The Swedish city of Helsingborg has developed a vision for 2035. One important stepstone on the way to 2035 is H22 - a city expo that will take place in 2022, viz. between the start and goal of the vision. H22 is also a tool to develop a more sustainable and smarter city - i.e. it is both an innovation effort and a city expo.
The city of Helsingborg has dedicated 250 MSEK for achieving the goal - half of the budget will finance the innovation effort and half the city expo. One example is a project that already launched: “Tre rör ut” (“Three pipes out”) - the development of a unique system of collecting and handling food- and water waste in residential buildings in central Helsingborg. H22 will help the city to focus on the key issues for the future, together with national and international partners. H22 is the engine powering the city development, which is supported by dedicated governmental resources that can only be used for innovation. The idea behind H22 is that future challenges require new ways of thinking, smarter technology, and new solutions and services. During the summer of 2022 all city projects will be exposed at a city-wide expo. Exhibitors are regional, national and global partners involved in innovative projects that can make Helsingborg and other cities smarter as well as more sustainable. The themes for H22 city expo are to Increase quality of life in urban cities, innovative urban planning and welfare solutions, and the Reinvention of city governance.
The City of Helsingborg and the municipally owned enterprises NSR, Helsingborgshem, Öresundskraft, Port of Helsingborg, Helsingborg Arena & Scene, and NSVA. Additionally, Räddningstjänstförbundet (Emergency Services Association), the ~60 partners of H22, the citizens of Helsingborg, citizens associations, and academic institutions.
The city of Helsingborg.
According to the vision, Helsingborg will become a creative, vibrant, common, global and balanced city for both people and organizations. The aim is that by 2022, Helsingborg will be one of Europe’s most innovative cities, which is considered necessary to provide the citizens with a level of quality-of-life and welfare that meets their expectations. H22 City Expo aims to attract “the world’s sharpest minds” to learn, explore, develop, test, and do.
“You need daring, strong politicians that can make the long-term decisions and dedicate the resources. Be sure to involve the citizens at early stage - they need to be involved and committed.” Soraya Axelsson, City of Helsingborg.
“Cooperation and leadership are two key factors for success. By way of example, 500 administrative managers were invited to take a course in managing organizational change. Managers are essential when making such a huge turn of the organization. They need to be leaders, not heroic managers. Furthermore - the stories! They are the tool to motivate people. It is so important not to underestimate the power of communication. Finally, think big, start small, scale up and fail fast.” Micco Grönholm, City of Helsingborg.
Societal trends: H22 city expo signifies Global networking, Urbanization, Transparency, Co-creation, Sustainable responsibility, Prototyping, Experiences, Ecosystem network, Smart society.
Tech trends: Among the partners of H22 examples of (different) Tech trends will probably be found.
H22 can be linked to several SDGs, among others: no. 3 - Good health and well-being - becoming one of Europe’s most innovative cities is considered a strategy for improving citizens’ quality-of-life and welfare, no. 9 - Industry, innovation and infrastructure - due to the strong focus on innovation, no. 11 - Sustainable cities and communities - as the vision for Helsingborg 2035 is to become more sustainable and smarter, no. 15 - Life on land - the vision also aims for a balance between nature and the citizens, and finally no. 17 – Partnerships for the goals. However, all the SDGs can probably be linked to the projects and partners of H22.