Unique pilot project to monitor how residents are feeling
Norrbotten is facing a major industrial transition. At the same time, work is underway to achieve a sustainable social transformation. In Övertorneå, a new and unique approach has been taken to investigate how residents feel, as part of the development towards a more attractive municipality. Perhaps more municipalities will follow suit?
For a year, all the municipalities in the county have worked in different ways to address the challenges posed by societal change. The activities have differed between the municipalities and have been designed according to the needs and conditions in each location.
As one of several activities, Övertorneå Municipality has started to monitor how people living in the municipality are feeling. The measurement is carried out every week, through a collaboration with the business community. The results will become a new basis for decisions in the municipality. Decisions that will lead to the residents feeling increasingly better.
Made possible within the North Sweden Green Deal
Around ten companies in the municipality are participating in the collaboration. It is a pilot project made possible by the North Sweden Green Deal - a project that explores new ways to build the sustainable Norrbotten of the future. The project is run by Region Norrbotten.
The North Sweden Green Deal has been able to support and guide the municipalities in Norrbotten in trying new paths and opportunities that they would otherwise have had difficulty reaching. If we are to realize sustainable societal transformation, it is precisely innovative thinking and new methods that are required.
- One of the most important tasks for a municipality is to contribute to the quality of life of its residents. We have had financial key figures for a long time, but we realized that we lack a way to follow the most important thing of all - how our residents actually feel. If we don't know how the people of Övertorneå feel, we can't possibly say whether our efforts are having the effect we want, says Anna Andersson, Municipal Director of Övertorneå Municipality.
Can show trends
Employees at companies and at Övertorneå Municipality will use a digital tool to answer the question “How was your week?” every Friday. A sports club is also participating in the pilot. Övertorneå Municipality will receive a completely anonymized summary of the mood in the municipality every month. This provides both a current picture and can show trends at an overall level.
- We will probably be one of the first municipalities in the world to measure the well-being of our residents every week. It sends a clear signal that we in Övertorneå prioritize the soft values that increase people's quality of life and well-being. Something that we hope attracts both individuals and companies, says Ida Brännström, business developer at Övertorneå municipality and returnee.
Stina Almkvist has been project manager for the Attraction subproject within the North Sweden Green Deal.
If more municipalities follow suit, we may soon know how Norrbotten is doing in the midst of the major transition.
- It will be interesting to see what Övertorneås' initiative can lead to. Whether it can be a tool that helps the municipality in their development and if so, whether more municipalities would like to do the same. During the North Sweden Green Deal project, we have had as a starting point that what one municipality develops should be open for the other municipalities to also use, says Stina Almkvist, strategist at Region Norrbotten and responsible for Attraction and Competence during the project.
Facts: North Sweden Green Deal
The North Sweden Green Deal is an initiative to ensure a sustainable societal transition.
For the Attraction sub-project, the overall goal is increased immigration to Norrbotten.
The attraction project supports Norrbotten's 14 municipalities in the work of building up recipient capacity and attractiveness, so that the region can grow with more residents. The project has been groundbreaking by working with innovative processes and methods to seek new paths and changed ways of working.
NSGD is run by Region Norrbotten and Region Västerbotten together with a number of other actors. It is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).