2022 Trip to Växjö, Sweden
Växjö and Duluth have been sister cities since 1987. Many visits and exchanges have happened over the years at the city level and also through the soccer exchange.
After a gap of a few years due to the pandemic, in August 2022, a contingent from Duluth went to Sweden. The group was welcomed and a full week of activities was planned!
The first day the Duluth contingent went to Ljuder to help celebrate the Minnesota Day celebration. In the early 1900s many Swedes emigrated due to a lack of opportunities and many settled in Minnesota. This celebration recognizes the Swedes lost to Minnesota and the continued connection (made much easier with today’s communication channels).
On Monday, the group visited a library, art gallery, social service office in a socioeconomically disadvantaged area. Art plays an important role in Växjö. There are many art installations throughout the community, both indoor and outdoor. Sweden has struggled with a large influx of refugees and immigrants. One change they made was creating a branch library to serve community members that were no longer taking a significant trips away from the city center. Another policy that is in place is supporting immigrants for two years while they learn Swedish and receive training or education to fill jobs in their new home. We finished the day with a crayfish party on Lake Helga.
Tuesday the group took a tour of the city and learned of its history. The Växjö Cathedral was toured along with learning about famous resident Carl Linneaus, who is a world-renowned scientist. We also learned about the local political cycle and process as city and county elections were coming up in a few weeks. It is very different from the U.S. and had a much more upbeat, informational appeal.
On Thursday the group toured the sewage treatment and biogas plant. The city is able to process all its waste and repurpose it to run the buses. The group toured the sports complex next, met a Minnesotan playing professional hockey in Växjö, and then finished the day learning about biking and city efforts to make a sustainable city. A few noted points were that the city of Växjö plows its bike trails first and most people have a bike (and many an e-bike). The cities strategy was to make it easier to bike than drive and now biking is the norm.
