Umeå’s overall growth objective is to achieve social, environmental, cultural and economic sustainability, guided by the vision of reaching 200,000 residents by 2050. In addition, Umeå Municipality aims to become climate neutral by 2030.
Responsible Meetings
Visit Umeå is here to support you in achieving the environmental, social and economic goals of your meeting or event. We care about our city, the people who live here, and everyone who visits. That is why we are committed to showcasing businesses that actively engage in sustainability initiatives within the meetings and events sector.
A Few Facts and Examples
Green Umeå – a network of businesses and organizations with sustainability as guiding star.
Sharing City – Umeå contributes to development by testing new solutions and cooperations. Umeå municipality takes on complex challenges and challenges existing structures.
RUGGEDISED – Umeå is a part of the EU cooperation project lasting 2017-2021. During these five years, around ten different innovative climate smart solutions are tested, at the same time as new business models adapted to a sharing economy are developed.
Sveriges Bästa Idrottsstad (Sweden's best sports city) – Umeå has been appointed ”The best sports city of Sweden” in 2018, 2020 and 2021. The strength of Umeå is both the width and the elite of sports and having the most amount of sports associations per capita in the whole of Sweden.
Europas Miljöhuvudstad (European Green Capital) – Umeå has been nominated three times and been in the top final every time, most recently in 2018. The applications have acted as a strong driving force behind the city’s work to enhance the urban living environment, thereby contributing to improvements in the environment as a whole.
Fairtrade City – Umeå is a proud Fairtrade City since 2013. By working for fair trade and ethical consumption, Umeå wants to contribute to emproved working and living conditions for people living in countries with widespread poverty.
Viable Cities – A strategic innovation programme focused on smart, sustainable cities. Umeå municipalitys’ purpose is to, in broad collaboration, form a road map towards a carbon neutral Umeå 2030.
The network Food & climate in the north – a collaborative initiative involving several of Umeå’s restaurants as well as a number of school kitchens. Together, they work to reduce food waste, collaborate with local farmers, and use kitchen equipment more energy-efficiently. The network is built on a culture of transparency, with participating restaurants openly sharing their sustainability efforts and progress. See the video
Den koldioxidsnåla platsen (The Low Carbon Place) 2016-2022 – An ongoing project from Umeå municipality, works to make it easier for Umeå residents to make choices that help reduce their climate footprint, such as in the areas of travel, housing, and purchasing decisions.
Projektet Klimatneutrala Umeå (Climate Neutral Umeå) 2030 – A project which, in broad collaboration, is forming a road map and identifying which actions Umeå needs to implement to reach and take responsibility for, the Paris agreement.
Gender equality – Umeå municipality has been working systematically with equality for 30 years, with many acknowledged projects and initiatives. The groundbreaking equality work has for example led to Umeå, within the EU program URBACT, taking the lead in a European network titled Gendered Landscape. Additionally, Umeå was the highest ranked region in EU Social Progress Index 2019.