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.

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

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

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

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)

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 force 1 January 1992, Promulgated 13 June 1991, Amended through Act SFS 2009:808.

 employment;

 tourism.

Region Västerbotten is a political organisation responsible for regional development issues and regional growth. It aims to increase the region’s attractiveness and create the best possible living conditions for the county’s citizens. It is the intention that this will lead to a positive regional development that creates employment, good access to education, leisure and culture, a good living standard and good public services. Examples of responsibilities are to monitor and influence the processes and decisions at EU and national levels that affect the region and to manage the county’s growth strategies and development priorities. The main activities of Region Västerbotten are regional development planning, business and entrepreneurship, tourism, energy, environment and climate, expertise and training, transport infrastructure and communications, information technology and communication, renewal of public services, international engagement and community work. One important task for Region Västerbotten is also to coordinate the Regional Development Strategy 2014-2020, which is called ‘An attractive region from coast to mountains’ and has “the aim of establishing attractive living conditions regardless of town or municipality in the region”. The strategy’s core is its six sub-strategies: 1) communities that include and develop their residents; 2) structures for innovation; 3) environment-driven development; 4) investment in education and skills; 5) location- based business development; and 6) an accessible and outward-looking region. Each strategy includes priorities identifying which issues the county’s stakeholders are jointly focused on for creating sustainable growth. Sixteen comprehensive indicators will measure development. The Regional Development Strategy reinforces the county’s ability to act by improving interaction between local, regional, national and European levels. The Region has also developed the Digital Agenda for Västerbotten. The overall purpose of the agenda is that it will be used in regional development work. It will provide guidance and support the prioritising, planning and execution of the development initiatives involving digitalisation during the period 2014-2020. The Agenda will contribute to the achievement and realisation of the objectives detailed in the Regional Development Strategy for Västerbotten 2014-2020 and in the Digital Agenda for Sweden. The keywords for the Agenda are increased cooperation and collaboration regarding digitalisation in Västerbotten.

The Digital Agenda for Västerbotten contains seven strategic areas in which digitalisation has been assessed to have the greatest impact on the region’s development. The respective opportunities and challenges are described for each area, as are the overall ambitions and objectives. The areas are:

• Digital participation and skills

• The connected region

• Development of digital education

• Increased participation, quality and efficiency in health and care

• Strengthened research and innovation from a digital perspective

• Digital enterprise and business development

• A smart and sustainable digital society

The Umeå municipality has the vision that Umeå should have 200 000 inhabitants by 2050. The municipality has a Strategic Plan 2016-2028. The plan should contribute to the municipality, and other organisations, working together with a common strategy and long-term perspective to achieve the overarching goal of the municipality. The Umeå municipality has also set a battery of objectives and orientation for the 2019-2022 period: Overarching objectives:  Umeå’s growth will be achieved with a vision associated with social sustainability, ecology, culture and economy, with a vision of 200 000 citizens by 2050.  The municipality must create preconditions for women and men to have the same power to shape society as well as their own lives.  In order to clarify the allocation of competences, the possibilities that digital transformation entails should be an alternative for the business development of the municipality of Umeå.

Good life conditions  Have the best public health in Sweden by 2020.  Reduce child poverty by half by 2020.

Lifelong learning  To develop alternatives to credentials as Slutbetyg från Komvux (certificate municipal adult school) and Intyg om allmän behörighet från folkhögskola (certificate concerning general or specific eligibility for higher education) and to improve the quality of education in order to achieve equal conditions of growth.

Growing business and skills development  To create the conditions for more companies, more industries and more jobs in Umeå.

Well-developed non-profit sector  To meet the challenges of the future, democracy must be developed and social trust must be strengthened along with the non-profit sector.  Use gender equality as a method in the prevention of violence and crime in collaboration with the non-profit sector.

Good social planning

 Increase housing construction to 2 000 units per year.  Further improvement of the existing coordination of local supply in the municipality.  The purpose of community planning is to build Umeå more equitably, in part by drawing on the experience of the European Commission in social sustainability.

