Future Dialogue in Västra Götaland is a collaborative project aimed at strengthening Region Västra Götaland’s capacity to work strategically, in a coordinated manner and on a knowledge-based foundation with long-term future-oriented issues. The project is based on the need to better manage uncertainty, complex societal challenges and transition through shared images of the future, dialogue and foresight.

Västra Götaland has many future-oriented objectives, particularly in relation to climate, the environment, mobility and regional development. At the same time, these objectives can be understood and translated into practice in different ways depending on place, target group and area of society. The project therefore does not focus on developing new visions or objectives, but on exploring what existing ones may mean in practice and how they can be used as a basis for shared learning, strategic choices and long-term planning.

Through several future dialogues in different parts of the region, digital seminars and joint analysis, the project develops and tests methods for dialogue, scenarios and foresight. The future dialogues are workshop-based meeting formats in which actors from the public sector, academia, culture, civil society, business and industry, and residents jointly explore and give concrete form to possible futures, including their conflicts of objectives, synergies and needs for change.

The project is carried out by Region Västra Götaland (VGR), RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, HDK-Valand at the University of Gothenburg, and the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI). Together, the partners combine expertise in regional development, foresight, mobility, spatial planning, artistic methods and design-based approaches.

The aim is for the project, by making images of the future more concrete, to contribute to increased regional capacity for foresight, strengthened dialogue between actors, and a more practically useful toolbox for regional planning and governance. The results will be compiled in the form of lessons learned, methods and recommendations that can be used in continued regional development work.

The project participants from each organisation are:

RISE Research Institutes of Sweden: Daniel Bengtsson & Hilma Andersson

Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI): Jacob Witzell, Karolina Isaksson & Claus Hedegaard Sørensen

HDK-Valand at the University of Gothenburg: Helena Kraff, Britta Teleman & Gloria López Cleries

Region Västra Götaland (VGR): Aako Raoofi, Sara Eriksson & Line de Verdier

The project runs from 2025 to 2027 and is funded by the EU’s Regional Development Fund programme. RISE is the project owner and leads the work together with municipalities and universities in Luleå, Umeå, Sundsvall, Örnsköldsvik, and Östersund.

Northern Sweden faces major opportunities—but also major challenges. Rapid climate transition, extensive industrial expansion, demographic shifts, and rising demands for social sustainability place high expectations on municipal capacity.

Today, much development work takes place in project form, which means that methods, networks, and lessons learned risk disappearing when projects end. In addition, collaboration between municipalities and universities needs to be strengthened, and residents and civil society need better tools to influence future urban development.

The project therefore creates structures that are:

• Long-term – integrated into regular operations
• Research-based – built on up‑to‑date knowledge
• Innovative – using digital tools and AI
• Inclusive – enabling broad participation from residents and local communities

The project is carried out in close collaboration between five municipalities, three universities, and RISE. The work consists of three main components:

Shared learning, governance, and dissemination

This work package develops tools, working methods, and digital solutions to strengthen resident influence and democratic processes. The municipalities share experiences and create common methods that can be used by other cities as well.

Support for innovation structures

The project establishes a new process for knowledge exchange between researchers and practitioners. Through so‑called research briefs, academic research is more clearly linked to municipal strategies, strengthening innovation capacity throughout northern Sweden.
Additionally, new opportunities for using AI and digital tools in the transition work are identified.

Pilot projects in five cities

Each participating city runs a development initiative tailored to its local needs:

• Umeå: A physical meeting place and transition arena for climate roadmap stakeholders and civil society.
• Örnsköldsvik: A placemaking pilot where residents co‑create future public spaces in the new district “Stadsdel 2030.”
• Östersund: Co‑creation of a new city vision, Östersund 2040, with broad involvement from residents, researchers, civil society, and businesses.
• Sundsvall: New arenas for visioning and knowledge exchange, along with AI‑driven citizen dialogue linked to the revision of the city’s vision.
• Luleå: Contributes with insights on systematic citizen dialogue and experiences from Luleå Framtidsforum.

