Futures capabilities and citizen dialogue in Tomelilla

Purpose and goal:

The purpose has been to establish a futures unit and build institutional capacity within Tomelilla municipality´s organization. By surveying the current situation, as well as conducting workshops and other skills transfer, institutional capacity for fururing has been developed. This aims partly to reduce silo thinking, partly to support development towards the Agenda 2030 goals.

The work has been based on the creative techniques that the fellow has developed in his academic work and based on the "learning by doing" spirit that is already established in the municipality. Expected results and effects:

The most tangible outcome has been the building of institutional competence within Tomelilla to work with futuring as technology in complex issues, which has contributed to a better basis for the Climate Roadmap that was adopted by the Municipal Council in December 2023 and to tools linked to the action plan to achieve the Climate Roadmap´s objective, such as workshop techniques that have been tested on the local business community to visualize the sustainable business of the future. The project has also contributed to deepened dialogue between the academy and the municipality.

Approach and implementation:

The scholarship holder has belonged to the Municipal Management Office and in his employment participated in the daily work. Both linguistic and cultural knowledge transfer has taken place in both directions. Due to extended commitments within the academy, the schedule has been adjusted.

Otherwise, the approach to building institutional capacity through Horizon scanning, conducting workshops to bridge institutional habits and culverts, etc. has been followed. The employment has ended for financial reasons and the fellow has started a Swedish-registered company.