City of Malmö: Citizens engage in a local climate assembly

How did the assembly come together?

The climate assembly was co-hosted by the City of Malmö and Klimatriksdagen (the Climate Parliament Association). Klimatriksdagen is a non-partisan, non-profit association, and Malmö is one of three Swedish cities piloting the climate assembly model with them. 

During the summer, the City of Malmö launched a recruitment campaign, inviting citizens aged 16 and above to apply to join the assembly. Over 200 citizens expressed interest, and a selection algorithm ensured a diverse representation across age, gender, education, and neighborhood. This effort was essential to reflect the breadth of perspectives within Malmö and create an assembly that represented the city's diversity as far as possible.

In preparation for the two-day climate assembly on October 12–13, participants attended four training sessions, set up for both capacity building on climate change and for collaboratively selecting themes to discuss during the assembly. These sessions covered essential climate knowledge, global and local climate contexts, and Klimatrådslaget’s collaborative approach.

The climate assembly itself operated like a workshop, led by Klimatriksdagen and several facilitators. It was two intense days, packed with discussions in six groups, dialogues in between groups, feedback loops, deliberation, negotiations, and compromises. On Sunday afternoon, at the end of the assembly, each group presented its recommendations and proposals, followed by voting and formally deciding on joint recommendations from the climate assembly Malmö. 

 I felt a great level of engagement from the participants, each bringing unique perspectives. It is crucial that we listen to each other and work together if we are to achieve a successful climate transition (Elin Hasselberg, City of Malmö’s project manager for Klimatrådslaget).

What were some of the proposals from the climate assembly?

Discussions during the assembly focused on six themes selected by the participants: urban planning, transport and traffic, democracy and impact, just transition, lifestyle and consumption, and lastly, energy, heating, and electricity supply. The participants developed, and agreed on, six recommendations (one for each theme) and 26 proposals. Some of the proposals were:

• More micro-parks in urban areas, to increase greenery in the city.
• Develop an adapted and inclusive climate education for all Malmö citizens, to increase knowledge about the climate transition.
• Introduce environmental zones in Malmö’s city center to promote a fossil-free, vibrant, and green inner city. 
• Expanding cultural and leisure activities for young people across city districts to reduce travel needs. 
• Establishing a permanent climate assembly for Malmö citizens. 
• Forming a municipal team to coordinate reuse, repair, and upcycling initiatives, providing advice and support on recycling.
• Implementing structures to reduce food waste. By making it easier for residents to repurpose food and more difficult for stores and restaurants to discard edible items, for example.
• Supporting renewable energy initiatives, for example with investments in local projects.

What happens next?

After the assembly, the proposals were handed over to the deputy mayor for democracy in Malmö, Amani Loubani. Now, the politicians in the Environmental Committee has asked the Environment Department to investigate how the citizens’ proposals align with ongoing work and propose how the city can move forward with the proposals.

A follow-up meeting for organizers and participants is scheduled for early 2025, providing updates on how the city has moved forward with the proposals.

I am impressed and grateful that so many people showed their interest and wanted to spend their time in an effort to strengthen the local climate transition. It has resulted in many ambitious proposals. This climate assembly has been very valuable for us. 

Focus on citizen involvement

The City of Malmö currently has a big focus on citizen involvement and engagement and works on multiple projects and initiatives to explore new ways to have conversations with citizens. The engagement from citizens is essential to reach the city’s climate goals.

For me, the climate assembly has been a great opportunity to listen and learn more about how we can bring more citizens of Malmö into the climate conversation. To create a more sustainable city, it is important that as many people as possible are involved and engaged in the transition.