Sweden update en final june13

LIFE programme - Country Factsheet

SWEDEN Overview Since the launch of the LIFE programme by the European Commission in 1992, a total of 119 projects have been financed in Sweden. Of these, 76 focus on environmental innovation, 42 on nature conservation, and one on information and communication. These projects represent a total investment of €343 million, of which €142 million has been contributed by the European Union.

This document provides an overview of LIFE in Sweden.

Every year a call for project proposals is launched covering its three components: Nature and Biodiversity, Environment Policy and Governance, and Information and Communication.

It showcases success stories

You will find more details on these and all recent LIFE projects in Sweden in the annexed lists.

and ongoing initiatives,

.

indicates how to find further information on the projects and provides a list of recent projects in Annex.

Last update: 14/06/13

European Commission, DG Environment – LIFE E.3 & E.4 Units (http://ec.europa.eu/life/)

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Environment Policy and Governance To date, the LIFE Environment component (now called Environment Policy and Governance) has co-financed 76 projects in Sweden. These projects represent a total investment of €203 million, of which €73 million has been contributed by the European Union.

Approximately a fourth of the completed projects focused on clean technologies. The other main themes dealt with include hazardous waste, water management at the scale of the river basin, wastewater treatment as well as forest and sensitive area management. The main types of beneficiaries were international and large enterprises, local/regional authorities, public enterprises, development agencies, an NGO and SMEs. The projects had an average duration of between 36 and 48 months.

There are 21 ongoing projects in Sweden under the LIFE+ Environment component. These focus on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, but also on clean technologies, risk assessment and pollution control; urban design; waste management (notably hazardous waste); packaging and plastic waste; sensitive area management; air quality management; land-use development and planning, as well as transport planning.

The typical beneficiaries are local authorities and SMEs, but also research institutes, large and international enterprises, a university, a professional organisation and regional authorities. The projects have a foreseen duration of between 30 and 60 months.

The project presented in the box below is an example of a successful LIFE Environment project in Sweden. It was shortlisted as one of the 21 Best LIFE Environment projects in 2012.

Towards sustainable value chains through a common approach for company strategic work and daily operations (TOSCA) LIFE07/ENV/S/000912 The TOSCA project made an important contribution to increasing awareness, and the availability of tools, on how to enhance sustainability along the industry value chain. The project disseminated methodologies, strategies and awareness raising material to many companies, although it may take a while for the direct environmental benefits to be seen. It also undertook initial research on current practices within the partner companies. This covered tools used to support sustainability and different systems for handling and managing data. It also examined the inclusion of social aspects in the design of tools and data management systems. This enabled an analysis of, and recommendations on, tools and data management systems for sustainable development. The approach partly built on the tools demonstrated in the DANTES project (LIFE02 ENV/S/000351), with the aim of applying the tools already developed in the wider context of sustainable development.

TOSCA examined current practices for developing and implementing sustainable development strategies in companies, and in particular, procedures for defining company core values and policies and how these are implemented, monitored and followed up. It also researched best practice models for working towards sustainable development and success stories from the implementation of such models.

The research led to the production of a framework of working procedures and tools for sustainable development. This helps provide a common language, shared definitions and general information exchange on sustainability. As well as being implemented in the partner countries, the project and framework were introduced to about 2 500 external stakeholders through conferences, workshops and seminars.

The project successfully demonstrated that a process covering sustainability in value chains extended both upstream and downstream can be integrated into the business practices of large companies. A key message is that sustainability issues can be discussed openly with several players in the value chain, requiring the active involvement of suppliers and client organisations. Good practice in terms of sustainability can also be increasingly used as a marketing tool.

Although the project did not deliver tangible environmental benefits during its lifetime, it can expect in the longer-term to positively influence companies’ policies and practices around issues, such as the purchase of raw materials, the selection of suppliers and transportation arrangements. The project partner, the Technical University of Chalmers, is integrating learning from the project into its academic curricula on business and industrial topics.

