New initiative to lighten the regulatory burden on farmers in Sweden

This autumn, Karlstad University’s Samhällsnytta AB is launching a project alongside farmers, public agencies and advocacy groups. The focus is to lighten the regulatory burden in farming, which has long been perceived as both costly and time-consuming.

- We gather “the whole system in the room”, a methodology that ensures an active contribution from all parties involved towards sustainable and practical solutions, says Johan Quist, CEO of Samhällsnytta.

Samhällsnytta along with other public agencies as well as advocacy groups will receive SEK 7 million for the project from Vinnova, Formas and the Swedish Energy Agency. The project will be carried out within the SustainGov innovation programme.

- This initiative recognises the importance of systems design as a tool in creating new, holistic methods to solve complex societal issues. It is also in line with SustainGov’s overarching goal to drive innovation in the public sector, says Johan Quist.

Broad collaboration with “the whole system in the room”

The project will use systems design to explore and develop ways to lighten the regulatory burden in farming. Systems design looks at the big picture and gathers all the relevant parties together to solve complex problems.

The 18-month project will be carried out in partnership with the Swedish Veterinary Agency (SVA), the Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF), the Swedish Food Agency, the Swedish Board of Agriculture, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, the county administrative boards of Jämtland, Värmland and Skåne, the Stockholm School of Economics, the cattle farmers’ association Växa Sverige, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KSLA).

- We can see that the complexity in farming regulations affects the opportunities for competitive production as well as our national food security, says Ann Lindberg, Director General at the SVA. This project allows the SVA to work with other parties to lighten the perceived regulatory burden while still preserving the added value generated by Swedish farming.

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