The second Innovation Panel of the year has just been completed and the results compiled. The theme of the digital survey this time was sustainability. Halfway to 2030, when the UN's sustainability goals are to be achieved, Dalarna Science Park has taken the sustainability temperature in the county. Questions were asked about how actors in Dalarna view, and act in accordance with, Agenda 2030, and the answers were largely consistent and clear.
The responses show that awareness of sustainability issues has clearly increased since the UN Sustainable Development Goals were presented in 2015. Just over half of respondents (54%) believe that the SDGs are clearly more important, and even more relevant, today than seven years ago. While as many as 96% say they consider themselves to be contributing to a long-term climate transition, two-thirds (61%) believe that the UN SDGs have made it clear that sustainability is about so much more than just the climate.
There are also business opportunities in the transition
- Every day, we work to secure the obvious place of sustainability within Dalarna's new and existing companies. We are therefore extremely pleased that the general awareness of sustainability has also clearly increased in our county in recent years. I am proud that we at Dalarna Science Park have three sustainability strategists who coach companies on sustainability issues on a daily basis and ensure that sustainability becomes a natural part of companies' business plans. There are also business opportunities in the transition," says Angelica Ekholm, CEO of Dalarna Science Park.
Sustainability is one of three strategic priority areas for Dalarna Science Park, whose task is to act as the innovation arena for the whole of Dalarna. Therefore, investments have also been made in its own internal expertise, which has resulted in three full-time sustainability strategists being available to both new and existing Dalarna companies. Sustainability work is reflected in the regional business community's efforts to contribute to its own and the regional development and growth.
- "It is very good that many people are driving the work on sustainability issues among our regional actors. The fact that the Innovation Panel also shows that we in Dalarna believe that the UN's global goals are more relevant today than when they were presented in 2015, also shows that sustainability must continue to be prioritized, says Angelica Ekholm, CEO of Dalarna Science Park.
About the Innovation Panel
During the year, Dalarna Science Park will conduct three digital Innovation Panels. The purpose of the Innovation Panel is to regularly take the pulse of entrepreneurship in the county and ensure an ongoing dialog with those active in the region.
