"Resilience is essential for us to lead safe, prosperous and good lives"

Tell us about yourself!
- I’m passionate about sustainability transformation and impact. I am starting a new position as Head of Sustainability at Sweco’s division Environment and Planning, to increase focus on sustainability when planning for and building our society. I am especially invested in how all the sustainability goals are tied together: Poverty and gender inequality must be eradicated to solve the climate and environmental crisis and vice versa. And we can! We just have to dare to invest, change and innovate.

Why is resilience important for a society?
-The short answer is that resilience is essential for us to lead safe, prosperous and good lives. Our society needs to be resilient to resist shocks and unexpected events. We face many different threats, but the solutions are surprisingly similar. And while we don’t know exactly when, what and where the next crisis will be or hit, creating a resilient society is a cushion and a safety net that will save us time, lives and money.

TREFF gathers representatives from academia, society and the private sector - why is it important that we work together?
- Interconnectedness and learnings between academia, society and business are more important than ever, since the solutions we create demand both long-term stability and sustainability, as well as adaptiveness and flexibility. Many of the solutions we need are still unknown or under development, so we need the sharpest minds and boldest leaders on board. Working together and interdisciplinary is the only way to achieve this.

What do you hope to contribute with to TREFF?
- My hope is to set the scene with a view on resilience, sustainability and future-proofed societies, to provide clarity on the current state and what needs to be done. To provide a resilience context when all experts share their research, best practice and specific solutions. And I hope I will learn a lot from all the other participants!