“We make it easier to see the whole picture in Norrbotten”

What can Region Norrbotten do to support the municipalities' pressured community planners, and at the same time give ourselves a basis for better decisions about the county's development? That question led to a new project that is now in its second year. - We make it easier to see the big picture, says Lizah Lund, project manager for the Digital Co-Planning project in Norrbotten.

The Norrbotten Region has been given increased responsibility for community planning by the government. The assignment came at a time when the pace is steadily increasing and the challenges are becoming increasingly complex.

– The planning landscape is so complex right now. There is a lot happening in Norrbotten and what everyone keeps repeating is: “Why can’t we see the whole picture somewhere?” Then we thought, yes, maybe that is the whole picture we should try to achieve, says Lizah Lund, strategist at Region Norrbotten and project manager.

To meet these needs, the region has been running the Digital Co-Planning in Norrbotten project since the beginning of 2025. The goal is to build joint capacity and become better at seeing spatial perspectives in regional development work.

“Better support for decisions”

The project is based on the need to collect and visualize regional issues geographically. In this way, connections, conflicts of interest and opportunities become clearer in strategic work.

– We collect regional planning documents in one place and make them easy to access. This applies, for example, to the regional development strategy, the county transport plan and issues about commercial services. This way we get better support for decisions about regional development and a clearer dialogue with municipalities and authorities, says Lizah Lund.

The first year of the project has been primarily about building a stable technical foundation. A public map portal has been set up and filled with regional data, but the journey has also been about dissemination and use.

– It feels like we have a tailwind now. Every time we have been in a meeting and used the map, we get positive reactions back. “Oh, it would be good if we could see this too” – and “I haven’t seen this before”. It really feels like things are starting to get going now that it is getting spread, says Lizah Lund.

The map portal can also be used by people who are not experts in urban planning. Here is the consultation version of Norrbotten's structural picture.

A clear confirmation came when the map portal began to be used even by people without a planning background.

– It was a local politician who had found out that the map existed and used it in a meeting with other politicians. They were absolutely delighted and very happy that it existed. That even those who were not experts could look at this and understand – it was very fun.

The data did not match reality.

A concrete example of how the project has built joint capacity is the work with regional bus stops. It was discovered early on that existing data did not always match reality, while the information was displayed further in services such as Google Maps.

– We discovered that the data showing where the county traffic stops was not correct. Sometimes the stop is not at that location, but it is an old data, says Lizah Lund.

– We have turned to the municipalities who are experts on their stops. Does this stop exist in reality, where is it located, and is it called what it is called? Then we adjust and submit it to the source from which Google Maps gets its material.

The project has already resulted in fewer bus passengers in Norrbotten risking getting lost when using Google Maps.

The work has led to the information now being correct even in external services, while the dialogue between regional and local levels has been deepened.

– It became very clear how complementary our perspectives are. We don't have the same knowledge – but together we will get it right.

Long-term perspective creates meaning

Not all parts of the project have been equally visible. A lot of work has been put into procurement and information security.

“I had no idea it could take so long to get a long-term IT solution. That has been our biggest challenge this year. These gray hairs come from the procurements,” says Lizah with a laugh.

At the same time, it is precisely the long-term perspective that makes the work meaningful.

– It feels really fun now. We're rolling along, we've gotten started and managed to spread the word that this exists. And we'd really like people to contribute.

Now that the technical foundation is in place, the focus is increasingly shifting towards analysis and content. An upcoming project is about young people's accessibility in the county.

– For example, we are looking at young people's ability to get to culture and services. We will do special accessibility analyses that show the possibilities of driving an epa there, moped, cycling or getting an electric kick. In other words, young people's independent mobility in the county. It will be fun.

How do young people in Norrbotten move around in their local communities? This is one of the questions that the project will now take a closer look at.

The analyses will provide a basis for better strategic decisions, both regionally and locally, by showing what everyday life actually looks like for different groups.

“Saves money, time and effort”

An early question before the project was how the region can take a clearer role in community planning without threatening the municipal planning monopoly. For Lizah Lund, the answer is clear.

– When the region gets involved in this, are we threatening the planning monopoly? And the answer is no. We are strengthening the planning monopoly by making it even easier to disseminate the municipality's priorities and increase knowledge about the county's conditions.

– We want to save time, money and effort for the lonely, pressured community planners by doing a certain amount of work, so that there is something easy to relate to and see.

In the long term, the project hopes to contribute to more accurate regional development work - where spatial perspectives help decision-makers move forward more quickly.

– That you don't get stuck in ignorance, but can get straight to problem solving with the help of the map. And I hope that it will make it easier to make good decisions for the whole of Norrbotten, says Lizah Lund.

Text and image: Sara Stylbäck Vesa