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City of Umea and Region of Västerbotten Pilot Project: “Measuring what matters to EU Citizens: Social progress in European Regions” Case study: Västerbotten - Umeå Disclaimer The information and views set out in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 PROFILE OF THE REGION AND DEFINITION OF THEMATIC FOCUS ..............................3 1.1 KEY SOCIOECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE REGION .........................................................................3 1.2 THEMATIC FOCUS OF THE CASE STUDY ........................................................................................4 2 POLICIES/INITIATIVES RELATED TO THE THEMATIC AREA ..........................................5 3 USEFULNESS OF THE EU-SPI TO IMPROVE POLICYMAKING ..........................................9 3.1 APPLICATIONS (OR POTENTIAL) OF THE EU-SPI .......................................................................9 3.2 ASSESSMENT OF THE EU-SPI’S DATA ...................................................................................... 11 3.3 OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON THE THEME .................................................................. 12 4 SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS OF THE EU-SPI .................................................................. 12 5 MAIN LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE CASE STUDY ........................................................... 13 ANNEX A - AGENDA FOR THE CASE STUDY .......................................................................... 15 2 Profile of the region and definition of thematic focus KEY SOCIOECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE REGION Västerbotten is a county, or län, located in the north of Sweden. It occupies a territory of 55 400 km2, making it the second biggest region in Sweden after Norrbotten. The county has 270 469 inhabitants and is sparsely populated, with a population density of 4,6 inhab/km² and the population largely concentrated along the coast. Umeå is the largest city within the county with about 85 000 inhabitants and about 126 000 in the whole municipality. Since the establishment of the university in the year 1965, the population has more than doubled, has become younger (average age 38) and there has been a tremendous expansion of the city. Illustration 1 Location of Västerbotten - Umeå in Sweden Västerbotten is one of 14 northern counties in Norway, Sweden and Finland, which make up the distinct Northern Sparsely Populated Areas (NSPA), which was established in 2004. Northern Sweden (1) (Norrbotten, (1) OECD. (2017). OECD Territorial reviews: Northern Sparsely Populated Areas. Paris: OECD Publishing. http://www.oecd.org/regional/regional-policy/Policy-highlights-NSPA.pdf 3 Jämtland Härjedalen, Västerbotten and Västernorrland) makes an important contribution to the economic growth and well-being of the country. Although these regions have strategic assets and opportunities, they face permanent disadvantages related to their location and climate. Businesses located in northern Sweden face longer distances to markets. People generally have to travel further to access services. As such, ensuring that the transport network can accommodate the needs of heavy industry and local communities is important to the future development of northern Sweden. The populations of these places are also ageing at a faster rate than the country as a whole. The exception to this ageing trend is Västerbotten, which has experienced a low level of population growth and has a relatively younger population compared to the other NSPA regions. This outcome is primarily due to the city of Umeå, which is the administration centre for the region and has a large university and hospital. These trends are more pronounced in the rural and remote areas of these regions. However, these problems are offset to some extent by the concentration of population growth in larger urban centres within these regions and improved access to broadband. Maintaining a certain level of public infrastructure and services in these regions, helps ensure people have access to similar levels of public services. It also helps support communities that can help sustain production in key industries such as mining and tourism. The most important sectors in Västerbotten’s economy are forestry and wood industry, mining and metallurgy, and electricity production. In addition, the service and ICT sectors are growing rapidly. Due to high expertise in electronic waste recycling, ore and mining, combined with local green energy supply, the company Northvolt is now constructing a large-scale battery factory in Skellefteå. Västerbotten also benefits from a significant higher education offering. Umeå is a university town and centre of education, technical and medical research in northern Sweden, with 2 universities and over 39 000 enrolled students. By using culture as a driving force in regional development since the mid-1970s, Umeå was selected European Capital of Culture 2014 with keywords such as co-creation and the empowerment of people. THEMATIC FOCUS OF THE CASE STUDY The Övre-Norrland (composed by Västerbotten and Norrbotten) region tops the EU Social Progress Index (EU- SPI). The region performs better than the EU average in the categories of personal rights, environment, opportunities for university education, tolerance and inclusion, health and well-being, and housing, and ranks below the EU average in areas such as road safety, healthcare needs and social safety nets. Västerbotten - Umeå wants to focus the case study on the fact that they are overachieving EU-SPI cities/regions, and consider 4 that will be helpful to develop this case study about what that implies, and how it can be used at region and city level. The case study has been approached by setting up an agenda (see 2) that encompasses different sessions targeting both policymakers and some regional stakeholders (university). Policies/initiatives related to the thematic area Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. The Parliament (Riksdag) is unicameral, and its members are elected for a 4-year term. Sweden is a unitary and decentralised state; the constitution recognises local self-government in certain areas and delegates certain responsibilities to the local administrations (2). There are three levels of governance: central, regional (formerly counties), and municipal. The county (län) dates back to 1634, and the division itself dates back to the 1862 local government ordinances, which fixed the municipal boundaries and created county councils. As of January 2019, all counties have been formally transformed into regions that correspond to NUTS 3 regions. There are 20 regional authorities, so-called landsting, which formally act as the regions’ authorities (previously as the county authorities), and there are 290 municipalities (kommuner). There are no authorities at NUTS 2 or NUTS 1 level in Sweden. Until January 2019, Region Västerbotten was a cooperative body responsible for questions about regional development and growth in the county. The organisation was politically governed by its members, which were the 15 municipalities in Västerbotten as well as the County Council of Västerbotten. In January 2019, Region Västerbotten and the County Council of Västerbotten were merged into one organisation, as has happened to all regions in Sweden. The principle of local self-government is enshrined in the Constitution (3). The members of the two levels of self-government are elected in local elections every fourth year on the same date as national elections. Regions and municipalities are responsible for regional/local matters of public interest, and there is no hierarchy between the two levels of self-government (4), just different areas of responsibilities. (2) Government portal: https://www.government.se/how-sweden-is-governed/the-constitution/ (3) Government portal: https://www.government.se/how-sweden-is-governed/the-constitution/ Articles 1 and 7. (4) Hoorens, D., & Dexia Crédit Local Research Department. (2008). Sub-national governments in the European Union – Organisation, responsibilities and finance. Paris: Dexia Ed., La Défense. (p. 609) 5 Besides the constitution, the so-called Grundlag, the 1991 Local Government Act (5), defines the counties’ (now regions) and municipalities’ competences. Central level The central government enjoys exclusive powers in matters related to national sovereignty, including justice, foreign affairs, finance and national defence; the Parliament holds exclusive legislative powers. Regional level The Regions have competence in the fields of: public health, including healthcare and medical services; cultural institutions; public transport; responsibility for growth and development. Local level Municipalities hold mandatory administrative powers in the fields of: transport, including local roads and public transport; social welfare; education; planning and building issues; emergency and rescue services; health protection; environment, including environmental protection, refuse and waste management, water and sewage; housing. Responsibilities on a voluntary basis are: leisure activities and culture, except libraries; energy; industrial and commercial services; (5) Kommunallag SFS 1991:900 [Local Government Act]. Entered into
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