Inspired by NASA’s mission to the moon-program, Sweden launched a national innovation program a decade ago with the bold ambition to make the biggest cities in the country climate neutral by 2030, twenty years ahead of the rest of the European Union.
Since its inception the program has aimed for something more than zero emissions. It has been using a mission oriented approach to unite peoples of all levels of society towards a common audacious goal, which is to transform cities to places that are livable, lovable and viable. The approach has proven very successful, which is why a lot of cities around the world set their eyes on what’s happening in Sweden.
Viable Cities, as the program is called, was indeed the first program of its kind in the world and has inspired the European Union to launch a mission of its own: making the 100 biggest cities on the continent climate neutral by 2030 too. Now we will be exploring storytelling as a tool on how to talk about the common future in a non-polarizing, non-shaming, non-patronizing way in the bilateral context of Sweden and the U.S.
In this event, you will be able to listen to US and Swedish perspectives on mission oriented policy innovation to arrive in climate neutral cities by 2030. Different stakeholder group will be present and share insights on mission oriented collaboration for climate neutral cities, and you will virtually take part in a panel presented during the BIFROST event at Nasdaq in San Francisco.
- Introduction by Andreas Netz, Head of Innovation Portfolio at Vinnova
- Glimpses of a Good Life for All in Climate-Neutral Cities’ by Linda Andrén, Executive Director, Sweden-US Green Transition Initiative (GTI)
- Keynote speech by Jonas Birgersson, “ViaEuropa and City of Lund: Abundance of Energy through Communities”
- Reflections – How Can We Scale Such Niche Developments to the New Normal?’
an interview with Priscilla Negreiros, Lead for the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (CCFLA)
Interviewed by Olle Dierks, Head of Large-scale Investments at Viable Cities - Master of Ceremony, Marcus Rönngren Liu, Senior Project Manager, Sweden-US Green Transition Initiative (GTI)
About the organiser
Sweden-US Green Transition Initiative – aims to strengthen the bilateral partnership between Sweden and the United States in research and development, innovation, trade, and investment to accelerate green transition.
Viable Cities – one Swedens Strategic Innovation programs. Viable Cities’ mission is Climate Neutral Cities 2030 with a good life for all within planetary boundaries.
