Participants included Karlstad Municipality, Länsförsäkringar Värmland and the Smart & Safe innovation project, which shared ongoing and future initiatives on the theme, including the launch of the smartakarlstad.se website.
Karlstad municipality as an arena for innovation
Sandra Eriksson, Head of the Digital Development and Innovation Department, and Thomas Wernerheim, Development and Innovation Strategist, from Karlstad Municipality were among the speakers at the event. They described how the city can act as an arena for innovation.
– “The municipality of Karlstad has traditionally been an innovation supporter, but now we want to take on the role of an innovation driver,” said Sandra.
Sandra Eriksson, Head of the Department of Digital Development and Innovation Karlstad Municipality
The municipality’s launch of the Smart Karlstad website is one of several initiatives that reinforce this strategic direction.
– This is just the start, day one. There is now a framework, a platform and a direction with the new plan for innovation and digital development adopted by the municipality. The website, launched today, provides a lot of information about what we do and how we work with innovation. It is a space for communication and collaboration.”
This is part of the municipality’s efforts to equip the city for sustainable development.
Länsförsäkringar Värmland invests in sustainability and young people’s health
Länsförsäkringar Värmland is also equipping society for sustainable development, and is making special investments in Värmland in the physical and mental health of young people.
– “When something is positive for business and social impact, we want to be there. We care about Värmland and show it by getting involved on several levels in and for society. Among other things, we want to promote mental health among young people in the region,” says Malin Wahlman, Sustainability Manager at Länsförsäkringar Värmland.
Malin explains that Länsförsäkringar analyses its data, which is collected in the Sustainability Database, and presents how the country’s inhabitants are doing in its annual sustainability report.
– “The report shows that we are worse than the national average when it comes to child and adolescent psychiatry queues in Värmland. This was something the Board was keen to explore – how can we make more children feel good and equip young people for life. We are simply digging where we stand. Soon we will take the next step with a new regional initiative on young people’s mental health,” explains Malin.
Smart & Safe – a regional initiative for safer public environments
The Smart & Safe innovation project is another regional initiative working to empower young people. They have been commissioned by the Internet of Things in Sweden to discover how data can help create greater perceived safety for children and young people in public environments.
From left Magnus Bårdén Compare Foundation, Carolin Maule Compare Foundation, Rebecca Karlsson SafeStyle, Henrik Holm Karlstads Energi
The initiative, which is run by the Compare Foundation together with Karlstad Energy, the Police, Karlstad Municipality and Karlstad University, is currently in a test phase where Karlstad is used as an innovation arena.
– “Today, 13 June, we are conducting two tests in parallel in Karlstad: an interactive smart bench at Stora Torget and the smart personal alarm (L)armbandet by the JA company SafeStyle,” says Carolin.
“So far, we have involved 45 actors in the project, including SafeStyle and the company Vestre, which is behind the interactive park bench.
By working closely with the target group, the project team sees the potential to do more for young people’s safety in outdoor environments.
– “We already know that there is a need to do more for children’s and young people’s perceived safety in the community, where school transport and bus journeys are identified as unsafe environments. We therefore hope that more companies and organisations will engage in community-improving innovation partnerships with us. This often means an opportunity for product development, such as for SafeStyle and Vestre,” concludes Carolin.
Compare Foundation initiates event on tech and innovation in Karlstad
The Compare Foundation works to link together competences and abilities that can help solve complex societal challenges with the support of tech. The event was one of several events on innovation and digitalisation held in Karlstad on 13 June.
