Give an hour of your time – influence Norrbotten for many years to come
What will it be like to live, reside and work in Norrbotten in the future? Where are we going, and how do we best get where we want to be? This year, Region Norrbotten is collecting opinions, ideas and perspectives for the new regional development strategy. Now we are launching a way for anyone to hold a simple workshop themselves and contribute to our common roadmap to the year 2040.
Norrbotten's Regional Development Strategy (RUS) belongs to everyone who lives, resides or works in the county. It is both created and implemented by people who influence and develop Norrbotten every day.
Therefore, Region Norrbotten has now developed an opportunity to hold its own workshop about the future of Norrbotten, and in this way influence RUS 2040. The goal is to thus receive many thoughts and suggestions from everyone in the county who wants to get involved.
You only need to gather a handful of people – perhaps colleagues, members of your association, party comrades, neighbours, classmates or friends. You follow the instructions in a video on Youtube for just over an hour. All you need is access to a printer, internet connection and a computer or smartphone. In the Youtube video you will get the background information you need, discussion questions, help to keep time and a reference to the page where the answers should be submitted. It is possible to hold a workshop today and up until November 1.
Inspiration from Region Värmland
The opportunity to hold your own workshop is a complement to the day-long dialogue meetings about RUS that are held in all the municipalities in the county. Many are neither able nor willing to participate in such a meeting.
– We have been inspired by Region Värmland, which developed a similar workshop support a couple of years ago. There, hundreds of groups chose to gather, discuss future issues and contribute to what is today the Värmland Strategy. We of course hope for an equally great interest in Norrbotten, says Tove Cullhed, process manager for the work of developing the county's new RUS.
Tove Cullhed is coordinating the major work of developing a new RUS, a process that will take about two years. Photo: Yours
The RUS is being developed by Region Norrbotten together with many others, on behalf of the government and for the people of Norrbotten. It will identify areas where people in the county need to cooperate to achieve positive development in the long term. The areas selected should be those that many in our county think are important. You could say that the strategy is a kind of agreement on what is important to focus on, what we should cooperate on and what we should spend money on.
“The future of Norrbotten belongs to all of us”
Working for good development in Norrbotten is like putting together a large puzzle, where different efforts fit together and influence each other. It places great demands on cooperation, for example between the municipalities and Region Norrbotten, or between Luleå University of Technology and companies, or between an association and a municipality. The content of the new strategy will affect the opportunities that municipalities, associations, companies, education providers and many more have in the coming years.
– The future of Norrbotten belongs to all of us. It is not shaped by any single organization or just a few politicians, but by the shared power and will of a long line of people, large and small. By entrepreneurs and by the enthusiasts of the community. By researchers and municipal employees. By cultural creators and industrial workers. The more people who are involved in shaping the strategy, the more power we have in implementing it. That is why we really emphasize the importance of co-creation, says Janus Brandin, Regional Development Director.
Instructions, work materials and the workshop film can be found here.
More information about what a RUS is, how it is used and the work involved in developing it