A green, industrial revolution is underway in northern Sweden, driven by investments in renewable energy and fossil-free steel production. This historic social transformation lacks a model to learn from, making it a pioneering project that requires courage and learning on the go.
To create an attractive society from a bottom-up perspective, separate competence centers need to be connected. This involves developing new structures, digital innovation hubs, and ecosystems that leverage the region's potential through "co-visioning and co-construction." This is the main scope of the Living Hub created by Region Vasterbotten.
The vision-driven "Living Hub" is at the core of the action plan of the Region, engaging stakeholders and key actors from various sectors to establish a multidisciplinary and holistic structure for regional development and innovation, emphasizing open social innovation.
To strengthen the Living Hub, the exchange of good practices occurred with CARPEDIGEM helped to evaluating existing capacities, identifying gaps, and addressing barriers in the regional system through the engagement of stakeholders and key actors. Gradually, what was initially a vision of the Living Hub has been developed into a strategic and accepted approach that aligns with existing policy instruments.
The incremental implementation of the regional action plan has continued during the second phase of CARPEDIGEM, through among other things, workshops, meetings, and events involving actors from all competence clusters in the region have been held. Notable examples include:
1) the "Meeting Place Digital Västerbotten" event, which attracted 300 participants
2) "Västerbotten in Almedalen," where 100 regional actors met national-level participants through various activities.
The action plan also aims to define new projects, for example the continuation of "The New Northern Green Deal" which is now under way.
The success of a project lies in creating something that carries on, and the strategic approach that the Living Hub has established ensures its continuity in regional development.
