Restart for Tullinge work hub
Just before the pandemic, a research project was initiated in Tullinge in which residents were offered a place at a local work hub as an alternative to commuting to work. The hub is now seeing something of a reopening in a project aimed at increasing shared use and resource efficiency.
From 2019 to January 2022, a work hub was run in Tullinge in Botkyrka municipality. At the centre, Tullinge residents could apply for fully equipped office space close to where they lived as an alternative to commuting to work in offices. When the pandemic hit, the centre did not quite turn out as intended.
Open to more users
Now the work hub is entering a new phase with the help of social entrepreneurial company Vakansa, led by city planner and sustainability specialist Robin Rushdi Al-sálehi. The company currently operates three similar hubs in the region and is set to open a fourth.
“Our goal is to facilitate greater shared use, particularly of office space, which currently has utilisation rates as low as about 10 per cent. By creating communities around these hubs, more people are able to gain access to spaces that would otherwise be empty,” says Rushdi Al-sálehi.
The idea is to open premises for meetings, events and training for local organisations and associations. Instead of darkened windows when premises are empty, residents and visitors can enjoy a more vibrant local environment. At the same time, Vakansa also wants to offer more employers a cheaper and more ergonomic workplace alternative for its employees than working from home.
Sharing for a sustainable society
In 2020, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, (IVA), published a report that argued that sharing premises and existing office space is necessary in a more sustainable society. Rushdi Al-sálehi authored the report, which was also the subject of a DN Debatt editorial.
“Today, our cities are very inefficiently utilised. We have fantastic opportunities to create more sustainable and resource-efficient cities through a more sharing economy. So, we develop a digital platform where companies and organisations can open their premises to others when they are empty,” says Rushdi Al-sálehi.
Sweden-wide
The Vakansas platform is currently under development and will initially have sites in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Uppsala, and in time the hope is to open sites throughout Sweden.
“We want to move beyond the concept of Co-working and instead talk about Co-use which opens up premises for much broader uses. We want to contribute to better utilisation rates and types of use with scope for everything from training and seminars to events and meetings such as annual general meetings for tenant-owner associations.”
There is much to be gained if the concept of sharing premises can be developed into a societal norm, he says.
“Property owners are also interested in increasing space utilisation. In the long run, this is about taking advantage of our existing resources in more sustainable and economical ways.”
More about Vakansa.
More on how the work hub in Tullinge started.
Test your business idea: Flemingsberg Science Award Startup open for applications
STARTUP is a competition for startups with a clear connection to Flemingsberg, either as students, residents or otherwise active in the area. All ideas are welcome to participate in STARTUP as long as you compete with your own idea and the turnover and external equity is below SEK 1,000,000 at the time you submit to the competition. After that, we of course welcome you to continue working with the business idea, sales and any investments.
Science Week: Innovative arenas create collaboration for the city of the future
Stockholm is growing and we want a smart city with knowledge-intensive industry that is sustainable. In a panel discussion during Science Week on February 1, we discuss how innovative neutral arenas are central to the development of the smart and knowledge-intensive city.
Our Sound Space – soundscapes in cities
Don’t miss the opportunity to experience an interactive sound installation at the same time as you contribute to research that improves the future of urban planning.
The Our Sound Space installation has now opened at Neo in Flemingsberg, which offers visitors the opportunity to use their smartphones to experiment with different sound environments and explore with soundscapes.
Our Sound Space is part of the Planning for Youth research project that aims to study methods and tools for meaningful participation of the younger demographic groups in participatory planning and placemaking. Romina Rodela is Docent at Södertörn University and project leader for the initiative. ““Historically, children and young people have not been very central in spatial planning. In our project, we want to explore new methods which are better able to capture their voice in spatial planning and placemaking,” says Rodela.
In this case, you use your smartphone to listen to how a new residential area will sound, for example. Which sounds are perceived as positive and which sound environments are less attractive? The idea is to give the planners of the future better tools to include children, young people and people with impaired vision or other functional variations in the planning stages of such projects. “We’ll use Our Sound Space to gather opinions from different groups to establish how effective a tool like this can be. At the same time, the installation is open to all to try out and comment on,” says Rodela. The software itself is developed by researcher Maurizio Goina at KTH and may in future be shared with planners, construction companies and architects.
Mattias Lindén is responsible for Hemsö’s properties in Flemingsberg and believes that installations such as Our Sound Space have the potential to improve the image of the area. “We’re sitting on an underused resource. In courtyards and along walkways there are areas that could be used for temporary art exhibitions – opportunities for as yet undiscovered artists to gain some exposure. We’ve just decided to support the Our Sound Space project. Imagine if people in the future will associate Flemingsberg with exuberant creativity, a place where you experience new and fresh ideas. Our Sound Space can be a small step in that direction,” says Lindén, Senior Property Manager at Hemsö. Our Sound Space runs until 7th March, while the research project will continue for another two years.
Let Flemingsberg Innovation Community elevate your idea
The Flemingsberg Innovation Community is a meeting place that brings together a range of organisations that provide various types of innovation support and assistance. Among them is Sting, which since its inception in 2002, has guided hundreds of startup companies to success.
