Special lecture series 1: The Dream of Green Industry: Part 1

Lecture by Arne Müller, freelance journalist and author, Umeå. Respondent: Rickard Eriksson, professor of Economic Geography at Umeå University.

Northern Sweden has become a haven for industrial investment.
In total, around SEK 1400 billion is expected to go into industries in Norrbotten and Västerbotten County. It is estimated that around 100,000 people are needed in both counties within the next ten years to fill the newly created job vacancies. The ventures have raised hopes, but they do not come without risks and complications. Is it possible to build housing and expand public services at the same rate as the rapid growth of the industries? How great are the
economic risks that the affected municipalities will have to become liable for? Will the entire region benefit from the projects, or will regional discrepancies widen? Who gets to decide on the next steps of a process that is so fast paced?

Arne Müller is a journalist and author based in based in Ubmeje/ Umeå. He has previously worked as an editor for SVT local news in Västerbotten County, and in 2013 he made his debut as an author with the book Smutsiga miljarder: den svenska gruvboomens baksida, (Dirty Billions: The Pitfalls of the Swedish Mining Boom). The book investigates environmental issues within the Swedish mining industry. Since then, Müller has written six books, the latest of which explores the industrial developments in the north that are being planned in conjunction with the so-called green transition (Norrsken: drömmen om den gröna industrin). In 2017, Müller resigned from SVT to focus full-time on the issues that he finds most pressing: the climate transition, natural resources, and regional discrepancies.
Rikard Eriksson is a professor of Economic Geography and a research manager at the Centre for Regional Science (CERUM) both at Umeå University. His research is primarily focused on the geography of work and what affects regional differences in terms of employment and welfare. He is currently managing a seven-year-long interdisciplinary programme financed by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, which analyses the social and economic consequences of the substantial “green” investments going into northern Sweden.