SUSTAINABLE STOCKHOLM TRANSFORMING FROM WHAT TO WHAT?

Transcription

1 SUSTAINABLE STOCKHOLM TRANSFORMING FROM WHAT TO WHAT? Page 1 Report from Transition Platform Meeting, October 7 th 2015, Stockholm Table of Contents 1. Welcome note - Sara Borgström A more sustainable Stockholm? - Göran Aström - Head of the Environmental Department, Stockholm County Administrative Board Exploring laboratories about what and why - Lukas Smas Nordregio /CASUAL project The role of culture for facilitating transformation Jan Rydén, Färgfabriken THE STOCKHOLM ART DIALOGUE... 5 Reflections of the ongoing transition dialogue including artists, practitioners and researchers in Stockholm A TASTE OF TRANSITION Nature for whom? Miljöverkstan Who cares? Place making in southern Stockholm, Nicole Montén, Miljöverkstan Flaten Transition movement - Hållbara Hökarängen from one community to another, Åsa Stenmark, Hållbara, Hökarängen, Stockholmshem The fight for land The regional green structure articulating values over time and space, Mårten Wallberg, Swedish society of Nature Conservation DIALOGUE TO WHERE FROM WHERE? HOW TO INCREASE SCALE, PLACE AND IMPACT OF CHANGE IN STOCKHOLM KEY MESSAGES OF THE STOCKHOLM TRANSITION PLATFORM... 10

2 1. Welcome note - Sara Borgström Page 2 Transition region leader Sara Borgström welcomed the participants and brought us through the journey of ARTS project and introduced the Stockholm transition region. She highlighted the importance of diversity. How can one prevent loosing diversity and instead embrace it and build upon it? This led her to her ask: What is the role of research in this new, fast changing world? She argued that science can assist in understanding complex systems and in exploring alternative ways for transitions towards a more sustainable Stockholm region. Sara closed her presentation by presenting the key challenges for Stockholm region and local transition initiatives (TIs) from a research perspective. Stockholm s greatest challenges reside in the fragmented landscape and fragmented and complex governance arrangements (multi-level, sector-divided, decentralized) on the one hand and the changing demography (aging, multi-cultural) and the related rapid urbanisation (which is, in turn, faced with challenges of densification, urban sprawl, gentrification and segregation, public health) on the other hand. At the background of these challenges, the ARTS project nevertheless shows how TIs successfully engage in transformative agency as activities span across sectorial divides, as they network, mimic the decision-making structures and promote social inclusivity. Challenges that remain are: Trade-offs between networking activities and core activities Trade-offs between being inclusive and moving forward Navigating resource scarcity Disconnectedness from the regional level and a lack of connections points Being trapped in a structure of short term project funding Many local transition initiatives that are too different to be recognized; compared to transitional organisation of civil engagement in Sweden Figure 1 Sara Borgström welcoming the participants at the Transition Platform Event in Stockholm, October 2015.

3 2. CHALLENGES AND POTENTIALS STOCKHOLM UNDER CHANGE A TEASER Page A more sustainable Stockholm? - Göran Aström - Head of the Environmental Department, Stockholm County Administrative Board Göran Aström, head of the Environmental Department of Stockholm County, gave an introduction of Stockholm region presenting both the current challenges and opportunities of the area. Göran emphasized that the main challenges to address in the area regard the governance of rapid population growth. He stressed that even though the county of Stockholm already presents the most densely populated county in Sweden, there is a need for building new houses every year without adding to ecological fragmentation. The challenge therefore is to enable population growth while preserving Stockholm s assets such as the many ecosystem services provides by the patch work of forests surrounding Stockholm s 26 municipalities. In fact, a Citizen survey revealed that citizens are quite satisfied with current conditions, especially relating to well-being, the labour-market and meaningful work as well as public health. Citizens expressed concerns about environmental problems such as air pollution and noise. At the background of this, there are several development areas such as public health, infrastructure and energy, climate change adaptation/mitigation and the labour market. Figure 2 Göran Aström presenting the challenges and opportunities of Stockholm region. Göran continued by emphasizing that the County of Stockholm abases their actions on a revised understanding of sustainability. The environment (ecological system) is considered as a foundation for sustainability. If represented by a circle, sustainability would encompass both the social dimension and the economic dimensions. At the background of this broader perspective of sustainability and replying to question from the audience, he concluded that actors of all kinds of societal sectors need to work together in order to solve problems. We need to find new ways to cooperate, to find new connections for maintaining a balance for economic, social and environmental goals. The environmental agenda alone is too narrow to encompass all interests of the citizens. We need to take into account sustainability as a broader concept attracting a diverse array of actors and integrate ecological considerations in all areas.

