Articles and blog posts on infrastructure

These include heavy metals from car washes, pharmaceutical residues from our bodies, and chemicals of varying degrees of toxicity from industrial processes. Society as a whole generates emissions that cause pollution. 'We don't want these substances to enter the treatment plants, and we definitely don't want them to end up in the ground or waterways.' Our goal is to have 100 per cent of sewage sludge approved according to Revaq," says Hanna Widalm, an environmental engineer at Karlstad Municipality.

Sweden's electricity grid faces major challenges in coping with large-scale electrification and the green transition. Weak infrastructure creates problems for businesses, cities, and municipalities that want to grow. The expansion of the grid infrastructure is slow, so what do we do now?

We spend more than 90 percent of our lives indoors. But what if the very buildings designed to protect us are quietly undermining our health? Emerging research, within the field of neuroarchitecture and neurodesig, suggests that certain architectural features – from narrow hallways to windowless rooms – may trigger subtle but chronic stress responses that, over time, could contribute to serious illness.

A groundbreaking index in the emerging field of neurodesign and neuroarchitecture could transform the way we plan and invest in our cities, schools, and workplaces. Drawing on brain science and AI, researchers can now measure how physical environments influence our health, cognition, and overall wellbeing – with the ambition to set a new global standard for the built environments of tomorrow.

The climate is changing at an alarming rate, with devastating consequences worldwide. For Venice in Italy, the situation has long been precarious. A too significant rise in sea levels could erase the city from the map.

The number of permit applications for offshore wind power along Sweden’s coasts is increasing significantly. Through analyses, test, verification, and consultation, RISE actively supports both wind power operators and authorities.

The energy transition will require huge investments in grids and production over the next few decades. As new stakeholders establish themselves, the existing energy companies need to understand their roles, many of which are new to them. – “As an energy company, we have to be involved in pushing for the construction of new infrastructure,” says Alf Engqvist, CEO of Göteborg Energi.

Permit processes are currently unnecessarily long and inefficient. To both achieve and accelerate the transition to the green transition, permit processes must be more efficient. RISE can, among other things, contribute with expertise in relevant areas of the process and provide legal expertise throughout the process, thus creating the conditions for smooth and efficient permit processes.

Climate change, digitisation and sustainability: the world is changing rapidly and so must our infrastructure maintenance. The research programme Mistra InfraMaint tries to illustrate this point by offering a glimpse of the future.

How do we utilise and develop existing valuable competences in infrastructure maintenance while simultaneously attracting young people to the sector? The answer may lie in micro-learning and collaboration. The Mistra InfraMaint research programme is focused on the development of professional lifelong learning, among other things through the use of digital tools.