For further information: http://www.tosca-life.info

Last update: 14/06/13

European Commission, DG Environment – LIFE E.3 & E.4 Units (http://ec.europa.eu/life/)

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Nature and Biodiversity To date, the LIFE Nature component (now called Nature and Biodiversity) has co-financed 42 projects in Sweden.

These projects represent a total investment of €137 million, of which €68 million has been contributed by the European Union.

The majority of completed projects focused on the protection and restoration of habitats (western taiga, mires, deciduous forests, rivers, etc.) and species (the arctic fox, the freshwater pearl mussel, the osmoderma eremite beetle). More than 80% of the projects were conducted by local, regional or national authorities and had an average duration of 55 months.

There are 13 ongoing projects in Sweden under the LIFE+ Nature and Biodiversity component. Most of these projects are targeting the conservation and restoration of habitats (archipelagos and coastal areas, wetlands, grasslands, river tributaries, fennoscandian watercourses, peastures and meadows ). One project aims to improve the conservation status of the thick shelled river mussel, while another is trying to control the invasive racoon dog. Other projects concern the static acoustic monitoring of the Baltic Sea harbour porpoise, reversing the degradation of the Tysslingen lake and Venakarret fen sites, and restoring, maintaining and improving biodiversity in 23 Natura 2000 areas on sandy soils in southern Sweden. The projects are being implemented by two universities, eight regional authorities, an SME, a national authority and an NGO. They have a foreseen duration of between 36 and 72 months.

The project presented in the box below is an example of a successful LIFE Nature project in Sweden.

Natural meadows and pastures of Östergötland restoration and maintenance (ROSORIS) LIFE05/NAT/S/000108 The ROSORIS LIFE project successfully restored natural meadows and pastures on 41 project sites. All the sites have now either already achieved favourable conservation status or are expected to achieve it naturally as the flora and fauna develop over time.

The project cleared overgrowth from 434.8 ha of meadow and wooded pasture and erected over 80 km of protective fencing to create enclosed pasture. To ensure ongoing and continuous management of pastures, grazing by horses and cattle was resumed or grazing conditions were improved on 392 ha. The beneficiary constructed watering facilities for animals at 24 sites and built collecting pens at six sites. Natural hay meadows were restored on 6.0 ha and shore/littoral meadows over 252 ha.

This was only 58% of the foreseen area, because some meadows were actually in better condition than expected and specific interventions were not required.

In the project areas of Hallstad and Tinnerö, experts re-pollarded old trees, including 15 old lime trees (Tilia) and 2 ash trees (Fraxinus). Around 160 local oaks of about 3m in height were planted strategically in three different areas. The aim, in the long-run, is to connect currently isolated areas of thick oak trees which are important and valuable, but also vulnerable.

Much of the project area was successfully entered into Sweden’s agrienvironmental support scheme. As of 2010, 30 sites, 73% of the project areas, were covered by the system, which will support and ensure the continued traditional use of these sites. Money for the remaining eleven sites will come from funds for the management of valuable habitats.

The final seminar of the project presented a now published comparison of the agri-environmental schemes in Sweden, Denmark, Poland, England and Bayern.

For further information: http://www.lansstyrelsen.se/ostergotland/amnen/naturvard/aktuellaprojekt/rosoris.htm

Last update: 14/06/13

European Commission, DG Environment – LIFE E.3 & E.4 Units (http://ec.europa.eu/life/)

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Information and Communication Projects funded under this LIFE+ component aim to disseminate information and raise the profile of environmental issues. They also provide training and awareness-raising on the prevention of forest fires.

There is one completed project under this component in Sweden. The overall objective of the project was – over a 36 month period - to provide the next generation with the tools and the power to respond to environmental issues. Its specific objective was to raise awareness among 260 000 children and young people about European Union environment policy. The project was implemented by the “Keep Sweden Tidy” Foundation. It represented a total investment of €2.5 million, of which the European Union contributed 50%.

