Anna has a special interest in what makes urban and rural regions sustainable, liveable and prosperous. She has an academic background in political science and in urban and regional planning, and long experience in regional development, policymaking and governance.
Academic qualifications
PhD in Planning and Decision Analysis with specialization in Urban and Regional Studies, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (2017)
BSc in International Social Sciences, Växjö University (1993)
Languages
Swedish
English
French
Prior Positions
2013-2018: Project manager, Region Stockholm
2013-2017: Industrial PhD, Department of Urban Planning and Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
2008-2013: Secretary general, Council for the Stockholm Mälar Region (Mälardalsrådet)
1998-2008: International secretary and project manager, Council for the Stockholm Mälar Region (Mälardalsrådet)
1998: Project manager, Stockholm County Council (Stockholms läns landsting)
1994-1998: Senior advisor Regional development and International affairs, Federation of Swedish County Councils (Landstingsförbundet/ Sveriges Kommuner och landsting)
1993-1994: Internship and project manager Conseil Régional de Lorraine, France/Nutek, Sweden
Publications
Peer-reviewed publications
- Lundgren, A (2019) Participation in local and regional development perspectives in social capital, planning and governance. Towards a research agenda. In Matsushima K., K. Kobayashi and H. Westlund (Eds.) Social capital and development trends in rural areas, Volume 12, Kyoto: Kyoto University (ISBN:978-4-907830-12-0)
- Lundgren, A (2017) The Openness Buzz. A Study of Openness in Planning, Politics and Political Decision-Making in Sweden from an Institutional Perspective, PhD Thesis. Stockholm: KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
- Lundgren A (2017) Openness and Transparency in Political Decision-Making: An Empirical Study through an Institutional Lens. Romanian Journal of Regional Science, Vol 11, No 1.
- Lundgren A (2016) The Openness Buzz in Metropolitan Regions: Swedish Regional Development Strategies. European Journal of Spatial Development. Research briefing no. 6.
- Lundgren A and Westlund H (2016) The Openness Buzz in the Knowledge Economy: Towards Taxonomy. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy. Vol 35, Issue 6, 2017.
Reports
- Hasselgren B och A Lundgren (2016) Gränsöverskridande transportplanering i Norden. Utvärdering av det nordiska samarbetet kring transporter och transportinfrastruktur. Copenhagen: Nordiska Ministerrådet.
- Hasselgren B and Lundgren A (2014) Trans-Governance Öresund: Experiences and future development in transport infrastructure development and governance in the Öresund Region. Stockholm: KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
Anna Lundgren‘s spatial story
Learning about other regions’ spatial stories
What makes some places prosperous and attractive while others lag behind? A long time ago. we thought of that as a story of natural resources. Today we know that this is a far more complex story of institutional capacity, accessibility to global markets and human and social capital. And we also know that in order to be resilient and sustainable we have to engage with this complexity.
So, where can we learn from? When I worked for the greater Stockholm region, we decided 15 years ago to set up a program to compare and learn from other competitive and attractive metropolitan regions – what is it that makes them thrive and prosper?
We engaged in a network with other competitive and attractive metropolitan regions with similar learning ambitions and arranged benchmarking trips to cities and regions such as Seattle, Singapore, Dublin, Helsinki and Munich. In total, more than 150 regional leaders participated in those trips; mayors, county councillors, presidents of universities and research parks, and business leaders. The objective was to create joint learning, strengthen relations and to create a common regional agenda. During the trips we learnt, for example, how Seattle created a process to integrate economic planning with their regional and infrastructure planning; how Singapore worked to attract the best researchers in life sciences world wide; about the high performing educational system in Helsinki; and how public and private collaboration can be used in such different areas as reducing youth unemployment and financing of infrastructure in Bavaria.
However, perhaps most important part from the best practice of how other regions work to stay competitive and attractive, we also increased our knowledge about our own region by mirroring ourselves in others. Learning about other regions’ spatial stories is a way to learn more about your own region!
