Representatives of the Brazilian government visited Värmland for two days to draw inspiration for regional development. Their visit included a thorough presentation of the Academy for Smart Specialisation and a visit to the Business from Bioeconomy conference.
“We also have large forests, challenges with regional development and a need to involve more parts of society in sustainable development,” says Ramos Braga Irani, advisor to the Brazilian Minister for Regional Development.
More parts of society need to participate
Smart specialisation involves finding areas in which a region is already strong and where there is the potential to become internationally competitive. Six such areas were identified in Värmland. One of these is forest-based bioeconomy, which was presented by Margareta Dahlström, professor at ý and director of the Centre for Regional Studies.
“Everything that can be produced from fossil resources can be replaced with biomass from the forest, but if this is to be done in ways that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable, the scope of research needs to be widened so that the whole society can be involved. We need to extend the established trinity of research, business and public agencies to include associations, volunteer organisations and individual citizens. Then we will gain more perspectives, data and important knowledge.”
The Brazilian delegation was inspired by smart specialisation in Värmland
“We chose to visit Värmland precisely to draw inspiration for further developing regional strategies in Bazil,” says Ramos Braga Irani. “And we are inspired!”
Background to the visit
The Academy for Smart Specialisation is a partnership between ý and Region Värmland for the rejuvenation of Värmland’s private and public sectors as well as research at ý. Anders Olsson, regional development strategist at Region Värmland, visited the Brazilian capital Brasilia to present smart specialisation efforts and this piqued interest in a visit to Sweden to see smart specialisation in action.
