After a few lukewarm years, it was inspiring to see Almedalen Week flourish again. Visby was buzzing with ideas and unexpected encounters, while focusing on current and concrete societal challenges. Björn Ulvaeus opened the week with a powerful speech on the importance of democracy and concluded with the words: "We must dare to speak while we still can, and we must defend freedom while we still have it." The week clearly showed that Almedalen remains a crucial meeting place for Sweden's future.
Defense + innovation = future readiness
Defense was a very present theme, but with a new dimension. I listened to Minister of Defense Pål Jonson, who described how Sweden's strength lies in innovation rather than volume: "We have to be better." He described how total defense encompasses military resources, civil society, business and innovation. He said we need to learn from Ukraine, where small but smart solutions become crucial for success. Building a resilient society requires innovation, collaboration and local ecosystems where ideas can be translated into concrete solutions. It is ultimately about resilience, our ability to adapt, withstand and recover quickly in crisis.
Collaboration as a basis for the future
In addition to the Minister of Defense's message, it became clear, also in our own seminar Dalarna Talks and the roundtable on circularity we held, as well as in panels we participated in on everything from the future of food to skills supply, that the answers of the future must be shaped in interaction. An ecosystem where science parks, academia and industry work together. The Minister of Defense talked about how the large companies must open up to the smaller ones that are more agile and have new ideas, just as academia's ideas need help to be translated into practical benefits. And we as a Science Park are the intermediary that can be in the mix.
Growth as a security factor
Growth was a recurring word. It is needed to build the sustainable society we want to live in. To succeed, we need fewer obstacles and better conditions for companies to grow. Kristina Alvendal, one of the government's industrial coordinators who participated in Dalarna Talks, expressed her wish that Sweden's authorities were as brave as, for example, Hitachi Energy, which dares to accept new business despite not knowing whether the infrastructure issues are solved for the transports from Ludvika out into the world. Watch the recording of Dalarna Talks here: Dalarna Talks from Almedalen
On the theme of growth, it is also gratifying that the New Business Center's New Business Barometer shows that Dalarna has the country's largest increase in start-ups, and that the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise's Entrepreneurial Panel shows that our companies in Dalarna are the most optimistic about the future in the whole country. Perhaps this is not a coincidence, but a result of the growth we see in Dalarna and a mindset of the solution-oriented climate we have in our county.
A Dalarna that says YES
One thing we agreed on during Dalarna Talks in Almedalen is that we in Dalarna say YES. We are brave, solution-oriented and prepared to contribute to Sweden's development. Because Dalarna is the future.
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