The project directly contributes to the implementation of the territorial strategy Thriving Northern Cities – Nordic Cities Lead the Climate Transition.

Background and Rationale

Sweden has long displayed an unusually strong consensus regarding the need for ambitious climate and energy policies. This has created favourable conditions for the transition towards a fossil‑free energy system. However, when national goals are operationalised, friction emerges as values, priorities, and interests collide. The transition produces both winners and losers, and such distributional effects can undermine trust, generate resistance, and weaken political capacity. The project takes this paradox as its entry point: strong formal consensus – yet increasing practical friction.

Scope and Research Questions

The overarching aim is to analyse how consensus and conflict shape the energy transition’s pace, direction, and legitimacy. The project examines relationships among key actors – policymakers, public officials, firms, experts, and citizens – and how tensions between facts, values, and institutions influence governance and decision‑making. Its goal is to develop new theoretical and empirical insights that strengthen capacities to manage conflict, build legitimacy, and accelerate the transition.

Research Challenge

Existing research has examined specific components of the energy transition, but often lacks a system‑level perspective on how actor relations, norms, and conflicts of interest shape transition dynamics. As a result, the knowledge base underpinning policy risks becoming fragmented. This project addresses this gap by combining political science and transition studies within a unified analytical framework.

Approach and Methodology

The project brings together researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, the University of Gothenburg, and RISE within a coherent interdisciplinary research agenda. The work draws on advanced qualitative and quantitative methods, including discourse network analysis, text analysis, and experimental design studies. Through international comparative analysis, the project also generates knowledge relevant beyond the Swedish context.

Impact and Contribution

The project delivers tools, analytical frameworks, and evidence‑based insights for policymakers, public authorities, businesses, and civil society. By clarifying how relationships, conflicts, and perceptions of fairness influence political action, the project supports a faster, more legitimate, and more effective energy transition – in Sweden and internationally

Conditions for Strategic Sustainability Work in Municipalities in Skåne – Step 1

How can municipalities ensure that sustainability work truly becomes part of everyday operations – and not something that happens on the side?
This pilot study, carried out in 2022 by Lund University and funded by Region Skåne’s Environmental Protection Fund, explored this question to understand which organizational conditions are necessary for sustainability work to function in practice. The focus was not on what municipalities do for sustainable development, but on how they can organizationally create better conditions for implementing political decisions on sustainability.

How the Pilot Study Was Conducted

During the pilot study, a model was developed to assess municipalities’ institutional capacity – that is, their ability to integrate sustainability into their structures, processes, and culture. The model was used to design a survey answered by 53 strategists, managers, and coordinating functions in 30 municipalities in Skåne. In addition, an inventory of municipalities’ overarching political decisions and governance documents was conducted. The results were linked to an international framework for policy coherence for sustainable development (Agenda 2030 Target 17.14).

Results of the Pilot Study

1. Political decisions exist – but often lack political legitimacy.
   Most municipalities have decisions related to sustainable development, but many respondents feel these decisions are not prioritized or taken seriously in practice.
2. Management practices are crucial – and often insufficient.
   For sustainability work to function, management must integrate it into regular processes (e.g., budgeting, follow‑up, case preparation) and into shared structures (roles, responsibilities, systems, routines). Many municipalities lack parts of this, resulting in sustainability work running in parallel tracks.
3. Strategists and coordinators often lack adequate conditions.
   Many work informally, without clear mandates or access to important processes. This creates heavy workloads, vulnerable organizational setups dependent on “champions,” and risks of discontinuity when staff change.
4. Municipalities show strong engagement – but capacity needs strengthening.
   The results show that of every 10 respondents, four experience low institutional capacity, nearly five experience moderate capacity, and only one reports high capacity according to the study’s model. There is thus clear potential for improvement in almost all municipalities in Skåne – and it is likely that they do not differ significantly from other municipalities in Sweden.

