Boden Municipality was awarded the Norrbotten Rural Municipality of the Year award this weekend. This took place in conjunction with the annual meeting of Hela Sverige ska leva, which was held in Harads in Edeforsbygden, Boden municipality.
As a small inland municipality in Norrbotten, the municipality of Boden has taken on major challenges with the ongoing social transition. They are now being recognized for their ability to find effective solutions where rural areas, which are a large part of the municipality, have a natural role to play in bringing development and capacity to the whole municipality.
Justification
“Hela Sverige skall leva Norrbotten wants to draw attention to the work that has been done and planned to create development in rural areas in Boden municipality.
By setting up service points and giving tourism the opportunity to develop in the area, as well as supporting businesses and associations, these measures have contributed to the overall development of the entire municipality. City meets country, country meets city.
With the major establishment of H2GS and the green transition to fossil-free, the municipality of Boden has expanded cooperation outside the city center with the villages and it is a great achievement for a small municipality.”
The prize was awarded in Harads in connection with the annual meeting of Hela Sverige ska leva Norrbotten. In the picture, from the left: Boden’s municipal councilor Claes Nordmark, Leif Engström, Hela Sverige ska leva Norrbotten, Mats Berg, business manager in Boden and Lars Bergström, chairman Hela Sverige ska leva Norrbotten.
Honoring
“It is an honor and a continued recognition of the work we are doing to include all our rural areas in the ongoing community building. This is something we have done over time, as we have long since realized the strength of our viable villages where there is a lot going on. And it goes without saying that we in Boden should work in this way. I want to pay tribute to everyone at Boden municipality and everyone in our villages who work to develop the countryside. The award shows that our cooperation works very well”, says Claes Nordmark, Municipal Councillor.
Present interface
“With our service points, we will have a necessary and present interface in the continuous development work together with our rural nodes. Lead times are shortened and we create a more favorable and dynamic collaborative climate in our business processes. This is a strength and a competitive advantage in our ongoing societal transition”, says Mats Berg, Head of Business.
Service points
Boden municipality has service points in three settlements in the municipality – Gunnarsbyn, Unbyn/Avan (where work takes place across the border to Luleå municipality) and Harads. They are geographically located in different parts of Boden municipality, about 30 to 50 kilometers, or about half an hour’s drive, from the municipal capital Boden.
Gunnarsby area, RÅEK
Unbyn/Avan, UNEK
Edeforsbygden, Harads, EDEK
The service points function as a dynamic service facility in each settlement. All of them have a basic range of services that should be available to everyone, as an extension of municipal citizen services to rural areas. In addition, activities are shaped by local needs, strengths and the character of each village.
The work of the service points and their role in the municipal processes in the municipality of Boden will be presented, among other things, at the upcoming National Rural Day.
Rural municipality in practice
Some examples of how Boden municipality works with the countryside:
- Each service point has a local rural business developer who is part of a team with the municipality’s other business developers.
- There are monthly joint business breakfasts in the countryside, alternating between the three Service point areas.
- In the municipal development plans, rural areas are woven into various projects that create experiences and models that can benefit all settlements and the entire municipality.
- Municipal land is being released in rural areas as a natural part of the growing municipality.
- Procurement schools are held regularly in rural areas to create more local suppliers for the municipality.
- The procurement unit of the municipality of Boden creates, where possible, conditions for local solutions in rural areas.
- Coworking spaces are offered at the service points where all municipal civil servants and Boden Business Park staff can work in the countryside and meet citizens on site.
- The municipality of Boden is actively investing in municipal schools in rural areas, for example by offering salary increases and company cars for teachers who commute to the countryside schools.
- Boden’s villages and their associations are described on the Move to Boden website as a natural part of the living and housing environments offered in the ongoing process of moving and recruiting to the new jobs in Boden.
Photo: Boden municipality and Mats Engfors/Fotographic
