“We will not reach the 2030 targets unless we work together”
CoAction Lund aims to create conditions for sustainable mobility and energy and is part of Lund's work on climate neutrality by 2030. In the project, a group of actors have worked out ideas for how more of those working in Lund should choose to commute sustainably. Project lead Lund Municipality understood how crucial their cycling network is to whether the companies' employees should choose to cycle or not, and therefore also invited to a meeting to inform the operators and provide an opportunity for discussions on the cycle road network. The new and frequent meetings started something new — everyone realized the value of collaboration and sharing experiences.
- Our meetings became a very valuable forum and the actors continue to meet, among other things to share experiences but also to have discussions in what concerns other topics, says Per Eneroth. For us at the municipality, it has also been important to be able to create an understanding of what we have at our disposal but also to hear about the challenges faced by companies.
At the beginning of the project, the actors had meetings every two weeks, which belonged to the project plan. Then the idea was to have fewer meetings but the actors have found it so valuable that they chose to continue.
What seems to have been the most interesting thing in this for the companies?
- They have been very curious about each other and have asked questions about how someone did when handing out bicycles to the employees or how someone else managed to introduce paid parking. Everyone has high goals and wants a lot but sometimes you don't have all the knowledge of how it can be done. Of course, they also want the municipality to do the right things, but sometimes there are misunderstandings about the municipality's disposal and what legislation applies.
Funding is now available for 2026, but Per Eneroth hopes to continue with the constructive cooperation environment.
- It is not enough that we at Lund Municipality do what we can, but we must have the companies involved. We will not reach the 2030 targets unless we work together, hook up what we do and create synergies. We want cooperation between authorities and companies to continue and scale up. I hope that in the future this will be the normal way of working.
In 1996, Lund decided to develop a strategy for a green transport system in Lund, and this led to LundaMats (Miljöatt TransportSystem).
- When it comes time for the fourth version of LundaMats, I think it will be about what we as a municipality can do in terms of getting all parties to play together so that we cooperate and cooperate. In previous versions, there has been more focus on what the municipality can do and what is within our mandate. In such cooperation, of course, we can only attract to act in a sustainable way. This is our biggest challenge - getting everyone to play the same tune. You can say that in CoAction Lund we try to distribute sheet music and there is a big bunch who have tapped into it and want to play together.
The project is now at a stage when many of the planned measures will be realised. For example, a survey of the travel habits of 25,000 employees has been conducted in the fall of 2025. Other things that are in the pipeline include building mobility hubs, arranging ride-sharing services, making sure there are more rental bikes and creating better charging facilities for e-bikes.
In Lund, a tram is already in place, and of course it facilitates sustainable public travel.
- The tramway is an important part of our system. It provides a link up to our workplaces, the university and research infrastructure. It has an important function and is also a symbol of the will of the municipality, region and state to create sustainable means of transport.
Another important measure will be to survey parking spaces.
- Not everyone can ride a bike, but we have a transport infrastructure that makes it possible to travel sustainably on public transport. We see that at the moment it is too cheap and easy to take a car. One key is to start charging properly for car parking. For many people, free parking is a matter of course, but a free bus pass is not, and that's actually a bit skewed,” concludes Per Eneroth.
More about CoAction Lund
CoAction Lund is a scalable and innovative initiative to achieve climate neutrality in energy and mobility by 2030.
The initiative CoAction Lund brings together actors from the energy, IT, industrial and real estate sectors, among others, together with government agencies, academia and other organisations. The focus is on energy and mobility, as transport accounts for the majority of emissions in Lund and a robust energy system is an absolute necessity for achieving climate neutrality.
CoAction Lund stands out from other projects because over 25 different actors work together towards a common goal: an interconnected city where energy and transport systems support each other.
CoAction Lund is one of Vinnova's two “system demonstrators” within climate-neutral cities that will show the way and inspire others in Sweden and the world.