The pilot study (Step 1) provided an important first picture of how municipalities’ sustainability and transition work is shaped by their structures, processes, and culture. The results clearly showed that the ambition is often present – but the organization’s actual ability to implement political decisions is lacking. It also became clear that strategic coordinators carry substantial responsibility, often without sufficient mandates or structural support.

Conditions for Strategic Sustainability Work in Municipalities in Skåne – Step 2

Step 2 of the project deepens the understanding, broadens the focus from “sustainability work” to the wider question of municipal transition capacity, and provides concrete guidance on how municipalities can strengthen their ability to drive cross‑sectoral development work.

The follow‑up project was conducted in 2023–2025 by RISE and Lund University, funded by Region Skåne’s Environmental Protection Fund. While the pilot study identified the challenges, Step 2 focused on why these challenges arise – and, above all, what municipalities can practically do about them.
How can municipalities create the organizational conditions required to address complex transition tasks, whether related to sustainable consumption, integration, innovation, climate neutrality, or preparedness?

How the Study Was Conducted

Step 2 builds on the pilot study by combining several complementary methods that together provide a deeper understanding of municipalities’ transition capacity. The material consists of three components:

• an inventory of the instructions for municipal chief executives (kommundirektörer) in 32 municipalities in Skåne,
• an in‑depth analysis of strategists’ work environment based on the same survey used in Step 1,
• a thematic analysis of free‑text responses from 53 respondents on governance, leadership, and coordination.

Data from Step 1 was therefore further analyzed, supplemented with new material, and placed within a broader organizational perspective.

Study Results

The results from Step 2 build directly on the conclusions of the pilot study – but expand them by shifting focus from sustainability work to municipalities’ overall transition capacity.
Where Step 1 showed that municipalities lack organizational conditions for integrating sustainability work, Step 2 explains why this is the case and what is required to change it. Among the key results are:

• a mapping of municipal chief executives’ formal mandates and how their instructions can be used as tools to strengthen transition capacity,
• a work‑environment analysis using the demand–control–support model, clarifying why strategic functions often become overloaded and create a “champion dependency” within the organization,
• a deeper analysis of management’s role and how their priorities influence the entire transition effort,
• a practical guide with models, methods, and tools to develop structures, processes, and culture so that cross‑sectoral transition work can be integrated into ordinary operations.

Together, these results provide a clearer picture of what needs to change – and how municipalities can move from good intentions to the actual organizational conditions required for long‑term transition. The final report offers guidance tailored to different target groups to strengthen the organization’s transition capacity.

Net Zero Industry is one of five innovation programs within Impact Innovation aimed at supporting sustainable transformation and strengthening Sweden’s global competitiveness.

The programmes mission is based on a clear societal challenge: production, consumption, and value chains must be accommodated within the planet's limits. At the same time, the industry needs to accelerate the transition in order to strengthen its competitiveness based on sustainability and resilience.

Swedish industry employs over 1 million people and accounts for a large share of exports and the country's R&D investments. The manufacturing industry is crucial to the country's employment, growth, and innovative capacity. To ensure continued competitiveness in an increasingly uncertain world, a rapid and comprehensive transition to net-zero emissions and more resilient value chains is required. 

But success requires more than individual technical solutions. The transition must take place at a systematic level and encompass the entire value chain. That’s why the programme works broadly with materials, products, production, business models, policy and regulations, infrastructure, values, and culture. By bringing together actors who do not normally collaborate, solutions, expertise, and capabilities are created that have a real impact in both the short and long term.

Hundreds of companies and organizations have already been mobilized through the programmes research and innovation projects, where new technology, smarter working methods, and more robust value chains are being developed.

The goal is to make net zero a strategic advantage and strengthen the Swedish manufacturing industry's competitiveness, resilience, and position as a global pioneer. 

About the programme:

The Net Zero Industry organization and activities are based on broad stakeholder collaboration. The programme office is run by Teknikföretagen and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, and is a part of Impact Innovation financed by Vinnova, Energimyndigheten och Formas. 