Usefulness of the EU-SPI to improve policymaking

APPLICATIONS (OR POTENTIAL) OF THE EU-SPI

POLICYMAKERS AND CIVIL SERVANTS No great knowledge about the EU-SPI Most of the people interviewed were not aware of the EU-SPI and, in many cases, the interviews conducted for the case study were their first contact with the index. On the other hand, the index is perceived to make an important contribution: putting social issues on the political agenda. The EU-SPI as a complementary tool to other frameworks There are different Beyond GDP frameworks that aim to measure well-being; for example, the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the European Pillar of Social Rights and the OECD Better Life Index. They can be complementary, and several interviewers consider that the triangulation of different frameworks could help for a better contextualisation since one index cannot provide all the information regarding social progress and well-being. A main consideration is that the three dimensions (economic, social and environmental) should not be treated as separate and that complementary analysis should be undertaken. As shown in Section 3.3, Region Västerbotten and the Umeå municipality are incorporating different frameworks to monitor well-being.

Going further, some interviewees believe that the European Commission should indicate which framework is a priority rather than establishing different indexes or sets of indicators at the same time. EU-SPI handbook Some of the interviewees asked for an EU-SPI handbook, some guidelines or insights into how the EU-SPI can be implemented and used at the regional but also adapted to the local level. The EU-SPI makes it possible to compare with other European regions One of the main assets of the EU-SPI is the possibility to be compared with other European regions with similar GDP. Nevertheless, there are other characteristics that are important when selecting peers. For Västerbotten - Umeå, with its rural–urban disparities, it is a challenge to find a similar region.

The comparison could also make it possible to exchange experiences between regions that are well positioned in the index and regions that are not so well positioned, facilitating the exchange of experiences. The EU-SPI helps to be aware of good performance Both Region Västerbotten and Umeå consider that the EU-SPI helps to be made aware if the policies and activities done so far have been successful. Further, the index allows identifying areas in which there is room for improvement; it is also a very good tool to identify which are the weaknesses related to social progress. Existing preconditions are a key aspect for overachieving in the EU-SPI Västerbotten - Umeå has long-standing policies regarding social progress such as housing, health, inclusion and education. The size of the county is manageable to do things directed at certain groups. The region and city location, in a place rich with natural resources, can be an explanation for the ecosystem sustainability indicators. The low score on digital access is a surprise, since a Digital Strategy has been developed. Satisfaction with housing: A strong public housing system

The municipality has a strong public housing system, which could be the reason behind the good performance on the Satisfaction with Housing indicator. The system is based on the idea that everyone should have the same opportunities to live in a good and affordable house. Bostaden Umeå is the public company that maintains 14 000 houses (municipal property), half of which are for rent. Municipal management makes it possible to avoid segregation problems and to provide solutions for students, the elderly and families. It also seeks to involve students in maintenance tasks. Bostaden Umeå also contributes to strengthening Umeå as an attractive place for growth and works with concrete measures for a better environment.

Bostaden Umeå carry out annual evaluations in relation to different aspects, such as safety, management and cleanliness. Satisfaction levels among the surveyed population are very high.

Trust in the political system

Municipalities have different competences that make possible a strong independence at the time of policy development. In developing strategies, comprehensive plans and action plans, stakeholders and civil society are always consulted and involved. In Västerbotten - Umeå, people remain highly positive towards the political community and democratic principles.

Gender gap

The small gender gap is due to long-standing national policies: access to education, inexpensive childcare, and generous parental leave. The access to all these benefits is easier for public sector

employees (the region presents a large number of women in the public sector) than for private sector employees. On the other hand, in the region, many women work in care services and education, where the benefits and the salaries have room for improvement.

Large infrastructure for tertiary enrolment and lifelong learning (LLL)

The access to tertiary and lifelong education is very good in the region. Compared with other municipalities, Umeå has a large number of highly educated people. The presence of two universities (Umeå University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) in the city could be part of the explanation for this. Additionally, there is a strong offering of lifelong learning (LLL): the University of Umeå has several programmes, there are Occupational Schools, and there are Folkhögskola (Folk high school) with different LLL programmes; and, of course, it is possible to undertake distance learning.

OTHER ACTORS The EU-SPI as a marketing tool The EU-SPI is a good tool for networking. The Västerbotten Office in Brussels has already used the EU-SPI as a communication asset. The marketing has been oriented to highlight the regional social progress achievements and how social progress is a key political aspect.

The sum of several factors is behind the good performance on premature deaths from cancer

The geographical location, the quality of the air and the water, and the age of the population could be behind the good performance on premature deaths from cancer. The presence of one of the best hospitals in Sweden is not considered a key aspect due to the long distances and that the quality of the service is similar to other Swedish hospitals.

