Dear newsletter reader,

We would like to thank you for contributing to and following SLU Urban Futures in 2024. This year, our three regional hubs advanced their focus on SLU’s urbanscapes, including food-, health-, forestscapes, and we are now also exploring water- and energyscapes. A BIG THANKS to everyone who joined our Getting Our Cities Right #4 conference. An elaborated post-production is underway and we look forward to continue the conversation through our travelling campus exhibition.

Some highlights from 2024:

The Getting our Cities Right #4 conference, where we explored how complex sustainability challenges manifest across urban landscapes, with engaging keynote presentations followed by great discussions and ideas. We sincerely appreciate the valuable contributions made during our two workshops on urban energyscapes and urban food/healthscapes.

The launch of the Social Innovation Living Lab (SOIL), fostering new transdisciplinary collaborations and funding for inclusive, sustainable living environments.

The participation at the ITD 24 conference at Utrecht/Netherlands with two workshops (read more about them in this letter)

Our Heat Series - a collaboration across health sciences and urban planning, aiming to find out how to better respond to the critical phenomena of urban heat islands and heatwaves – and our Urban Health Series in collaboration with Future One Health.

The 3rd Research Residency at Philipsonska Gården, where 13 SLU-researchers from all faculties met in a collaborative activity with all future platforms to support interdisciplinary skills development and provide a match-making opportunity.

Our seed funding calls in Living Lab approaches and the student Design Competition developing ideas for Röbäcksdalen.

With 2025 closing in, we look forward to this next year with great collaborations and activities planned together with e.g. YOU, with SLU Movium Think Tank, all SLU Future Platforms, SLU Global and our external collaborative partners.

Some things to look forward to in 2025:

The Urbanscapes exhibition will travel from Alnarp to Umeå (January) and Ultuna (February) to display SLU’s current engagement as well as future perspectives and insights into the five urbanscapes as well as on critical Living Lab approaches.

Save the date for our combined Urban Health webinar #3 & SLU’s Climate Conversations on 24th January: Urban Healthscapes in Climate Change Emergencies (See more info below)

Take a look at the new call for SLU’s Interdisciplinary Academy IDA and join one of the several Q&A session and match making events 15th January.

Do not miss the various activities organized by SOIL Social Innovation Living Lab in 2025.

Reach out and engage to impact urban water- and energyscapes with us, e.g. connect to the Sea Forum at the Malmö node of the Bauhaus of the Seas Sails project.

The next webinars at the Urban Forest Webinar Series, with Veronika Andrea in February (urban forest infrastructure in Greece) and Helena Nordh in April (the use of cemeteries as functional urban green spaces), and an Umeå based event together with SLU Movium Think Tank: Mer Skog I Stan!

With this, we would like to thank everyone who joined and contributed to create sustainable urban futures and wish you a joyful and peaceful holiday!

Seasons's Greetings,

SLU Urban Futures

Food, health and innovation at Botildenborg

We are happy to see so many initiatives and projects taking shape developing urban health-and foodscape! Below you can read more about two new projects (in Swedish), one on how residents in Rosengård/Malmö are starting to grow food in the basement, year-round, and shape their future living environments as well as an international project on nature-based thinking. The Social Innovation Living Lab (SOIL) received LEADER Söderslätt funding, enabling more work with innovation, networks and knowledge exchange throughout 2025.

Nu startas källarodling för boende i Rosengård

Boende förvandlar miljonprogrammets tomma källare till prunkande trädgårdsland i en ny satsnings från SLU. Projektet ”Från källare till kök” ska höja svensk beredskap genom att mer mat produceras lokalt samtidigt som det utvecklar området. Läs artikeln!

SLU leder internationellt projekt om naturbaserat tänkande

En stor finansiering gör att SLU får leda ett projekt där naturbaserat tänkande kommer att prövas på olika nivåer i Malmö, Barcelona och Turin. Projektet kommer att löpa över tre år och fokuserar på biologisk mångfald och människors välbefinnande inom urbant stadsjordbruk. Läs artikeln!

The living lab as a pedagogical approach

‘Working with living labs is highly relevant as a pedagogical approach facilitating students practice in transdisciplinary and place-based skills’, says Love Silow, lecturer at the Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management who has tried this approach in a recent course. Read the article!

Park environment in the city. Photo: Fons Heijnsbroek, Unsplash.

Urban Healthscapes in Climate Change Emergencies

On January 24th, the webinar series Urban Health and Climate Conversations unite for a unique interdisciplinary event. International experts will share innovative solutions to address climate challenges in urban environments — from managing heatwaves and preventing floods to implementing nature-based methods for sustainable urban development. Join us for an inspiring and informative session focused on the future of climate-resilient cities and urban health.

January

Food and Cities research funding workshop

Horizon Europe is a major funder of research in Europe. Soon, a call on Creating Urban Co-Creation Spaces for Sustainable Food (HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-COMMUNITIES-04) will open, with deadline in May 2025. This is a great opportunity for SLU to build a strong European research consortium with a competitive proposal. Join the online webinar to learn more!

January

Attracting & Anchoring Inter- and Transdisciplinary Collaboration

On November 5, 2024, SLU’s Future Platforms hosted a workshop at the ITD24 conference in Utrecht, Netherlands, exploring how to foster inter- and transdisciplinary (ID/TD) collaboration. The workshop, aligned with one of the conference tracks Growing capacity for inter- and transdisciplinarity, had around 20 participants and focused on sharing ideas, challenges, and strategies for supporting ID/TD work in academia. Read the article!

Strengthening Transdisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Research Through Critical Conversations

On November 6, 2024, eight young researchers—four from SLU Landscape—reunited with SLU Urban Futures PhD course leaders Lisa Diedrich and Andrea Kahn to explore a vital question: How can critical conversation skills enhance inter- and transdisciplinary (ID/TD) research and education? Read the article!

Call for applications: Interdisciplinary Academy (IDA) 2025-2026

The Interdisciplinary Academy is a programme at SLU where researcher at SLU are offered the opportunity to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries on complex issues in the broad field of sustainable transition. The call is open from 5 Dec 2024 to 12 March 2025.
Learn more and apply!

SLU Urban Futures joins EU network on urban forests

Dimitris Athanassiadis, SLU Urban Futures hub coordinator in Umeå, joins the new pan-European research network on urban forests COST Action. A COST Action is an EU-funded interdisciplinary research network for researchers and innovators.

Dimitris Athanassiadis was recently elected as acting co-leader for working group 3. “Building cross-sectoral and inclusive management partnerships”, but will also be involved in two more working groups titled “Assessing and monitoring the urban forest” and “Strategic management: towards long-term, science driven approaches in urban forestry”.

“The participation will give SLU an opportunity to showcase the research that is done in the area, learn from research that is done elsewhere in Europe and pass on the knowledge to municipalities and other owners of urban forests in Sweden”, says Dimitris Athanassiadis.