Test beds to fight the climate change

Hammarby Sjöstad 2.0 is commited to work for the climate together with residents and local players in the district. Together we have formulated a local climate goal: Climate Neutral Sjöstaden 2030. We therefore participate in research and innovation projects and in recent years Sjöstaden has become a test bed for climate change adaptation. Hammarby Sjöstad 2.0 and ElectriCITY works as a citizen driven platform for collaboration between universities, research institutes, leading companies and residents around the energy-efficient and climate-smart city of the future. ElectriCITY.

Hammarby Sjöstad attracts researchers not only from Swedish colleges and universities, but also from leading universities around the world. Hammarby Sjöstad 2.0 has the ambition of being the first choice as a Swedish node in EU projects on studies of and for sustainable urban development.

Fundamental to our commitment to projects is that it will be of benefit to those who live in Sjöstan and contribute to making Hammarby Sjöstad a forerunner in the fight against climate change. We have long experience of collaboration with KTH (the Royal Institute of Technology), IVL Swedish Environmental Institute, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, and Energiforsk, all of whom are members of ElectriCITY and contribute to the scientific quality in projects we carry out together.

Our current projects are:

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Sharing Cities Stockholm

Hammarby Sjöstad 2.0 is one of four test beds within the national program Sharing Cities Sweden www.sharingcities.se. The funding is ongoing from 2017 to 2021 with a budget of EUR 12 million and aims to explore the conditions for how sharing economy and citizen engagement in Swedish cities can contribute to stall the climate change.

The Stockholm testbed, Sharing Cities Stockholm, is being built in collaboration between ElectriCITY and RISE, KTH, Ericsson, Skanska, Stockholm City, Metasolutions, Evothings and Kamidev. The collaboration in Sharing Cities Stockholm is about working with residents in Hammarby Sjöstad to achieve the local climate goal: “Climate neutral Sjöstaden 2030” and at the same time strengthening the trust in the community, improving health and well-being.

The four test beds are established in Stockholm, Umeå, Gothenburg and Malmö. They are funded by Vinnova and some 50 partners from cities, academia and citizens, as part of the strategic innovation program Viable Cities.

Read more here: www.viablecities.com

Hammarby Sjöstad 2.0 and Sharing Cities Stockholm have developed a local climate goal “Climate-neutral Sjöstaden 2030”.

The strategy for reaching the climate goal is to facilitate for residents and other actors in Sjöstaden

to share knowledge, experience and services in the district,
by using more shared resources – circular economy – for example to increase the utilization of premises, reduce the need for car ownership in the district and also reduce the need for transport to the district (last mile delivery)
to inspire sustainable behavior patterns, for example by trying urban cultivation and new business models for local food production

Hammarby Sjöstad 2.0 runs a number of projects to reach the local climate target.

An important strategy is to use digitalisation as a catalyst for preventing climate change, for example by developing a neighborhood platform such as a digital twin with real-time information to facilitate sustainable behavior patterns in everyday life, and also new business models that promote local production (thus minimizing transport). Other strategies are about joint procurement of services and sharing knowledge between housing associations to streamline energy use within the property, and in the long run prepare for the establishment of positive energy districts within the district.

The development of the local climate goal “Climate-neutral Sjöstaden 2030” has a stated aim at the same time to strengthen trust and community, health and well-being. Several strategies have been developed to reach it.

One example is the Citizens Dialogue series Klimatspanarna (The Climate Scouts) with workshops for children and parents on different themes. During the last year we dealt with the following themes, among others:
How do we tackle food waste?, Here’s how to fix an insect hotel, Build your own air quality sensor.
Klimatspanarnas Facebook page

The project also conducts activities aimed at residents in selected neighborhoods, for example the pilot test “Lånelådan” in collaboration with BRF Knallen and Holmen. “Lånelådan” makes it easy for neighbors to borrow equipment from each other (of the kind you don’t use every day). The aim is to reduce the climate impact by borrowing more and buying less. Read more about “Lånelådan” in the adjoining column.

Researchers from KTH and RISE function as action researchers, partly by providing methodology for collaboration with local participants. For example thru scenario and design methodology to explore the future potential of Sjöstaden 2030. Future scenarios of the living conditions in the district when the climate goal 2030 has been reached. Researchers also contribute with exploratory calculations that can visualize the effect of sustainable behavior patterns adopted in one or more neighborhoods: “If everyone in Sjöstaden would…” – then we succeed in reaching the goal of Climate Neutral Sjöstaden 2030!

