces and reducing inclusive and socially sustainable society. A good example food waste. The municipality then held cross-sectoral is the project ‘Whose History?’ where recently immigra- workshops and meetings with locals to discuss where the ted youth conducted an excavation of an old torp in Ale. municipality could make the biggest difference in relation The excavation and archaeological finds resulted in an to Agenda 2030. “Based on these dialogues, we chose exhibition. The project gave the participants knowledge three goals to focus on: ‘Good health and well-being’, and a story to tell about the place that not even the local ‘Responsible consumption and production’, and ‘Sustai- history association knew about, and the young people felt nable cities and communities’. These are the key areas an ownership of the story. where we want to see a difference,” explained Härryda’s speaker, Frida Barrett. GR’s coordinator for Mistra Urban Futures, Sarah Johnstone (standing), at a meeting with GR’s Mistra Urban Futures network in November 2018. 4 How do we make better and more developed to connect to ones already in place. The beach, sustainable use of maritime transport? docks and quay will be integrated with help from activiti- es and public decoration. The built environment will har- Öckerö Municipality consists of ten islands, and water- monise with both business and infrastructure. Closeness based mobility poses both challenges and opportunities. to the ocean poses both a risk and an opportunity. The municipality is now striving to get more people to use public transport, cycling and maritime transport, but also Co-producing planning with young people to make the boats themselves more sustainable. Petter The municipality of Lilla Edet is growing fast and wants Leyman, planning architect at Öckerö Municipality, ex- to use urban development in the community of Lödöse plained at the network meeting that “more boat connec- to establish good housing and living environments. The tions between the islands could link up the municipality municipality sees young people’s influence as an im- better. Travelling by boat offers more flexibility, as you’re portant part of the planning process. Ilir Musa, planning not locked into certain routes by existing infrastructure. architect in Lilla Edet, commented that “we’ve noticed But boat traffic also has a negative environmental and that we don’t reach youth in our usual civic dialogues, climate impact.” and we want to test new methods for helping young “The municipality is now investing in sustainable mari- people to play a more active role in democratic proces- time transport—to switch the ferries that operate