The work within the program is conducted in close collaboration with academia, industry, and the manufacturing industry ecosystem.

Read more about the program and learn about our theory of change, which describes both challenges and goals in more detail: Click here. 

Sofia Wieselfors, Teknikföretagen is the Program Director and Cecilia Ramberg, RISE is Vice Program Director.

The participants in the initiative have high ambitions for climate change and are actively working throughout the value chain. The participants are part of each other's value chains and see collaboration as key for Sweden to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045. There is a clear need to accelerate the transition to sustainable healthcare in Sweden, in line with developments in other countries.

The shared climate ambition:

The shared climate ambition below will be signed by the participants in the national climate initiative at its launch on February 3, 2026. 

Together, within the Swedish healthcare and life science sector, we show the way towards a sustainable future

We commit to working together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the ambition to reach netzero by 2045 throughout the value chain. To achieve the ambition, everyone reduces their ownemissions through timed transition plans in line with the Paris Agreement. Each of us activelycontributes. Together, we build resilient, fair and resource-efficient care.  
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Through preventive measures, early detection of diseases and effective treatment, we reduce the need for resource-intensive and climate-impacting care. We combine this with innovations, circular business models and material flows. Through transparency in the collaboration, we ensure that we follow up and continuously reduce climate impact. 
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Under our clear national leadership, we embrace this ambition and strengthen Sweden's competitiveness.We show that a climate-neutral healthcare and life science sector is achievable – while safeguarding patient safety, public health and human rights.

The climate initiative enables joint projects and collaboration

Through the collaboration enabled by the national climate initiative for the healthcare sector, the actors plan to run joint projects in areas such as the circular economy and preventive care. Since the actors are forming each other's value chains, the collaboration will enable the actors to achieve much more than each organization could on its own.

Background

Societal transformation is underway in several areas to strengthen society's ability to meet the global climate and health crisis and thereby increase our resilience. This is also highlighted in the Swedish Life Science Strategy under goal 8.4, which emphasizes the need for increased efforts for climate change mitigation, climate adaptation, and reduced environmental impact. Many actors in the health and medical care sector have set their own goals but see a need for closer collaboration to achieve more.

The geopolitical situation and the need to build a resilient population and society have never been greater, and a major overhaul is underway within the EU. At the same time, the climate crisis is the greatest long-term challenge facing humanity, with clear links between climate change and deteriorating public health. The healthcare sector plays a crucial role in society, but at the same time accounts for around five per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Against this background, collaboration across organizational and sectoral boundaries is essential. By bringing together actors along the entire value chain, the conditions are created for a joint contribution to the transition to more sustainable healthcare.

Why participate?

The Climate Initiative brings together actors who want to actively contribute to the green transition in healthcare and life sciences. By participating in the initiative, organizations become part of a national context where collaboration, common direction, and work throughout the value chain are in focus, with the goal of jointly contributing to reduced climate impact and long-term sustainable healthcare in Sweden.

Would your organization like to participate in the initiative?  Contact us here. 

We are living in a time when the loss of biodiversity, the depletion of our ecosystems and climate change are putting increased pressure on businesses. Pressure is growing from investors, consumers and public actors, and the business community is facing a paradigm shift. Companies that want to remain competitive will soon need to not only report on risks, but also demonstrate how they are creating a positive impact. It is in this changing landscape that the Nature-Positive Business project takes off. We want to understand more about how companies can work to become nature-positive by identifying their needs in relation to this transition and exploring working methods, tools and models that can support them in identifying, analysing and acting for nature positivity.

Through interviews, dialogue meetings and surveys, we explore how pioneers are already working to develop nature-positive solutions, offerings and business models, and how a transition can be facilitated in more companies. Supplementary literature studies contribute to insight into available methods, tools and models that can be used to support innovation processes with a focus on nature positivity and to meet the challenges and needs that companies encounter. Insights from the project will be disseminated via a summary report and open webinars. The project is led by RISE and carried out in collaboration with Science Park Borås.