4 Page Exploring laboratories about what and why - Lukas Smas Nordregio /CASUAL project Lukas Smas - researcher at NORDREGIO - currently working in the CASUAL project, started his presentation emphasizing the role of researchers and the need to work at the interface between theory and practice. Lukas continued by introducing the CASUAL project, an EU founded project aiming at co-creating attractive and sustainable urban areas and lifestyles By exploring new ways of inclusive governance and finding new strategies of including people in the decision making processes. Lukas problematized how too much focus is put on technological or entrepreneurial solutions while less attention is given to social solutions such as changing lifestyles and everyday practices, despite the fact that citizens and consumer behaviours have tremendous impact. Therefore - for having a transition to sustainable lifestyle - we need to address lifestyles in urban planning and governance. He then discussed Urban Transition Labs as an approach towards inclusive governance. These enable co-creation, exploration (being open-ended) as well as experimenting and evaluating. These are experiments representing a new way of transferring theory into practice. For Lukas the aim of engaging in such urban experiments is to break open and overcome current institutional lock-ins and sectorial thinking as well as to develop a more Figure 3 A taste of Experiment communicative, inclusive actor-related planning. Experiment Stockholm presents an example of Stockholm exposition. such an urban experimental setting. Concluding this presentation, the audience discussed the tensions and challenges related to inclusive governance and accelerating transitions: - How can we move from a passive practices to active transformative practices? - How can we integrate this soft-mode of temporary governance in formal governance? - How can we secure legitimacy, transparency and participation for all? Figure 4 The researcher at Lukas Smas NORDREGIO presenting at the Transition Platform Meeting.

5 Page The role of culture for facilitating transformation Jan Rydén, Färgfabriken Jan Rydén from Färgfabriken introduced the Färgfabriken initiative and its history. Before its foundation in 1995 as an independent and no-profit foundation, Färgfabriken used to be a paint factory. Since its origin Färgfabriken has been working with art, architecture and urbanism acting as a platform for contemporary cultural expressions. Currently Färgfabriken is involved in multiple international programmes and organizes different projects and activities such as exhibitions, seminars, debates and workshops and seeks to engage with multiple actors, from kids to politicians. The initiative uses arts as the basis for engagement or as stated: arts as the free zone to bring together politicians, artists, citizens, scientists, activists, planners and the business community. Through experiments and workshops where the audience interacts and adds new insights, ideas and experiences Färgfabriken aims to embody knowledge from science and society. The exhibitions are also displayed abroad as examples on how to engage in a dialogue with citizens and artists. Färgfabriken s latest exhibition Experiment Stockholm aims to unlock static thinking : How can Stockholm become a more exciting and attractive place to live in? A Stockholm looking to integrate rather than segregate, a Stockholm that is bigger than just the inner city. Jan argues that Experiment Stockholm is more than an exhibition because the experiment is understood as an on-going creation and discussion process. Experiment Stockholm therefore presents a cultural approach to cities and to cities in transition. He highlighted that in contrast to politicians, artist can do things without knowing all the answers. He concluded that what they try to do is expressed by a quote of Plato: How will you go about finding that thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you? Figures 5 and 6 Jan Rydén presenting Färgfabriken initiative on the left side. The poster of Experiment Stockholm exposition on the right side. 3. THE STOCKHOLM ART DIALOGUE Reflections of the ongoing transition dialogue including artists, practitioners and researchers in Stockholm. During the Stockholm dialogue realized at the Regional Transition Platform event, multiple actors, such as artists, researchers and practitioners had the opportunity to share their projects and ongoing activities as well as to express their personal ideas and insights on how to better transform towards a more sustainable Stockholm. The dialogue started addressing the societal need of developing a more integrate collaboration between researchers and practitioners.

