Last week, a delegation with representatives from cities in the U.S. visited Sweden to learn more about Sweden’s work on sustainability and waste management.
The delegation spent three days in Helsingborg in the south of Sweden, where they learned about solutions such as Three Pipes Out (see Reco lab) – the unique system of collecting and handling food- and water waste, and visited places such as the innovation centre Vera Park. The group then spent two days in the capital of Stockholm, where Smart City Sweden hosted two sessions.
The delegation got the chance to visit one of the waste management company Envac’s sites and learn about their underground waste system. Chairman at Viable Cities and previous Minister of Finance Allan Larsson, accompanied by Erik Freudenthal, resident in Hammarby sjöstad and Former Director of the Environmental Information Center GlashusEtt, spoke about the history of Hammarby sjöstad and the solutions implemented in the area.
On the second day, the group listened to Jonas Törnblom, Senior Advisor at Smart City Sweden, talking about Eco Governance – a method of collaborative governance to unite and steer complex processes with many stakeholders towards common environmental and societal goals.
The trip was organised by the Swedish Institute and the Embassy of Sweden in the U.S. in collaboration with Smart City Sweden, the Swedish Energy Agency and the City of Helsingborg.