Further information (including results) can be found in the box below.

Communicating environmental actions to children and youth (COM-U) LIFE07/INF/S/000901 The COM-U project provided 29 000 teachers and 350 000 children in Sweden with information about EU environmental policy and related issues. It made an important contribution to improving the teaching of environmental issues to promoting a more balanced and practical view of the challenges and possible actions to be taken to address them.

The project developed and produced training material and aids, and arranged training for 29 000 teachers and other school staff. The project also reached more than 600 stakeholders, mainly comprising municipal school administrations, teachers’ organisations and environmental interest groups. Information on web conferences and web-based material was also sent to all headmasters. The training and information focused on how to integrate environmental issues into the school curricula. The project set up a nationwide network of coordinators to support this work and to promote the issues beyond the project.

Specifically, the project delivered: 305 Step One EU environmental policy courses, involving around 7 000 teachers in 210 municipalities (out of 290 in Sweden); 870 Step Two courses - a shorter version of step one – involving 14 500 teachers and based on course material provided to the regional coordinators; 40 lectures and seminars at educational fairs – mainly presenting teaching aids; three films on the policy courses and how to use Eco-Schools as a tool to implement EU environment policy; five conferences for around 30 regional coordinators; 110 networking meetings involving nearly 3 000 teachers and 1 000 schools – organised by 16 regional coordinator schools; quarterly newsletters to schools, regional coordinators and international partners; and a European networking conference with representatives from 10 EU countries and Norway.

The project contributed to 1 200 schools and pre-schools joining the Swedish Eco-Schools programme, which is run independently of the LIFE project by the beneficiary. The results of the project have been made available to a large number of stakeholders and will also be used to promote the Green Flag environmental certification system. The project website is also a popular media to spread the message and contains the teaching and information materials produced by the project.

The beneficiary estimates that nearly 350 000 school children were reached by the project’s actions and are now better informed and educated about issues related to EU environmental policy. Long term environmental benefits can be expected from this increased knowledge and awareness.

For further information: http://www.hsr.se/english/sustainable-development-schools-and-preschools

Last update: 14/06/13

European Commission, DG Environment – LIFE E.3 & E.4 Units (http://ec.europa.eu/life/)

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How to find out more about LIFE and LIFE projects By surfing on the LIFE website The LIFE website provides a wealth of information on the LIFE programme: http://ec.europa.eu/life/

By searching on the LIFE projects For further information on LIFE projects in Sweden or LIFE projects in general, please consult the online LIFE projects database. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm The easy-to-use database is the authoritative source of information on all ongoing and closed LIFE projects. The database also provides information on the beneficiaries, their contact details, and the projects’ websites.

By contacting: The National Contact Point for Sweden Swedish Environmental Protection Agency - Policy Implementation Department Name: Ms. Josefin Olsson (Nature & Biodiversity)(*) Ms. Elisabeth Gärdin (Environment and Information/Communication)(**) Address: S - 10648 Stockholm Tel: +46 10 698 13 81 (*) / +46 10 698 16 39 (**) Fax: +46 10 698 16 28 (**) E-mail: josefin.olsson@naturvardsverket.se (*) LIFESweden@naturvardsverket.se (**) Website: Naturvardsverket

The Monitoring Team for Sweden ASTRALE - SIA ELLE Skolas Iela 10-8 LV - 1010 Riga Latvia Tel: +371 6 7242411 Fax: +371 6 7242466 E-mail: elle@astrale.org

Last update: 14/06/13

European Commission, DG Environment – LIFE E.3 & E.4 Units (http://ec.europa.eu/life/)

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Recent Environment Policy & Governance projects in Sweden Project Title

Project Number

Website

Recycling of waste glass fiber reinforced plastic with microwave pyrolysis (glass fiber)

LIFE07 ENV/S/000904

http://www.stenametall.com/English /Environment/Recycling+of+waste+ glass+fiber+reinforced+plastic/Rec yclingOfPlastic.htm