For contact information and more information about Sharing Cities Stockholm see www.sharingcities.se

The UN’s global goals

Lånelådan

“Lånelådan” is a pilot project in BRF Knallen and Holmen to facilitate sharing between neighbors. “Lånelådan” is run by the Hammarby Sjöstad 2.0 citizen initiative (www.hs20.se) and Sharing Cities Stockholm (www.sharingcities.se) together with Husqvarna and residents in BRF Holmen and BRF Knallen.

“Lånelådan” makes it easy for neighbors in the neighborhood to borrow equipment from each other (of the kind you don’t use every day), with the aim of reducing the climate impact by borrowing more and buying less.

“Lånelådan” is partly a storage furniture, with a number of boxes that are opened via code locks, which are placed on Knallens yard in early February. “Lånelådan” is also a neighborhood portal online, for those of you living in Knallen and Holmen, where you can easily upload pictures of things you want to lend to neighbors.

“Lånelådan” is placed here until the summer. This winter, we want to make it easy for you and your neighbors to share gadgets with each other. During the spring, Husqvarna will also be able to provide various kinds of tools that you need in the neighborhood. Feel free to contact anyone in the project team if you would like to attend our workshop in the spring. Everyone who lives here is welcome!

For contact information and more information about “Lånelådan” visit www.laneladan.se

Viable cities

ElectriCITY is a partner in a new, long-term strategic innovation program, Viable cities, which started in 2018 and will continue up until 2030. KTH hosts and coordinates the program. The aim is to contribute to research and innovation in the area of smart cities, thereby contributing to Sweden meeting its energy and climate goals and creating the conditions for sustainable growth.

The vision is that “Sweden will inspire and play a leading role in energy and climate efforts, through smart and sustainable cities”.

Viable Cities emphasis on four focus areas: Lifestyle and Consumption, Planning and Built Environment, Mobility, Integrated Infrastructure.
Viable Cities is a strategic innovation program consisting of community members from mainly four groups: business, public, research and non-profit sectors. Among the participants are four cities, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Umeå, as well as KTH, Chalmers, Lund University, Umeå University, and RISE. Businesses from Ericsson, Scania, Skanska and Intel participate. The program is funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, Vinnova and Formas.

A strategic innovation program is a long-term commitment of up to 12 years in which the program is evaluated and granted possible funding for a period of three-years at a time.

Read more about Viable Cities by Olga Kordas, KTH, here.

The energy system of the future

ElectriCITY participates in ERANET, a project on future energy development, aimed at facilitating the transition from a community dependent on fossil fuels to a circular community. How will the future energy system be affected by the fact that we go from being consumers to producing our own energy? How should energy producers redesign their production to make it more flexible, while at the same time managing the energy consumption for the coldest dark night? How do future energy payment systems look like?

The project has three test beds in Europe, of which Hammarby Sjöstad is one. The Swedish participants are Riksbyggen, Fortum, Veolia, Ellevio, KTH and ElectriCITY.

Read more about ERANET by Björn Laumert, KTH, here.

New Water Technology

In Hammarby Sjöstad, one of Sweden’s and Europe’s leading research centers for water purification technology can be found namely Sjöstadsverket at Henriksdalsberget.

The lack of clean water is a growing problem in the world – and in Sweden. Sjöstadsverket improves existing technologies and develop and implement new technology and new methods. There are measures that lead to reduced climate impact and resource utilization at the treatment plants. One of the projects is to develop the municipal water treatment plants into a production plant for energy, commercially viable substances, such as phosphorus, and clean water, ie a circular economy. Through research projects, Sjöstadsverket contributes to promoting Swedish cleantech exports in the water sector. Sjöstadsverket is owned and operated by IVL and KTH, both members of ElectriCITY.

Read more about Sjöstadsverket by Staffan Filipsson, IVL, here.

The Digital City

In cooperation with Intel Sweden AB, Ericsson, Stockholm City, Skanska, KTH and others, ElectriCITY wants to take a holistic approach to the digital structure of IoT and 5G to lift Hammarby Sjöstad to the next level of climate and sustainable development.

We are now preparing a preliminary study on how Hammarby Sjöstad can serve as a test bed for horizontal integration of IoT and high capacity via 5G for better control of energy, transport, recycling, air quality, which aims at better resource flows and better use of scarce resources. We hope that such a test bed will be in operation by 2020 and get full impact over the next five years.