Good practice:

Lassabacka landfill

Lassabacka is a former landfill area for construction, slaughterhouse, hospital and household waste as well as sewage sludge. The area is therefore heavily polluted and need to be remedied. One of the main tourist destinations in Varberg - Naturum - is located on top of the landfill area. The surrounding area is also one of northern Europe's foremost bird areas.

By covering the landfill, the municipality takes responsibility for the environment and protects people, plants and animal life from contact with the hazardous waste. At the same time, the spread of pollutants to the nature reserve is reduced. As the final coverage is made, the site will be developed into an attractive area with high nature and recreational values. The goal is to develop a popular excursion destination. Here it should also be possible to learn more about nature through play and pedagogy.

The landfill will be finally covered with surplus masses from the construction of a railway tunnel through Varberg. By taking care of the masses locally, both the costs and the environmental impact are significantly reduced.

Early in the project, a series of workshops were held with relevant relevant target groups to get ideas on how the area could be developed. Children, officials, non-profit associations and so on participated and contributed to the proposals. An architectural competition was arranged to design a future lokout tower.

The technical coverage of the landfill has an estimated cost of about 5.5 million euros.

The design of the nature area is an investment by the municipality of about 3.3 million euros.

The main objective is to improve the natural environment in the area and to protect people and the environment from pollution.

The aim of the design of the area is to have a diversity of biotopes, where many different plant and animal species thrive. Hopefully the new design will develop Naturum as a tourist destination and attract new target groups to the area.

Each stakeholder represent their view and highlight the potential they see from their specific perspective.

By integrating different target groups in the process, the project is anchored among a variety of stakeholders and actors. At the same time, several valuable perspectives are highlighted early in the desing process, which means that the area develops into a functional area from several different aspects. Knowledge of natural values is mixed with the children's perspective and the municipality's view of implementation issues, etc.