“We need to get better at packaging and making the innovation district visible”

Caroline Wendt

Communicator, content manager, storytelling

Published

February 8, 2024

Categories

Now is the time to focus on the human dimension, to establish more entry environments and spaces and create a common image of the area's value offering. Those were some of Ms Johnson's suggestions when she presented a summary of plans for the centre section of the Lund innovation District. Innovation districts are an internationally recognized concept that brings together different actors, resources and content around a geography. In the efforts to strengthen Lund's innovation district, talks and discussions on various aspects of the subject are arranged, and in January it was about plans for the central parts of the area.

Over the years, many plans have been created for the downtown portion of the Lund Innovation District (LID) and during the last meeting at Medicon Village Ms Johnson presented both an overview of some of the plans that had been made and what conclusions she had drawn from this work. Elisabet Johnson has worked in the borderland between academia, industry and the public sector in Lund for thirty years, starting with her own company at Ideon in 1993. In autumn 2023, she and Pia Kinhult were commissioned by Future by Lund to produce a material on the plans made for the physical environment in the central part of what is known as the Lund Innovation District.
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Pia Kinhult and Elisabet Johnson before the presentation of an overview of the plans for the central part of the Lund Innovation District.

In summary, Ms Johnson noted that there have been many documents over the years, but that the same basic concepts are repeated. The work is done in many layers and in parallel processes, and includes both hard factors such as built structures, the physical framework as well as the infrastructure along with soft factors such as people, talents ideas, networks and living spaces.

- We would have to make the environment relevant to more people with a focus on the human dimension, says Elisabet Johnson. The common public spaces can be made more accessible and appealing, we can create attractive connections between the different parts of the district and take a holistic approach to the shaping outdoor environment. We can also create more entry environments and together develop some common spaces.

Lund is known as a city with a tradition of pioneering innovations but also as one of the oldest cities in the Nordic region, which has existed in its present location since the 9th century but with settlements from before the beginning of our era just south of the city through Uppåkra.

- If you look at the density, history and content of Lund, it is absolutely unbeatable, says Elisabet Johnson. There may be innovation districts that beat us in individual parts, but you don't look at the big picture. Here is a two-thousand-year unbroken history of development in which the parts are the consequence of each other - who can beat that? But the image of this wealthy district doesn't always rhyme with the experience of it. This is partly a communication issue. We need to get better at packaging and making visible the overall picture of the innovation district. There is a need for “joint storytelling”, a coordination and orchestration of the shared narrative/narrative, of the district's overall value offering and making the ecosystem visible as a cohesive unit.

Elisabet looked back on the year 2004 when she was commissioned by Lund Municipality to participate in the work around the Brunnshögområdet area. The work included packaging the value proposition needed to attract stakeholders to the new area. Then they also looked at connections down to the center and started talking about it as the Knowledge Path. The ambition was to become Northern Europe's most attractive area for education, research and entrepreneurship by means of density, proximity, connections, the potential draw of the Lundalänken (tram) and the location of MAX IV and ESS. The image of the area became accepted and disseminated by the actors.

White architects also made three preliminary studies focusing on Brunnshög by Lund Municipality. Two brand experts were contacted to look at Lund's competitive advantages. The location in the Öresund region and the proximity to research and education through Lund University and LTH but also to science parks and anchor companies and with a good recruitment base and good communication opportunities is one of the advantages they saw. Another is that it is a flexible area with networks that exist around the university and the business activities and more that arise from the university's activities. The third major advantage is a business area that is seething with life around the clock with the prerequisites for bold, innovative and attractive architecture and a working, living and living environment with a good quality of life.

- There is a challenge in making the area live during all hours of the day, says Elisabet Johnson. This takes planning down to a human level and you get to think about individuals, movements and what there is for restaurants and similar businesses.

Twenty years have passed and Mrs Johnson noted that much of what was planned at the time has been implemented or is in the works. Some parts have become different and in some parts along the route the urban fabric has been densified to create interconnecting urban spaces of the parts and to turn back sides into front sides. A future project that will have a great impact on the area is when the new hospital will be built at Smörlycken, with an entrance that can be located very close to Ideon Gateway.

- The location of the hospital makes the district richer and straighter and it provides tremendous opportunities. But you have to think about weaving the sense of closeness into the planning, because it can feel far-fetched if you get it wrong.

In the future, there are more possible projects, such as the planned pick-up and drop-off from the E22 at Ideon and Medicon Village and the development of the Research Park, which may affect the area. A relocation of the hospital and other operations moving to Science Village will additionally free up premises in parts of the city.

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Next hit About Lund Innovation District will be in March and we will return with a theme. If you would like us to send you invitations to upcoming events send a message to info@futurebylund.se

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How does Lund work with its innovation district? Lund University and Lund Municipality have commissioned Future by Lund and partners to catalyze the work to co-create Lund as an international innovation district. The work is done, among other things, to enable us in Lund to increase our capacity to solve complex and shared challenges. The work is based on a steering group consisting of Anders Almgren, Chairman of Lund Municipal Board, Pia Kinhult, ESS and Kristina Eneroth, Vice Rector at Lund University.

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Previous conversations

Lund Innovation District with the vision “Global impact within walking distance”

The proximity makes Lund's innovation district unique

How can we present the innovation district's capabilities?

Human Rights Design as a Foundation for Innovation

Great interest in creating inspiring places

You can read the full report by Maria Gimenez Grau here.

How do we create exciting meeting places in the innovation district?

Great interest in the work with Lund Innovation District

Packaging, financing and critical mass key components of Lund Innovation District

Creative spaces in Lund provide unique opportunities