England October 22-26

2008

Joint action since 1993

Six Municipalities in the North of Sweden • Bjurholm• Nordmaling• Robertsfors• Umeå• Vindeln• Vännäs

An alliance for growth

• high quality of community services

• improve the efficiency of municipal activities

• offer services and facilities at lower cost

Agreement

• Positive development for one municipality is a positive development for all

• Establishment of new business enterprises should be done without conflict

• Job opportunities should be spread throughout the region

• Increased freedom of choice and better service to inhabitants

Aims• Better efficiency in the public sector

through co-ordination

• Work together for development of the region

• The organisation must be based upon democratic principles

Functional region

• One labour market region

• 142,000 inhabitants

• 5,000 people commute every day

• Maximum of 45 minutes by car from Umeå to the other municipal centres

• 16,000 business enterprises

Organisation• Council of the Region - mayors and vice mayors

• Heads of Municipalities - operative steering committee

• Head of office - prepares the agenda, carries out decisions, finances and administration

• 20 Thematic Committees - 100 representatives from all six municipalities

Committees

• Commercial and industrial life

• Education• Technique• Planning• Tourism• Staff• IT

• Environment• Public transportation • Purchase/procurement• Information• Waste management • Elderly care

Examples of successful co-operation

They all started as projects... • Joint organisation of tourism

• Joint refugee reception

• Joint library system - United Nations Public Service Award in 2008 for “best innovation in the public sector”

www.minabibliotek.se

Minabibliotek.se is the result of many yearsof developmental work

• Participatory Democracy

• Part of the European Capital of Culture venture

• A joint regional web site

Umeå Region Libraries Strategy for sustainable development

• The work of the libraries relate to all ten themes of the Aalborg Commitments and can be described from all three perspectives of a sustainable development, social, economic and ecological.

Results• Better work environment• Innovative product development• Competence development• Improved professionality• National and international recognition

Umeå Region Public libraries Strategy for sustainable developmentSocial sustainability mission

• Spread culture• Accessible source of information • Accessible meeting place.

Economic sustainability mission• Increased productivity by sharing costs and resources. • Create an infrastructure for common investments (servers, library data

systems)• Financial stability through joint procurements and implementation of Umeå

region funding models and cost distribution

Ecological sustainability mission• Re-using resources by borrowing books• Increasing digitalisation of services all contributes to a better environment• From one tree up to 15000 A4 sheets or 100-150 books can be made

Sustainable Umeå Region

Albert Edman, Project leader

Sustainable Umeå RegionProject purpose

• Joint regional management system • Sustainable urban-rural development in functional labour market region.  

Starting points • Sustainable development is a leadership issue• Regional growth/development is strengthened by broad sustainable

development perspective • Bottom-up perspective with strong local involvement. 

Process• Based on Aalborg commitments process. • Evaluate Aalborg process as a tool from a functional region perspective.• Cooperation Umeå region and Västerbotten Regional Council

Aalborg Commitments?EU strategy for sustainable development (2006)

” Municipalities, cities and towns should be invited to sign and implement the Aalborg Commitments. Networks at different levels should support these activities.”

European Urban Conference 2004 in Aalborg, DenmarkMore than 500 local and regional signatories in Europe

THE AALBORG COMMITMENTS 50 commitments in 10 thematic areas

1 GOVERNANCE

2 LOCAL MANAGEMENT TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY

3 NATURAL COMMON GOODS

4 RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND LIFESTYLE CHOICES

5 PLANNING AND DESIGN

6 BETTER MOBILITY, LESS TRAFFIC

7 LOCAL ACTION FOR HEALTH

8 VIBRANT AND SUSTAINABLE LOCAL ECONOMY

9 SOCIAL EQUITY AND JUSTICE

10 LOCAL TO GLOBAL

BETTER MOBILITY, LESS TRAFFICWe recognise the interdependence of transport, health and environment and are committed to strongly promotingsustainable mobility choices. We will therefore work to:1. reduce the necessity for private motorised transport and

promote attractive alternatives accessible to all.2. increase the share of journeys made by public transport, on

foot and by bicycle.3. encourage transition to low-emission vehicles.4. develop an integrated and sustainable urban mobility plan.5. reduce the impact of transport on the environment and public

health.

Expected results

• Local and regional baseline review• Six local action plans• Regional framework with monitoring review

system• Systematic approach to take strategy into

targeted action, new thematic sustainable networks

• New thematic sustainable development projects, putting innovative ideas into practice

Local and regional baseline review

Strengths • 20 thematic committees in a stable

network creating bottom-up approach developing the region

• Well established political co-operation in the region

Examples• Umeå region public libraries• Wind power visualization-Google

earth• District heating (Cooling!) region• BioFuel Region• Gender equal and sustainable

region • Umeå European Capital of Culture

2014

Challenges

• How connect our functional region sustainably?

• Promoting health on equal terms• Bench-marking with others• Common vision for sustainable growth• Procurement of local and regional products• Climate and energy strategy for the region

Common wind energy plan for the Umeå RegionUsing Google Earth to visualize effects

District heating (cooling) region

• All six municipalities in the region have district heating systems• More than 70 % of the total indoor area in Umeå • Oil boilers replaced and the amount of electricity used for heating reduced.

Dåva combined heat and power plant One of the world’s most energy effective and environmentally adapted waste-fuelled plants. Combination of innovative solutions recover almost entire energy value of the fuel.

District cooling Absorption refrigerators produce district cooling, driven by district heating

A region that leads the world in biofuels The vision

To be a world-leading region in sustainable transport based on biofuels and bioproducts from renewable rawmaterials. Therefore we focus on

being in the forefront of societal change, industrial and regional development, and to increase the availability of renewable raw

materials

Gender equal, sustainable region

• Develop common knowledge platform on gender equality in the region• Develop management system to ensure gender equal service to citizens• Cooperation and knowledge gender equal, sustainable region

Facts about the Umeå region:• European Football Champions 2003, 2004, finalists 2002, 2007, 2008• Umeå University Center for Gender studies is National center of excellence• Umeå region has highest % of paternal leave days in Sweden

Northern curiosity and passion – the art of Co-creation

Mission: Co-creating sustainability (Stay cool!)

Thank You! Questions?