Visions: in the North

The project ‘Visions: in the North‘ assembled 11 creative teams, comprising some of Sweden’s leading architects, artists, and designers, to conceptualize visions for sustainable living environments in Kiruna, Gällivare, Boden, Luleå, Skellefteå, and Umeå.

The initiative addressed the large-scale green transition underway in Norrbotten and Västerbotten, where Swedish entrepreneurs and business leaders are at the forefront of transitioning to a fossil-free world. With significant green industrial investments continuing in these regions, local municipalities are expanding to meet the demands for infrastructure, housing, social services, and community spaces.

In collaboration with Kiruna, Gällivare, Boden, Luleå, Skellefteå, and Umeå, and as part of the Council for Sustainable Cities’ government collaboration, various discipline experts were invited to contribute to the development of concept sketches. These sketches are based on each municipality’s unique conditions and processes. The aim was to gather cross-sectoral creative expertise and citizens to contribute to the development and transition to a more sustainable society from multiple perspectives. In late autumn of 2021, interdisciplinary teams with artistic excellence were invited to express their interest in participating, and the response was overwhelming. Out of 55 applications, eleven teams were selected to envision the future living environments in these six municipalities.

The result of the teams’ processes is eleven concept sketches depicting an attractive and fossil-free future, with design, culture, creativity, and municipal conditions as starting points. The ideas range from developing communities without claiming new land, transforming former mining areas into spaces for people, creating memorials for what we have lost to climate change, proposing a new management model based on local co-creation, to conceptualizing ways to handle constant changes. The teams presented their ideas in the form of vision documents, which were then summarized in a final report.

You can learn more about the project and view the teams’ complete concept sketches on Hållbarstad.se ↗.