How do we create a sustainable and resilient future—for real? That question was the focus when 80 students, politicians, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders gathered at Dalarna Science Park in late March for the Dear Economy event, organized in collaboration with EY.
Creating these kinds of meeting places is a key part of Dalarna Science Park’s mission. When we bring together the business community, academia, and the public sector, new partnerships, ideas, and solutions emerge that strengthen the innovative capacity of the entire region.
“What gave us the most energy and optimism for the future was the sense that so many of us truly want to move from insight to action. We didn’t stop at ideas, but instead formulated concrete experiments to test together. It would be fantastic to see some of them become a reality,” says Anna Torsgården, sustainability developer at Dalarna Science Park.
When you can feel the future in your gut
The day began with a powerful and dystopian experience, in which participants were presented with possible future scenarios. The aim was to evoke both emotions and new insights.
"To understand what might happen, we need to feel it in our bodies," says Kristoffer Lundholm from EY's futures lab SALLY, which developed the concept.
Several people in the audience were visibly moved, and one of the participants, Jenny Asp, describes the experience as follows:
Many of us have read sustainability reports, but this was a completely different approach. The stories really touched our hearts.
New Ways of Thinking About Economics
Several key messages were highlighted during the morning. We need to transition to an economy that operates within the planet’s limits, featuring circular business models, new ways of measuring value, and a systemic perspective in which cross-border collaboration is essential for sustainable businesses to thrive and drive change.
Anja Vanhatalo of EY served as today’s moderator. She said that now is the time to be bold:
The solutions already exist. But we need new business models and new metrics; we need to incorporate them into our calculations and pick up the pace. Either we transform the economy ourselves, or it will transform us.
Ideas that could transform Dalarna
A key part of the day was the workshops, where participants worked in small groups to develop sustainable solutions for Dalarna. There was a high level of engagement, plenty of ideas, and a lively buzz. Here are some of the voices from the discussions:
“One of our suggestions is ‘Sustainable Parties,’ to reduce the mountains of newly purchased gifts and instead choose reused items or activities as gifts. These could be held at church facilities, where we can also support the children with the party in more ways,” says Tobias Zettergren of the Church of Sweden.
“We discussed renting work clothes for the public sector instead of buying and discarding them. This can both reduce consumption and create jobs for people who have difficulty entering the labor market,” says Niklas Sjögren from the Business Development Office at Borlänge Municipality.
When different perspectives come together, magic happens
This was the first time EY had implemented the concept in this format, and Anja Vanhatalo sums up the day as a success:
When people from different sectors come together to brainstorm, magic happens. I am proud that we have been able to contribute to all these meetings. There is a strong desire to invest in Dalarna’s future.
Some of the ideas that emerged during the day included: a local social currency, a digital marketplace for locally produced goods, a resource hub, urban farming, community-driven public transportation, neighborhood watch programs, a banking app with new metrics, a machine-sharing pool, a climate label, and a well-being index.
“We hope that many of these ideas will blossom into experiments in the next phase, as we work together to build a Dalarna with a strong future,” says Anja Vanhatalo.
The findings will now be taken forward and shared in various contexts, including at Sweden’s Innovation Parliament in May and as part of the ongoing preparations for Dalarna Innovation Days in October.
The forward-looking work and dialogue will also continue at Dalating, the annual conference on the county’s joint efforts to achieve a sustainable Dalarna.
The Dalarna Strategy sets a clear direction towards a sustainable and competitive Dalarna. Dalarna Science Park's role is to bring together different perspectives and connect stakeholders to form new collaborations. As a neutral arena, we work to inspire increased innovation in the region.