The geographical location is key for the success on the air pollution indicator

Västerbotten - Umeå is located in the Arctic, a very clean area. It should also be taken into account that it has large rural areas, a declining number of inhabitants and a small number of cities with traffic areas. This makes difficult the comparison of the region with other European regions that have a different geographical context.

ASSESSMENT OF THE EU-SPI’S DATA

The computation of the index at the subregional level Upper Norrland has no connection to a policy level. Region Västerbotten, the Umeå municipality and other municipalities consider that is difficult to develop subregional or local policies having only data

at NUTS 2 level. The EU-SPI scorecard gives a snapshot of what is going on, but it needs further analysis at subregional and local level to add context.

Gender disaggregation Since the EU-SPI is good for putting things into perspective at regional level, it would be good to have gender-disaggregated indicators: part time, salaries, safety, etc.

Socioeconomic groups’ disaggregation

Groups such as the Sami people, migrants and social class should be included in order to have more detailed information, with the final aim of developing new and more oriented policies.

OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON THE THEME

The Region and the municipality are also using other sources of data Region Västerbotten started 5 years ago to create a different index for regional development, based on the OECD Better Life Index adapted to the regions (NUTS 3) and municipalities. During the regional strategy development, a consultation process with different stakeholders was set up. The EU-SPI was used in the consultations, together with the region’s own framework.

The Umeå municipality is working on localising the SDGs to make them meaningful at municipal level. They have a committee and the municipality is working on localising and integrating them with their existing system. Moreover, the municipality has a strong database that is very useful for policy designing. Suggested improvements of the EU-SPI

The EU-SPI should be complemented with local analysis It needs to be complemented with local and regional analysis, in order to give context to the EU-SPI results. The contextualisation can be made by the region and some municipalities in order to sum up knowledge, resources and capabilities.

Doubts have been raised regarding the availability of data to complete the EU-SPI scorecard at subregional or local level. It is mentioned that the Umeå municipality has a strong statistical office that may have the data and capacity to carry out the development of the EU-SPI.

Digitalisation as a mainstream topic

One of the interviewees proposed that digitalisation should be a mainstream issue, since almost all indicators are related to digitalisation. This involves a review of the indicators currently proposed in the context of interaction, for example, with public authorities, and proposes to measure aspects such as access to connectivity.

Social inequalities within the region

The EU-SPI does not capture the inequalities within the region. This analysis can add value to the EU- PSI as well as provide valid information on social inequality.

New indicators have been proposed  Introduce Child Poverty indicator: Child poverty should be included as a new indicator. Since 2010, this is being measured at municipality level. The indicator is measured in relation to free schools, library access and free lunches, parents’ jobs and parents’ decent salaries.  Include loneliness-related indicators: Loneliness is one of the problems that the region is facing in the Health and Wellness dimension. The inclusion of a related indicator could be useful, having in consideration the ageing of the population and the characteristic of being a sparsely populated region.  Rethink the Protected Land-Natura 2000 indicator: Övre-Norrland scores badly, despite the large size of the region and the presence of national parks.  Rethink the Air Pollution indicators: The experts in the field consider that the Air Pollution indicators are a bad choice since nothing can be done from the policymakers’ side. The proposals are related to aspects such as commute to work by bike, mobility, active transport or others related to the toxicology perspective and health impact of pollution.  Social Business indicators: The inclusion of some indicators related to social business or start-ups is proposed.  Access to information technology and communications: The indicators should be revisited and indicators such as mobile connectivity or ability to get internet connection should be introduced. Main lessons learnt from the case study

1. At this stage, the EU-SPI is quite a new framework at Västerbotten - Umeå. A large number of the people participating in the case study did not know about the EU-SPI or had not worked with it. 2. The EU-SPI is a set of indicators that can give a general picture about strengths and weaknesses in a given territory regarding social progress. According to the interviewees, contextualisation is necessary, especially when data are provided for a NUTS 3 level, which does not correspond to a political level.

3. The interviewees believe that it is a very good tool for policy comparison and identification of good practices; however, in order to boost the potential use of the index, the creation of a manual for use at political level has been proposed. 4. The case study participants perceive that there are too many frameworks related to social progress. This variety makes it difficult to understand how they are complementary or if one is better than the others. The conclusion is that the European Union should give some advice on which to use. 5. Övre-Norrland is an overachiever region. The explanation behind this seems to be related, on the one hand, to long-standing Swedish and local policies related to social concerns, and, on the other hand, to geographical and demographic characteristics together with social values and culture.

Annex A - Agenda for the Case Study

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