SEK 137 million for projects for the development of Norrbotten and Västerbotten
Sustainable social development, broadband, attractive innovation environments for space-related businesses, Life Science in collaboration between academia, industry and the surrounding community are examples of projects that will receive SEK 137 million. The decision was made today in connection with the Structural Funds Partnership's prioritization meeting. In total, this means that the Structural Funds Partnership has prioritized approximately SEK 2015 billion since 2.
The ongoing societal transformation resulting from major investments and establishments in northern Sweden is unprecedented, and the opportunities and challenges that come with this place great demands on all actors working with structural changes. In order to identify a common direction for sustainable societal transformation and build capacity to manage that transformation, the North Sweden Green Deal project has been prioritized.
– The project will meet the ongoing societal transformation with mobilization locally and regionally to capture the opportunities with the ongoing and upcoming investments, says Helena Öhlund, chairwoman of the Structural Funds Partnership.
To promote the development of competitive products and services among small and medium-sized companies in Upper Norrland in the area of wireless communication, 5G, the Wireless Innovation Arena project has been prioritized. Together with academia, institutes, large companies, the public sector and end users, 5G test environments with high availability are being developed for various types of tests and experiments to validate new products and services to keep up with the rapid technological development of 5G and the lead-up to 6G.
Digitalization is one of the major forces of change in Upper Norrland that has been strengthened during the pandemic. In line with this development, a number of broadband projects have been prioritized to promote the opportunities that digitalization contributes to. The projects aim to offer businesses and residents outside urban areas broadband connections with high quality and performance.
– Upper Norrland must have access to infrastructure that allows fast broadband, stable mobile services that support digitalization. Infrastructure for broadband is a prerequisite for a modern community building, states Rickard Carstedt, vice chairman of the Structural Funds Partnership.
The broadband projects will be prioritized by the Structural Funds Partnership Board at a later date. The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Development will now, as the managing authority, make the formal decisions for each project applicant.
Here you can read which projects have been prioritized, Priority list
Facts about the Structural Fund Partnership Upper Norrland
The Structural Funds Partnership for Upper Norrland is one of eight partnerships in Sweden. The partnership aims to facilitate common national and regional priorities between regional development policy, labour market policy and EU cohesion policy. The partnership is tasked with prioritising approved applications for the EU Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund. Upper Norrland includes the counties of Norrbotten and Västerbotten and the EU funds amount to at least two billion SEK for the 2014-2022 programming period. Helena Öhlund is the chair of the Structural Funds Partnership for the 2014-2022 programming period.
Contact persons
Helena Öhlund, Chair of the Structural Funds Partnership
helena.ohlund@politik.alvsbyn.se, 070-328 61 48
Kenneth Sjaunja, Secretary General of the Structural Funds Partnership
Kenneth.Sjaunja@norrbotten.se, 0920-28 46 40