Sweden’s long coastline, lakes and waterways, together with a robust innovation ecosystem, offer opportunities for increased self-sufficiency, competitiveness, employment opportunities and international attractiveness for investment and partnerships. Development and innovation of new companies and products, as well as new cross-industry alliances and partnerships, are increasing in several marine sectors.
A prerequisite for a sustainable blue economy, however, is a holistic approach that takes social and ecological sustainability into account in addition to economic growth. A multifunctional approach in marine spatial planning is becoming increasingly important to ensure that ongoing industrial expansion in energy, food production, mobility and data is done in a way that at least ensures resource efficiency and minimizes negative social and environmental impacts that best contributes to coastal regeneration and marine ecosystems.
To achieve this, Sweden’s blue economy requires a national approach that is well connected to the EU and international agendas, with clearer mandates and a clearer allocation of responsibilities. It requires a long-term strategic direction that gives Swedish actors confidence to mobilize and dare to invest domestically.
This report provides some of the required information based on existing data from research, government documents, industry reports and official statistics. In 2022, a consultation process was carried out with the main stakeholders in Sweden, including a stakeholder workshop that took place on December 2nd, 2022. The purpose of the workshop was to identify together the Swedish potential, the ways and the necessary enablers for the transformation. The report was revised and adjusted based on input from stakeholders.
The report is divided into five sections: (1) an introduction that provides the framework for the challenge ahead and a way forward to guide future ocean spatial planning; (2) the status of the maritime industries in Sweden, broken down by sector – for each industry the authors suggest a shift away from a sector-based focus and towards a mission-oriented approach; (3) Cross-cutting pillars of Swedish society that can contribute to the development of a sustainable blue economy; (4) closing remarks; and (5) recommendations.
This report was commissioned by Formas in collaboration with Vinnova and Mistra and in dialogue with the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM) and the Swedish government agencies. The analysis also served as the basis for the UN Stockholm+50 Conference (Stockholm, June 2-3, 2022) and the UN Ocean Conference (Lisbon, June 27-July 1, 2022). The target groups of this report are politicians and economic actors.
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