Climate safe and job creating farming systems in industrial districts
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Stockholm Business Region Development AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 420 000 |
| Project duration | June 2016 - January 2017 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Challenge-Driven Innovation – Stage 1 initiation |
Purpose and goal
A concept - ´the Cultivating City Bazaars´ for innovative, small-scale and job-creating, all-year cultivation in urban industrial areas have been developed on the basis of three districts in Stockholm, Landskrona and Helsingborg. The operational concept is replicable, scalable, and provides added value, e.g. by new jobs for actors in the entire partnership, including municipality property owners, cultivators and customers. We have validated the idea through market studies and formed a multi-disciplinary investment consortium for implementation of pilot projects.
Expected results and effects
International and local market analyzes carried out (by KTH and SLU) support the concept´s sustainability and feasibility. Through stakeholder dialogues, the idea of indoor cultivation linked to local markets including property owners, growers and consumers, has been validated. By combining experiences from similar projects in Malmö, Botkyrka and Landskrona, the project has completed the partner group. A strong investment consortium is ready to carry out at least two pilots and there are concrete proposals for a project organization, employment, contracts and future funding.
Planned approach and implementation
We have conducted analyzes and surveys of stakeholders and markets for locally grown vegetables and related services from small-scale, labor-driven cultivation. A series of workshops and meetings with property owners resulted in proposals for pilot sites, technology solutions and investment analyses. A strong consortium of public and private actors is formed for the implementation of pilot projects in Stockholm and Helsingborg with Landskrona as observer. Some 10 innovative companies have been analyzed and are interested in participating in local testbed and pilot projects.