Place for people, place for water – From resistance to participation and dialogue for multifunctional blue-green infrastructure in the urban environment

Project partners: Luleå Municipality, Luleå Miljöresurs AB (Lumire), Luleå University of Technology (LTU), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)

Grant: SEK 1 000 000

Project duration: 2025-10-01 to 2026-09-30

Contact person: Godecke Blecken, LTU

Linked to mission: Adaptation of society to floods and droughts; building and managing urban structures in harmony with water; ensuring good drinking water quality; reducing negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems; preventing and reducing the spread of hazardous substances

Purpose and objectives

When old sewers along Luleå’s residential streets need to be replaced, the municipality has proposed to simultaneously narrow the 12-meter wide streets to make room for so-called swale ditches – blue-green infrastructure (BGI) that captures and cleans stormwater. Despite the clear economic, social and environmental benefits, the initiative has met with strong local opposition. Residents are concerned about issues such as reduced parking spaces, snow removal and changes to the street scene. The aim of the project is to develop and test methods for better dialog and collaboration between the municipality/water authority and residents. How can more people be involved in these changes – not just through consultation procedures, but through co-creation at every stage.

Expected impacts and results

We don’t just want to build new, sustainable infrastructure – we want to build trust. When changes in the urban environment that benefit the climate, environment and health take place in harmony with the local community, the anchoring is strengthened, and thus also the possibility of long-term functioning and maintenance of the infrastructure. This form of co-creation can also help to ensure that the voices of all those who have not been heard so far are heard. Since renewal of water and wastewater networks, climate change and stormwater treatment are relevant issues throughout Sweden and the world, the project’s results are scalable at national and international level.

Planned approach and implementation

The approach is based on a combination of proven principles for participation (such as the so-called participation staircase) and the research-based ParkLIV model, which is based on long-term dialogue in several stages. The project is carried out in collaboration between the need owners Luleå municipality and Lumire, experts from LTU and SLU and reference partner Brightnest. Cooperation takes place with Ohio State University (OSU), which has investigated similar issues and challenges regarding the implementation of BGI along residential streets in the United States.

The text on this page was written by the project team. The content has not been reviewed by our editors.