Changes in the logistics sector could be the opportunity of the future
LAGOM in Trelleborg Municipality is a pilot project launched to combine research, innovation, and collaboration to address sustainability challenges and strengthen knowledge exchange between academia and society. The project is a collaboration between Trelleborg Municipality and Lund University and Future by Lund.
- Trelleborg has a unique position as a logistics hub and coastal city, where trade, port operations, and sustainability meet, says Klas Hjort, project manager for LAGOM and researcher at Lund University. For Lund University, this collaboration has been an opportunity to connect research to concrete challenges and contribute to developing Trelleborg's work in the green transition. We can learn a great deal from conducting a project in Trelleborg, so we hope to continue the work we have started.
Trelleborg is a relatively small city, but it handles large volumes of goods to and from the port. The city is a prime example of a municipality that wants to start working in a new way, which requires testing to understand how new demands affect different types of urban flows.
– There are significant and interesting opportunities in Trelleborg and its surrounding area, opportunities that could become a strength for the entire Skåne region, continues Klas Hjort. By participating in ongoing development, you can steer and influence your future and perhaps even attract resources such as investment capital and research funding.
By optimizing physical flows, improving reporting capabilities, and creating new services, digital solutions can streamline both transport and return logistics. At the same time, technological development opens up new business models within the sharing economy and circular flows, which can create new businesses and jobs.
To examine the situation in Trelleborg, Klas Hjort and Katarina Scott from Future by Lund gathered public decisions, plans, and documents related to key logistics issues. This was combined with a local traffic survey for which Klas Hjort developed an app to facilitate data collection. One benefit of conducting their own traffic survey was the ability to categorize vehicle types more effectively than usual; for example, they were able to include various small delivery vans and service vehicles as distinct categories.
- Flows are not just about residents' travel; they also include service vehicles, craftsmen, small delivery vans, home care, cleaning, and all the functions that those living in the area need, points Katarina Scott out. There is also the rise of e-commerce, a growing second-hand market, and upcoming legislation regarding the right to repair. This requires its own infrastructure and logistics.
The measurements taken during the project provided a factual baseline of the city's actual state, which is crucial to know before attempting to change policies or urban geography. A starting point for the LAGOM project is the ability to manage multiple goals and functions simultaneously. One way to do this is to gather challenges into an innovation portfolio, where many areas that might otherwise be seen as separate are brought together because they all affect logistics - and each other - in the city.
– For Trelleborg's logistics planning, it is about balancing many factors, such as seeing what happens if you redirect traffic flows, if you want a new parking strategy, or if you want to create green spaces while maintaining a vibrant city center, explains Katarina Scott. In addition, you need to factor in other logistics, trade, and retail, and how they are affected by new legislation. It is also important to ensure that the internal organization has both the mandate and the capacity to act on the results. You need to use innovation as a strategic tool, not just as a finishing touch.
In September 2026, Klas Hjort and Katarina Scott submitted the final report for the project to Trelleborg Municipality.
– I would say the result provides food for thought regarding innovation processes and how a city can use them to develop, for example, the city's attractiveness and logistics, continues Klas Hjort. But it is also important to have the courage to conduct well-founded tests, to know and understand your own operations, and then find the right partners based on that. It is important to remember that it is difficult to make well-informed but poor decisions.
Funding for the LAGOM project comes from a fund created to support various initiatives or idea development that can benefit the work of Trelleborg Municipality. The LAGOM project was funded to investigate how a portfolio model can be applied to the logistics sector in Trelleborg.