6 The stage was given to five artists that participate in the artistic competitions of the ARTS project and made a short presentation of their ideas and artistic productions. Page 6 Maja Svendotter presented furniture sculptures that she is making using recycled materials and waste of factories in order to raise awareness of overconsumption and showcase the integration of arts and science. Linnea Vaglund presented her work on biosynthetic possessions. She explained how in her work organisms are transformed into objects (of daily use) through synthetic biology (research area in biology and technology that combine engineering and natural science) and speculative design creating new biologic structures that do not exist naturally. Possessions can grow at home instead of being manufactured. Her work addresses the lack of ideas on how research can be implemented into society. She stated that when technology become more easy to use it becomes even more necessary to work in an interdisciplinary way. The virtue of the ARTS project resides in the fact that it provides a space where artists can meet with researchers and local authorities. Katharina Klingspor, presented several sculptures, one of them was created filling a glass cube with flowers - layer by layer - to symbolize the control over nature. Another sculpture, a tree wrapped with a red thread around every branch, warning against nature s destruction. She explained how the fact that the process of making her pieces is very time consuming and how this links with caring for nature over a long period of time and ultimately sustainability. Figure 7 and 8. The artists participating in the Stockholm Art Dialogue at the left side. One of the sculptured showed to the audience at the right side. Closing this session Ulrika Jansson, an artist who supported the organization of the ARTS dialogue, facilitated a discussion on how collaborations between different disciplines and artists might become reality? What conditions and structures are needed to make collaborations happen from an artist s point of view? She explained that Fargfabriken represents one example of the possibility to create a space to make these collaborations happen. She added that the ARTS project can create a space for collaborations since it is exploring how artists can work with researchers and local sustainability initiatives. She continued by introducing a British art organization called the Arts catalyst that in fact brings together scientists and artists. This organization collaborates with people around the Thames estuary in London where many social and ecological changes are happening. The Arts catalyst is exploring these changes by meeting local people (e.g. they made a cooking experiment with different ingredients they could find in the area; people could smell and taste the ingredients and in this way they could experience the environmental change in the area through the senses). Linnea stressed that she would like more open space for collaborations, for communication, for openness of outcomes. Maya argued that art should be a natural part of every structure and that it is important to not only make space for commercial messages and for aesthetics reasons but also to use these new spaces of communication to visualize outcomes. The concluding message of the discussion was to work with nature and to integrate arts into ARTS (and transition governance in general) in order to enable establishing contact between arts and science, arts and nature as well as arts and the individual self.

7 Page 7 4. A TASTE OF TRANSITION 4.1. Nature for whom? Miljöverkstan Who cares? Place making in southern Stockholm, Nicole Montén, Miljöverkstan Flaten Nicole Montén introduced Miljöverkstan Flaten, the initiative where she is actively working. Miljöverkstan Flaten aims to make awareness about ecological, social and economic sustainability developing different projects, especially with youth and children. Their manifesto centers around the value of respect: respect for myself, for others and for nature. As an example for putting this into action, Nicole invited the audience to do a check-in exercise as a way of reflecting on how we work every day, and how we deal with the everyday dynamics. She continued by presenting several projects developed at Miljöverkstan Flaten including a project on child safety, the Flaten game (a democratic nature game Figure 9 Nicole Montén describing the Miljöverkstan Flaten initiative. created with Australian game developers, high school classes and the Stockholm Resilience Center) and the Sustainability Musical where they are currently collaborating with writers for developing the narrative, with designers to make sustainable costumes and the stage set as well as with artists to create the music and the dances. She highlighted the project s success and described how in the last 2 years they worked with 400 children and 185 teachers and pedagogues. Their exhibition had approximately 1400 visitors. Nicole concluded her presentation inviting the audience to make an interactive exercise and energize the group Transition movement - Hållbara Hökarängen from one community to another, Åsa Stenmark, Hållbara, Hökarängen, Stockholmshem

8 Åsa Stenmark started her presentation on the Hållbara Hökarängen initiative by explaining that the aim of the initiative is to activate and engage people from different age groups in many different ways via organizing workshops, events, inspirational lectures, courses and other activities. Hållbara Hökarängen initiative aims to raise awareness about the need to reduce the consumption of resources as well as to enable people to meet and to work together. The initiative is currently working on multiple projects, such as: - Urban gardening project where they support with needed materials and where they collaborate with an urban transition group organizing courses on urban gardening; - Climate smart cooking courses with the aim to teach how to cook in climate friendly ways. Åsa argues that food is very powerful for engaging with people. Figure 10 Åsa Stenmark presenting Hållbara Hökarängen initiative. - The tool pool which aims to share and rent machines and tools. The initiative is brought by the Swedish Energy Agency and has Stockholm Resilient Center as a research partner. Åsa summarised the lessons learnt from her experience working at Hållbara Hökarängen initiative as following: It is important for the success of the initiative to work from bottom-up and to remain open to listen and understand the needs of the citizens and also to answer the questions of both the people you try to engage and the people you are working with. It is also critical to ensure there is capacity in the people of the initiative to be continuously present and available; always open to suggestions and ideas. It is fundamental to start from what it is there in a community, instead of making new institutions that may prove unfit to deal with local needs and local ways of organising. Page The fight for land The regional green structure articulating values over time and space, Mårten Wallberg, Swedish society of Nature Conservation Mårten Wallberg from the Swedish Society of Nature Conservation presented what it means to be working in a NGO. He argued that NGOs have the freedom to say what you want but do not have power while politicians that have power but do not have the freedom to say what they want. He continued by telling that if NGOs for being heard need to have credibility and this credibility can be achieved by engaging and working together with scientists and co-formulating research projects. Mårten showed the maps of the Stockholm area and its 10 Green Wedges, explaining that Green Wedges are large scale, regional green structures and they stretches of 30 km surrounding all landscapes around the city and including from 3 to 9 municipalities. Those wedges are unique in terms of natural capital of the country because they provide a lot of ecosystem services as well as many recreational areas that make the Stockholm region very attractive. Unfortunately, these wedges Figure 11 Mårten Wallberg from the Swedish society of Nature Conservation presenting the Green Wedges of Stockholm region.

