Sustainable supply structures - made in Sweden

On June 18, Södertälje municipality welcomed a group of international researchers from the CO-SFSC project (Co-Creation of Sustainable Food Supply Chains) to learn about the municipality’s long history working with integrated food planning. Co-SFSC coordinates transdisciplinary research across five research “hubs” and with six teams in Turkey, Thailand, Taiwan, Sweden, Germany and the U.S. with the goal to assess current food supply structures and to develop sustainable ones through innovation and transfer of cooperative business and governance models.

The Swedish partner in CO-SFSC is the Royal Institute of Technology – KTH. The affiliated researchers have chosen to follow the work of KISMET’s Local Innovation Partnership in Sweden. As a part of their work in CO-SFSC KTH are having master and PhD students conducting case studies on several KISMET pilots.

Invited by researchers from the Royal Institute of Technology – KTH, the visit was coordinated together with the Interreg project KISMET where Södertälje municipality, Beras International and KTH are collaborating with 29 organizations to create ‘sustainable food environments’.

“The project gives us a chance to share experiences and challenges. It gives us inspiration for new ideas, and we can find solutions together. It is also a source of pride for Södertälje to showcase all the good things happening in the municipality around food and sustainability,” says Jordan Valentin Lane, sustainability design lead in Södertälje municipality and communications officer for the project.

 Following a presentation of a range of past and current projects in Södertälje, the researchers visited Nibble Market Garden to see firsthand how the municipality works together with local actors to develop local food for local markets. Afterwards they visited Järna Dairy, a small-scale dairy with a focus on local ecosystems and social added value. The visit ended at Saltå Kvarn.

Climate change and food sustainability important for Taiwan

Ying-Chen Lin, a professor at National Taipei University in Taiwan, says he came to Sweden to learn how Södertälje works with sustainable food to bring the knowledge home. “Food is something that everyone needs every day. Given climate change around the world – we’ve also had a pandemic – food is extremely important. How to ensure that our food supply systems are sustainable is a critical issue today.”

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