1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Stockholm
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
stadsodling i Högdalen
Short description of the intervention
The project is focused on cultivating bazaars for climate-safe and labour-intensive cultivation and is located in an underground space under a shopping and community centre in Högdalen, a southern suburb of Stockholm. This underground cargo space at the shopping centre has been converted to a high-technology farming space that can be active all year-round. The goal is to create a small-scale industry and provide local job opportunities (Ref. 5, 6, 7).
Address

Stockholm
Sweden

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
NBS area
80.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Building
Website of the intervention
http://cleantechhogdalen.se/2015/forsta-stadsodlingen-i-hogdalen-har-startat/
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2015
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2015
End date of the intervention
ongoing
Present stage of the intervention
Ongoing
Goals of the intervention
The project aims to support green spaces, local gardens, improve recycling, a green path will be drawn from the centre to Forum Högdalen (in the business area) to Högodalstoppar. The aim is also to create sustainable jobs for the unemployed and to improve integration of the business area/and the centre (Ref. 2, 5).
Quantitative targets
Unknown.
Monitoring indicators defined
Unknown.
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
Employment/job creation
Implementation activities
As a first step, built a fence of old pallets and other waste material has been built (with the aim of keep hares and deer at a distance). The next step is to fill the surface with pallet racks and e.g. soil, and start the urban farming. (Ref. 1)

A user-agreement has in 2015 been concluded between the (urban) farmers and the City of Stockholm. The first cultivation will house around 20 urban farmers. Each of the 20 urban farmers will have a surface of two pallets, as well as a common cultivation area. The Park Management Årsta-Vantör (sv. Parkförvaltningen Årsta-Vantör) will support the project with efforts such as contributing with soil, pallets, and a 1-cubic water tank. (Ref. 1)

The aim of the indoor farm in terms of labour was to create jobs in the transition between publicly funded support measures and real jobs in semi-industrial plants. “It’s not the farm in itself but the activities that are created around the farm” (Ref. 5)
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Community gardens and allotments
Other
Please specify "other allotments and community gardens"
Indoor farming, reuse of urban space for farming.
Vegetation Type
Garden beds
Other
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Cultural services
Other
Please specify "other provisioning service"
An overall objective of the project is to better organize the flow of the local resources. (Ref. 2)
Please specify "other cultural service"
Another overall objective of the project is to create sustainable jobs for the unemployed. (Ref. 2)
Scale
Spatial scale
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Researchers/University
Citizens or community groups
Marginalized groups
Marginalized groups
Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed)
Governance
Governance arrangements
Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Non-government actors
Non-governmental organisation (NGO) / Civil society / Churches
Private sector/Corporate/Business
Researchers, university
Citizens or community groups
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
Cleantech Högdalen, Park Administration Årsta-Vantör (Parkförvaltningen Årsta-Vantör), New Rågsved Folketshus Association and residents in Högdalen start a new urban cultivation (supported by the city of Stockholm). Also, there was a dialogue with the residents, who showed a great interest in starting up urban farming. (Ref. 1)