Related Research Projects
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Ongoing
- Early career mobility in the Nordic region
- Sustainable Nordic Remote Labour Markets (SUNREM)
- Ensuring inclusive economic growth in the transition to a green economy (EnIGG)
- Robust Regional Preparedness
- Not Just a Green Transition (NJUST) – Examining the path towards a socially just green transition in the Nordic Region
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Finished
- Health care and care with distance-spanning technologies, e-health and digitalisation
- Linking innovation and resilience: Synergy effects for regional development
- En bättre sits – evaluation
- Evaluation of Åland “Entrepreneurship and Competence” Programme 2014-2020
- Welfare Institutes in Sparsely Populated Areas (WIiSPA)
- Re-start competence mobility in the Nordic Region
- The organisation of social services and care in sparsely populated areas in the Nordics
- Demographic challenges in the Nordic region from a gender perspective (DEMOS)
- Nordic transport infrastructure planning – institutional barriers and opportunities for coordination (NORDINFRA)
- Marint Gränsforum Skagerrak – external evaluation
- Nordic study about regional policy
- Skills Policies – Building Capacities for Innovative and Resilient Nordic Regions
- Pre-study: Nordic tripartite forum on structural change and the green transition
- A common Nordic labour market 70 years and beyond (70 ys and beyond)
Related Publications
- Digital Health Care and Social Care – Regional development impacts in the Nordic countries
- State of the Nordic Region 2020 -Wellbeing, health and digitalisation
- Skills for Smart Specialisation in Värmland Region – executive summary
- Kompetensbehov för Smart specialisering i Värmland
- Marint Gränsforum Skagerrak – delutvärdering
- Ålands strukturfondsprogram 2014–2020 Utvärderarnas andra delrapport
- Matching the missing links – Skills development in Nordic regions
- Klimatomställningen och relationen stad och land
- Just Green Transition – key concepts and implications in the Nordic Region
- The social impacts of climate mitigation policies on vulnerable groups in the Nordic Region
- Re-start competence mobility in the Nordic Region
- Ålands strukturfondsprogram 2014-2020: Utvärderarnas slutrapport 2022
- Cross-border transport infrastructure planning in the Nordic Region – An introduction
- Facilitating cross-border transport infrastructure planning in the Nordic Region
- How can labour market mobility in the Nordic Region be increased?
- Competence mobility: How can labour market mobility in the Nordic Region be increased?
- Skills Policies – Building Capacities for Innovative and Resilient Nordic Regions
- Embracing the just green transition on the Nordic labour market
- Geographies of discontent in the Nordic Region
- The Common Nordic Labour Market 70 Years and Beyond
Related external pages
Related News
- Nordregio Forum 2021 – some highlights!
- Nordregio Researchers at COP26
- New Nordic study on regional policy and instruments for economic recovery
- Anna Lundgren, Nordregio Senior Researcher, speaks at REG LAB webinar
- Matching skills for future labour market
- 10 December: Welfare in sparsely populated areas and how to organize social services and care
- Health & Well-being in the Nordic Region
- Open call for regions: Experts are ready to support you in e-health solutions!
- Nordic thematic group for innovative and resilient regions publishes discussion paper about skills policies
- Open call for new healthcare solutions
- Nordic transport infrastructure: how to strengthen the cross-border planning?
- How to boost labour market mobility across the Nordics?
- Meet Nordregio in Almedalen 2023
- Enhancing economic competence in Åland: Insights and strategies for policy enhancement
- Nordic geographies of discontent – what are the drivers?
- What would a fully integrated Nordic labour market look like?
- Nordregio Hosts Norwegian and Swedish Ministries Working with Municipal Policies
Related Events
- State of the Nordic Region 2022
- 14-15 April: The Competence Supply Days
- Hvordan kan digitalisering bidrage til at indfri FN’s verdensmål på Færøerne og i Grønland?
- Choosing Green – a digital summit before COP26
- 21 October: Health & Well-being in the Nordic Region
- Reglab Sweden Annual Conference
- How can we achieve a fair green transition for all?
