This year, Skåne Innovation Day 2024 marked 10 years of innovation days in collaboration with Region Skåne – utveckling & innovation. The theme, Innovation for Green Transition, brought together 800 participants and 28 companies and organizations, all passionate about innovation and sustainability.
Anna Jähnke, Chairperson of the Regional Development Committee, Region Skåne, opened the event with an inspiring call to action: to be even more creative and innovative while improving communication to strengthen Skåne. She posed a critical question:
How can we, through innovation, contribute to a sustainable future?
The day featured many engaging presentations and discussions. Notably, Ebba Willerström Ehrning from Fossilfritt Sverige emphasized the importance of making our energy more efficient, complementing efforts to create new energy sources.
She stressed the urgent need for collaboration among all stakeholders to accelerate the transition to green energy.
In addition, we gained valuable insights into creating a stronger circular economy. During her presentation, Lisa Schwarz Bour from RISE Research Institutes of Sweden revisited the “R strategies,” which are key to sustainable resource management.
R-strategies for a more sustainable future. Do you know them? Here’s a recap:
Reduce: Minimize resource use and waste. Design products with fewer materials and energy. Get less!
Reuse: Extend the lifespan of products by using them more. Use things longer!
Recycle: Use recycled materials to create new products. Buy recycled!
Repair: Fix broken things instead of throwing them. Fix more!
Refurbish: Renovate items to improve their condition or functionality. Give products new lives!
Remanufacture: Rebuild products to like-new condition using reused materials. Support remanufactured goods!
Rethink: Reevaluate behaviors and adopt sustainable alternatives. Share more! Lend and borrow more!
Recover: Extract usable energy or materials from waste through processes like waste-to-energy. Use the energy we already have more efficiently!
This milestone event highlighted how innovation can drive sustainability and reminded us all of our shared responsibility in building a greener future.