The flows of local resources and circular economies are to be tested by researchers from LKTH Industrial Ecology (Industriell Ekologi). (Ref. 2)
Key actors - initiating organization
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Land owners
Private sector or company
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Non-government organisation/civil society
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Private sector or company
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Unknown
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Please specify other vegetation type
Vegetables (mainly lettuce mentioned) and herbs. (Ref 5, 7)
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The flows of local resources and circular economies are to be tested by researchers from LKTH Industrial Ecology (Industriell Ekologi). (Ref. 2)
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
Urban farming (e.g. Cleantech Högdalen that initiated the urban farming project in Högdalen) receive funding from Vinnova through Challenge-Driven Innovation programme (sv. Utmaningsdriven innovation), the project under the programme is called 'Farming urban bazaars, climate-proof, work-creating farming systems in industrial areas’ (sv. Odlande stadsbasarer. Klimatsäkra, arbetsskapande odlingssystem i industriområden) and is initiated by e.g. the City of Stockholm. (Ref. 3, 4)
Co-finance for NBS
Yes
Co-financing governance arrangements
No
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
€100,000 - €500,000
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
"In 2017, Vinnova granted a grant of SEK 4.5 million/450 000 EUR to "Growing bazaars for climate-proof and labor-intensive farming". (Ref. 3)
In addition to the grant, a total of 20 partners in Stockholm, Helsingborg and Landskrona will contribute resources worth an additional SEK 6 million. (Ref 6)
Source(s) of funding
Public national budget
Corporate investment
Other
Please specify other source of funding
Vinnova (state funding for research and development). Plus 20 other partners (details unknown) in Stockholm, Helsingborg and Landskrona contributed resources.
Type of fund(s) used
Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Please specify other Business model
Agricultural production/development
Business models
None of these
Other
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Private for-profit actor (e.g. firm, insurer)
Type of innovation
Technological
Social
Cultural innovation
Please specify technological innovation
New form of usage of a particular area/land, turing it into urban farming. (Ref. 1, 2)
It is a high-technology farming space that can be active all year-round. (Ref 5,7)
Please specify social innovation
Creating jobs for unemployed. (Ref. 1, 2,5)
Novelty level of the innovation
Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
"The idea of farming bazaars in older city centers was developed in 2016 by Nya Rågsveds Folkets Hus and Invest Stockholm in collaboration with property owners, technology companies and researchers supported by two Vinnovastudier. Urban year-round cultivation is a farming global trend, and good examples are found in both Tokyo, Chicago and London." (Ref. 3)
Replicability/Transferability
Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
In addition to the grant, a total of 20 partners in Stockholm, Helsingborg and Landskrona will contribute resources worth another SEK 6 million. In the project, the property owners Citycon and Serneke and the City of Helsingborg will leave their premises for cultivation pilots and test beds." (Ref. 3)
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Description of environmental benefits
The project uses a previously vacant area for urban farming (Ref 5, 6).
Economic impacts
Increase of green jobs (e.g. paid employment positions)
Description of economic benefits
The project employs local unemployed people in the area for urban farming. (Ref. 1, 2, 5)
Social and cultural impacts
Unknown
Description of social and cultural benefits
Unknown
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Paid employment positions
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of August of 2020.
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Unknown
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown.
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Ref. 1
Ref. 2
Ref. 3
Ref. 4
List of references
Ref. 1. Cleantech Högdalen (2015) Första stadsodlingen i Högdalen har startat! Stockholm, The Capital of Scandinavia. Information obtained: 2017-06-09. Source: http://cleantechhogdalen.se/2015/forsta-stadsodlingen-i-hogdalen-har-startat/ [Website not available in 2020]
Ref. 2. Cleantech Högdalen (n.d.) Miljöteknik och gröna projekt. Stockholm, The Capital of Scandinavia. Information obtained: 2017-06-09. Source: http://cleantechhogdalen.se/projekt/miljoteknik-och-grona-projekt/ [Accessed on 24 August 2020]
Ref. 3. Cleantech Högdalen (2017) Odlande stadsbasarer får stöd av Vinnova. Stockholm, The Capital of Scandinavia. Information obtained: 2017-06-09. Source: http://cleantechhogdalen.se/2017/odlande-stadsbasarer-far-stod-av-vinnova/ [Website not available in 2020]
Ref. 4. Vinnova (2017) Från slit och släng till återanvändning av byggmaterial i industriell skala. Pressmeddelande. Information obtained: 2017-06-09. Source: https://via.tt.se/pressmeddelande/fran-slit-och-slang-till-ateranvandning-av-byggmaterial-i-industriell-skala?publisherId=3235725&releaseId=3263938 [Accessed on 24 August 2020]
Ref 5. Milestad, R., Carlsson-Kanyama, A. & Schaffer, C. (2020) The Högdalen urban farm: a real case assessment of sustainability attributes. Food Security. Source: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-020-01045-8 [Accessed on 24 August 2020]
Ref. 6. Odlandestadsbasarer (n.d.) Odlande stadsbasarer får stöd av Vinnova. Odlande stadsbasarer: hållbar arbetsintensiv urban odling. Source: https://odlandestadsbasarer.se/vinnova/ [Accessed on 24 August 2020]
Ref. 7. Citycon (n.d.) Hi-Tech Underground Farming. Source: https://www.citycon.com/sustainability/hi-tech-underground-farming [Accessed on 24 August 2020]
Comments and notes
Public Images
High-tech urban farming in Högdalen
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12571-020-01045-8#citeas
How indoor urban farming in Högdalen works
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12571-020-01045-8#citeas