Creatives & Changemakers

A hundred companies in Lund support the Nordic innovation model

Caroline Wendt
March 23, 2020

What is important to consider when creating a district where innovations and start-up businesses can thrive and grow? This question is explored in the Swedish-Danish project NIDD – which has now also welcomed a student assistant with political scientist Tove Thaning.

The Nordic Innovation District Development (NIDD) is an Interreg-project where Lund municipality, via Future by Lund, is collaborating with the Danish Lyngby-Taarbaek City of Knowledge on a feasibility study to see what an innovation district model could look like in a Nordic setting. As part of this, a hundred smaller companies in Lund and just as many across the Öresund will fill in surveys. The companies to be surveyed have between 10 and 15 employees and are in a growth phase, often no more than 3 years old.  

- We will investigate what is needed in their social, economic and physical environment in order for them to grow their business, says project manager Anders Bengtsson. We will also identify some cases that we will take a closer look at so we can properly understand their needs. Simply put, we can say that we want to set up our own model for how this could work in Lund and the City of Knowledge in Lyngby-Taarbæk, but also in similar cities throughout the Nordic region.

Tove Thaning has been hired as a student assistant to help project manager Anders Bengtsson. Tove holds a degree in Political Science and is currently studying her Master’s in European affairs.

- I was in Brussels last spring and did an internship at Region Skåne’s European office working on digitalization and innovation. I am interested in the European Union (EU) and EU projects and therefore chose to study a master’s focused on the EU, explains Tove Thaning.

The preliminary project continues until August and it is hoped that it will be followed by an implementation project.

Translation: Ben Dohrmann

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