9 are constantly threatened due to the pressure for building new houses. The conservation and protection of the wedges are fundamental but it is very difficult due to the autonomous and decentralised way municipalities operate and the fact that wedges are cross-boundary elements. For example, it is very problematic to preserve a wedge that is located across 6 municipalities due to the fact that local policy officers have to then collaborate across their municipality borders and jurisdictions. Mårten pointed out in his speech that this is exactly what they are trying to do at Swedish Society of Nature Conservation during the last 10 years: gathering politicians across municipalities and facilitate a dialogue on greening issues and structures. He concluded his presentation with the lessons learnt from his experience pointing at what it takes to establish long-lasting collaborations for preserving nature and ecosystem services: (a) patience in establishing and sustaining relationships and collaborations; (b) investing in building trust with municipalities and (c) be prepared to step back and allow municipalities to take over projects that align with their strategic agendas. Page 9 5. DIALOGUE TO WHERE FROM WHERE? HOW TO INCREASE SCALE, PLACE AND IMPACT OF CHANGE IN STOCKHOLM During the Dialogue session the participants were asked to participate in an interactive exercise called fish-bowl. Sara started asking the following question: It seems that we have everything, a great diversity, but it is scattered, in isolation. How can we make more use of this diversity to make a Stockholm transformation? The participants engaged in the dialogue generating meaningful discussions and sharing ideas and insights to address the issues. The following are the main points addressed on how to make the use of the diversity (of actors, initiatives, societal sectors, etc.) in order to enable an inclusive transformation in Stockholm: Key messages of Dialogue session Figure 12 and 13 The dialogue session during the ARTS Transition Platform meeting. 1. It is time to take action and start putting theory into practice. Everybody can contribute to change. Everybody needs to contribute to change! 2. We need to understand that change can be both fun and painful. That is why we need new forms of collaboration and mutual support to address both sides of transitions, inspiration, joy and (moral) support

10 3. We need to capitalize on diversity by making new connections: We need to create inclusive partnerships with diverse actors Page and diverse world-views and solutions. We need to find new and creative ways to engage actors with the sustainability agenda 10 and activities. 6. KEY MESSAGES OF THE STOCKHOLM TRANSITION PLATFORM 1. Build collaborations amongst different actors and societal sectors in order to foster inclusivity of interests and solutions. Create new connections and join forces in order to set-up different types of experiments and to build capacities for facilitating change towards sustainability: - Build collaborations among different governmental authorities (breaking with sectorial thinking) - Connect citizens and local initiatives with business actors and political authorities - Build upon sustainability as a broader concept which can attract multiple and more diverse actors - Contribute to a cultural shift in politics and society to experiment with and maintain new ways of working together in different areas and fields. 2. Implement participatory planning and inclusive urban governance Explore new forms of inclusive urban governance to find new ways of including people in the decision-making and planning processes. For this, - Develop a more communicative and actor-related planning. - Empower and motivate citizens to engage. - Consider needs and expectations of local actors and build from the initiatives, networks and activities that already exist (at the local level). - Consider more temporary and experimental of collaboration to allow for a low threshold for engagement. - Make activities and projects as fun as possible. Develop urban transition labs as spaces for exploring and experimenting with new ideas and means and for co-creation of alternative solutions - Use urban transition labs as space for social innovation, for developing transformative practices. - Capitalize on bringing together and combining knowledge from multiple contexts (politicians, artists, citizens, scientists, activists, planners and the business community). 3. Rethink and change the role of research in mobilising the innovative capital of civil society and the public sector for transformations to sustainability Work at the interface between theory and practice. Explore new ways of how research can be better implemented into society and how societal knowledge can inform research. 4. Consider means to sustain initiatives over time as social-ecological cogs of sustainability transitions Provide funding for the continuation of projects over time. Acknowledge and build upon the role of initiatives for connecting and putting into practice the ecological, social and economic dimensions of sustainability. Be patient! Build trust!

11 The transition platform meeting in Stockholm was held within in multiple frames. It was part of the program of Experiment Stockholm an art dialogue exhibition hosted by Färgfabriken (ref to Jans presentation) and secondly it was also a TLab session of the international scientific conference Transformation2015 organized by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University (reference to website). Given the fact that the Transition Platform #2 was included as a TLab in the Transformations 2015 conference, it was also included in a plenary discussion regarding co-creation processes and laboratory formats in interdisciplinary and applied research. The Transition Platform #2 was attended by 40 people in total representing researchers from a wide range of disciplines and institutes, artists, consultants, local and regional officials and local transition initiatives. Page 11