Share experiences
Sharing Cities Stockholm explored how the sharing economy and citizen engagement can contribute to climate transition through work with residents in a neighborhood.
A total of four testbeds were established in Stockholm, Umeå, Gothenburg, and Malmö. They were funded by Vinnova and around fifty partners from cities, academia, and civil society, as part of the strategic innovation program Viable Cities.
The Stockholm testbed, Sharing Cities Stockholm, was developed in Hammarby Sjöstad through a collaboration between ElectriCITY, RISE, KTH, Ericsson, Skanska, the City of Stockholm, Metasolutions, Evothings, and Kamidev. The collaboration in Sharing Cities Stockholm focused on fostering engagement to achieve the local climate goal: Climate-Neutral Sjöstaden 2030, which was established in cooperation with local residents, while also strengthening trust, community, health, and well-being in the area.
Researchers from KTH and RISE participated as action researchers, including by providing methodology for co-creation with local stakeholders.
The project’s foundation was to view sharing and digitalization as accelerators for transitioning to a circular economy and achieving the local climate goal. The testbed in Hammarby Sjöstad adopted a broad view of the concept of sharing: both objects and knowledge can be shared.
STRATEGY
The project’s foundation has been to view sharing and digitalization as accelerators for transitioning to a circular economy and achieving the local climate goal in Hammarby Sjöstad. This has been done by making it easier for residents and other actors in Sjöstaden to share knowledge, experiences, and services within the district.
The project’s primary activities have therefore included various methods to foster an active local sharing culture, of both objects and knowledge, and to raise awareness of the need to utilize local resources and spaces more effectively.
In the midst of the project, Sweden and the world were hit by the coronavirus pandemic, and nearly all local activities were conducted as digital events. ElectriCITY then launched ECTV as a format to reach residents and foster engagement. Despite this new format, there was a noticeable decline in the ability to engage civil society, even in the Stockholm testbed.
Some of the activities in Sharing Cities Stockholm are presented below.
Project period
Aug 2017 - Aug 2021
million euros
total for the project, of which 5 million SEK for ElectriCITY
Project info
Category Circular economy
Project nameSharing Cities Stockholm
LocationHammarby Sjöstad
PartnersKTH, Rise, Ericsson, Stockholm Stad, Skanska, Metasolutions, Kamidev och Evothings.
FinancingVinnova och Viable Cities
CoordinatorKTH, Rise
Contact persons at ElectriCITY
Workshops with Sjöstaden Residents
The citizen dialogue series “Klimatspanarna” (Climate Scouts) is an example of workshops for children and parents on various themes. Some of the themes covered include: Tackling Food Waste, How to Build an Insect Hotel, Build Your Own Air Quality Monitor, and Plogging in Sjöstaden.
Future scenarios for life in the neighborhood after reaching the 2030 climate goal, with good health and well-being, have also been developed in workshops with residents of Hammarby Sjöstad.
The Borrow Box
“Lånelådan” (The Borrow Box) was a pilot project in the housing associations Knallen and Holmen, aimed at facilitating sharing among neighbors in the neighborhood. Lånelådan was managed by ElectriCITY and Sharing Cities Stockholm in collaboration with Husqvarna and the residents of Holmen and Knallen.
The purpose of Lånelådan was to make it easier for neighbors to borrow equipment from each other (items not used daily) to reduce climate impact by borrowing more and buying less.
Lånelådan, which was placed in the courtyard of Knallen in early February 2020, functioned as both a storage unit — with several compartments accessible via combination locks — and an online neighborhood portal where residents could easily post pictures of items they wanted to lend to neighbors.
Lånelådan was in place for six months.
Social media
The “Klimatspanarna” (The Climate Scouts) series, aimed at families with children and schoolchildren, has resulted in ten films that have received wide distribution on the web and social media. Some examples of films that have been particularly appreciated include:
- Insect Hotel
- Bee Hotel
- Hydroponic Grow Box
- Birdhouse
- Tic-Tac-Toe
- Waste Sorting
- Food Waste
Translation of the text in the videoclip: Eating two burgers a week for a year produces carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to 2,480 kilometers of driving with fossil fuel.
Neighborhood Platform
as a Digital Twin
An important part of the strategy for Climate-Neutral Sjöstaden 2030 is to utilize digitalization as an accelerator for the climate transition. Within the Sharing Cities Stockholm project, a mockup of a neighborhood platform was developed as a digital twin with real-time information to facilitate sustainable behavior patterns in daily life. The neighborhood portal visualizes real-time data for residents in selected neighborhoods, including environmental sensors placed on balconies in the area. In addition to air quality in the district, available charging stations are visualized as examples of relevant information.
The project is presented in the film (5:05 min).
To be continued …
Urban farming and urban agriculture are theme areas that the project group has focused on, which have led to spin-off projects such as Neighbourfood and AIFOOD.
Several urban farming initiatives and innovative business models, including those based on surplus heat from Carnegie’s local beer production, have been explored. There is now also growing interest in urban food production and circular economy among several housing associations in Sjöstaden.
Results
ElectriCITY has summarized the project’s results in the form of a TV program that was streamed online in the spring of 2021, titled Sharing Cities Stockholm and Circular Economy.
In this chapter-based program, the work for local transformation towards an active sharing culture and circular economy is summarized. (30:31 min)
Partners