Green tools for urban climate adaptation (GreenClimeAdapt)

LIFE07 ENV/S/000908

http://www.malmo.se/greenclimead apt

Towards sustainable value chains through a common approach for company strategic work and daily operations (TOSCA)

LIFE07 ENV/S/000912

http://www.tosca-life.info/

Innovative technology for lowcost production of photovoltaic solar cells (SUNRISE)

LIFE07 ENV/S/000913

http://www.m2e.se/node

CLEAN and energy efficient TRUCKs for urban goods distribution (CLEANTRUCK)

LIFE08 ENV/S/000269

http://www.stockholm.se/cleantruck

Wave Energized Baltic Aeration Pump (WEBAP)

LIFE08 ENV/S/000271

http://www.webap.ivl.se/

Increased total efficiency in sewage treatment (ITEST)

LIFE08 ENV/S/000272

http://www.cleantruck.se

Green citizens of Europe Innovative tools and methods for interactive and co-creative citizens (GREECIT)

LIFE09 ENV/S/000346

http://www.greencit.se/

Climate friendly health and care (CLIRE)

LIFE09 ENV/S/000347

http://www.clire.se/

Biogas Skåne –an energy system creating sustainable development by combating climate change (BIOGASSYS)

LIFE09 ENV/S/000348

http://www.biogassys.se/

Climate Living in Cities Concept (CLICC)

LIFE09 ENV/S/000350

http://www.malmo.se/clicc

Pure Energy Separator – Innovative Centrifugal Separator Technology for Energy Recovery and Oily Waste Volume Reduction (Pure Energy Separator)

LIFE09 ENV/S/000352

http://www.alfalaval.com/industries /marine/environment/mspxupdate/Pages/MSPX-update.aspx

DYEMOND SOLAR – Innovative Technology for Low Cost Production of Energy Efficient Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DYEMOND SOLAR)

LIFE09 ENV/S/000355

Life without oil : Slide in energy efficient and fossil-free public transportation for a sustainable society (SLIDE IN)

LIFE10 ENV/S/000035

http://www.slidein.se/

Public healthcare and plastics makers demonstrate how to remove barriers to PVC-free blood bags in the spirit of REACH (PVCFreeBloodBag)

LIFE10 ENV/S/000037

http://www.pvcfreebloodbag.eu

Last update: 14/06/13

Click on the icon to read the project summary

Project duration

01/2009–> 12/2011

01/2009–> 12/2013

01/2009–> 12/2011

07/2009–> 12/2011

01/2010–> 12/2013

07/2009–> 12/2011

01/2010–> 12/2012

10/2010–> 03/2015

09/2010–> 08/2015

09/2010–> 09/2015

09/2010–> 08/2015

09/2010–> 06/2013

http://exeger.com/pilot-plant 09/2010–> 12/2013

09/2011–> 12/2015

09/2011–> 09/2015

European Commission, DG Environment – LIFE E.3 & E.4 Units (http://ec.europa.eu/life/)

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Waste to fuel - turning climate hazardous landfills to promoters for development of climate friendly transportation solutions (Wastetofuel)

LIFE10 ENV/S/000038

Hyper Bus - Hybrid and plug-in extended range bus system (HYPER BUS)

LIFE10 ENV/S/000041

http://www.hyperbus.se/

Hydrofluss - Regeneration of hazardous waste into valuable raw material for the European steel industry (HYDROFLUSS)

LIFE10 ENV/S/000042

http://www.sakab.se/en/services/rec ycling-process-filter-cakes-lifeproject

NOIse barriers with SUN energy production for district heating system (NOISUN)

LIFE11 ENV/SE/000837

http://www.noisun.eu/

Solar thermal collectors with a ZERO electricity heat pump & energy storage for sustainable heating and cooling (SUNCOOL)

LIFE11 ENV/S/000838

http://www.climatewell.com/index.h tml#/suncool

BlUe ConcEpt For A Low nutrient/carbOn System – regional aqua resource management (BUCEFALOS)

LIFE11 ENV/S/000839

N/A

Baltic Sea Information on the Acoustic Soundscape (BIAS)

LIFE11 ENV/S/000841

N/A

RenewPACK: Demonstration of an Innovative Renewable Barrier Material for Sustainable Food Packaging (RenewPACK)

LIFE11 ENV/S/000042

http://www.xylophane.com/?page=4

Last update: 14/06/13

http://www.wastetofuel.eu 09/2011–> 08/2014

09/2011–> 09/2014

09/2011–> 12/2014

06/2012–> 02/2016

06/2012–> 03/2015

09/2012–> 08/2015

09/2012–> 08/2016

07/2012–> 07/2016

European Commission, DG Environment – LIFE E.3 & E.4 Units (http://ec.europa.eu/life/)

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Recent Nature & Biodiversity projects in Sweden Project Title

Project Number

Website

Lake Mälaren Inner Archipelago - Restoration and Management (MIA)

LIFE07 NAT/S/000902

http://www.lansstyrelsen.se/vastma nland/projektwebbar/mia/

Static Acoustic Monitoring of the Baltic Sea Harbour porpoise (SAMBAH)

LIFE08 NAT/S/000261

http://www.sambah.org/

Pastures and meadows in the middlemost part of Sweden (Foder och Fägring)

LIFE08 NAT/S/000262

http://www.lansstyrelsen.se/jamtlan d/pw/foder_o_fagring/

“Demonstration of an integrated North-European system for monitoring terrestrial habitats” (MOTH)

LIFE08 NAT/S/000264

http://www.slu.se/moth

Restoration of tributaries of the Vindel river combined with monitoring and evaluation of ecological responses of species and habitats (Vindel River LIFE)

LIFE08 NAT/S/000266

http://www.emg.umu.se/forskning/f orskningsprojekt/vindel-river-life-/

Life to ad(d)mire – Restoring drained and overgrowing wetlands (Life to ad(d)mire)

LIFE08 NAT/S/000268

http://www.lansstyrelsen.se/jamtlan d/pw/lifetoaddmire/

Management of the invasive Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in the northEuropean countries (MIRDINEC)

LIFE09 NAT/S/000344

http://www.jagareforbundet.se/mar dhundsprojektet/

Grazing and restoration of archipelago and coastal environments (GRACE)

LIFE09 NAT/S/000345

http://www.graceprojektet.se

Remediation of migratory barriers in Nordic/fennoscandian watercourses (ReMiBar)

LIFE10 NAT/S/000045

http://www.trafikverket.se/remibar

The thick shelled river mussel (Unio crassus) brings Life+ back to rivers (UC4LIFE)

LIFE10 NAT/S/000046

http://www.ucforlife.se/

Restoring the conservation status for wetland habitats and species intrinsic to long term management practices in Sweden (RECLAIM)

LIFE11 NAT/S/000848

http://www.reclaim-life.se

Restoration of habitats on sandy soils in southern Sweden (SandLIFE)

LIFE11 NAT/S/000849

Click on the icon to read the project summary

Project duration

01/2009 –> 12/2014

01/2010 –> 12/2014

01/2010 –> 12/2014

01/2010 –> 06/2014

01/2010 –> 12/2014

01/2010 –> 12/2015

09/2010 –> 08/2013

11/2010 –> 12/2016

09/2011 –> 09/2016

11/2012 –> 12/2016

09/2012 –> 11/2016

http://sandlife.se/ 08/2012 –> 07/2018

Recent Information and Communication projects in Sweden Project Title

Project Number

Website

Communicating environmental actions to children and youth (COM-U)

LIFE07 INF/S/000901

http://www.hsr.se/skola

Last update: 14/06/13

Click on the icon to read the project summary

Project duration

01/2009 –> 12/2011

European Commission, DG Environment – LIFE E.3 & E.4 Units (http://ec.europa.eu/life/)

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