Let’s set our goals

Walmundsön, Valdemarsön, Diwregård and finally, what we recognize today, Djurgården. Djurgården is constantly evolving, and it is up to us to create long-term sustainable development together.

For several years now, we have collaborated for a long-term sustainable development in order to take the cultural heritage into the future in a respectful way here at Djurgården. Led by The Royal Djurgården Society (Kungliga Djurgårdens Intressenter, KDI) together with Royal Djurgården’s administration (Kungliga Djurgårdens Förvaltning), our sustainability group has looked ahead and come up with proposals for goals for our joint sustainability work at Djurgården for the next few years ahead.

The work is not new. As early as March 30, 2020, we invited all actors at Djurgården to a sustainability meeting with the intention of introducing the proposed goals, but we never got that far. On Tuesday, November 9, 2021, we finally made it.

With over 80 participants representing 40 of Djurgården’s actors, we sat down to discuss common goals for 2022, 2025 and 2027. All members of the sustainability group were behind the planning of the day and to our aid we had the musician Pugh Rogefeldt, our illustrator Helena Lindholm and our guest of honor Luigi Cabini. A workbook specially developed for this day made the basis for the discussions.

It’s OK to talk, but problems are to be solved

There is no better way to start a sustainability meeting than with music. And now Pugh Rogefeldt set the tone with the song “Is there a little pride left” (Finns det lite stolthet kvar). Based on Earl Kings Let´s make a better world.

There is a lot of talk about this and that in speeches and songs.
We have soiled, we have wronged, it’s just shame and blame.
And it’s probably true, and it’s probably good, that we’re talking about the problems.
But they are there to be solved, where will it end up, if we sit still on the stone.

_{Pugh Rogefeldt, lyrics freely translated from Swedish}

The song is from the 70’s but it is as relevant now as then. We’ll talk about the problems, and we will not sit still on the stone. Action and communication.

Our guest of honor Luigi Cabini

On site in Madrid, Luigi Cabini, Chairman of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council – GSTC, was ready to inaugurate the meeting. GSTC originates from the UN tourism body and follows the 17 global sustainability goals. The organization sets the global standard for sustainability in travel and tourism.

As Chairman of the Board of GSTC, Cabini focused on the pandemic and provided an analysis of the surrounding world relevant to the period before, during and after the pandemic. He statistically showed how sustainability has become increasingly important for travellers and how the pandemic can be the driving force to increase the pace of developing a sustainable hospitality industry. Here at Djurgården we definitely want to be in the forefront and show how Djurgården is an obvious destination for sustainable development.

Our four focus areas

Through shared knowledge, we want to inspire each other to reduce their negative climate impact. We have developed four focus areas that will form the basis for Djurgården’s sustainable development. The sustainability group has worked hard and diligently with the preparations and during the meeting the proposed goals for 2022, 2025, and 2027 were introduced. The members of the sustainability group introduced our focus areas, everyone could then choose an area that they wanted to discuss during the meeting and then feedback to the others.

1) Fossil-free and Car-free

We want Djurgården to be a place for people. Today’s parking spaces can be better used as experience areas than parking spaces. We want all transports of goods and people at Djurgården to be fossil-free and that the remaining plastic comes from fossil-free sources. The focus area “fossil-free and car-free” was introduced by Peter Skogh from the Technical Museum, who then led the discussion in the group together with Tomas Frisk from Skansen.

The participants discussed eagerly, and it is impossible to mention everything that was said during the meeting. Some of the points that were raised were to make it easier for cyclists by setting up safe bicycle storage, adapting deliveries to times for when visitors are fewer and to streamline the transport of goods through coordination.

Then we must not forget that we have already come a long way. Folke Bernadotte’s bridge is already built, inaugurated, and used daily by both cyclists and pedestrians. We cooperate with MovebyBike and are connected to Nollzon Taxi. We both dive and pick up rubbish to draw attention to the fact that we must keep nature clean together.

2) Sustainable food culture

How we produce and consume food has a major impact, not least on our health and environment. Here at Djurgården we want to be a driving force for a sustainable restaurant industry and have therefore made “Sustainable food culture” one of our four common focus areas. Carin Broryd from Gröna Lund and Tin-Tin Jersild from Rosendals Garden presented the focus area “Sustainable food culture”. They talked about how we want to minimize food waste and establish Djurgården as a destination for sustainable food culture for the guest, the staff, the Baltic Sea and the planet.

During the discussion, many good and thought-provoking ideas were raised, above all that we must work in seasons and that a certain percentage should be organic. Also, that we choose ingredients based on quality and origin and that the goal should be that you as a guest know that if you eat at Djurgården you can rest assure you’ve made a good choice. We at Djurgården work to create a sustainable food culture, we hand out seed bags in order to inspire and inform about biodiversity. You can read about how we participate in the Sustainable Restaurants Network (Nätverket Hållbara Restauranger).

3) Open, welcoming, and accessible

Djurgården is open and accessible to everyone, it’s free of admission every day of the week. Together we work for a place where everyone feels included and welcome. The focus area “Open, accessible and welcoming” was presented by Jan Naumburg from SMTM and Sabina Korkmaz from the Nordic Museum. Some of the things we want is for Djurgården to be a world-famous destination open all year round for nature, culture and entertainment. Together, we want Djurgården to be neat and clean, safe and secure.

It is at its darkest during the winter here in Stockholm and it was addressed, among other things, that by increasing the lighting, we can create cosiness and security among visitors and employees. We build in inclusiveness for everyone and a clear set of values from the beginning.

We care about everyone feeling welcome, regardless of cultural or economic background, sexual orientation or gender identity. We are already collaborating with Stockholm LGBT to create an even more open and accessible Djurgården.

4) Constantly ongoing world exhibition

We welcome conversations about the future. At our attractions, and through our collaborations, activities and exhibitions, we inspire and educate millions of visitors every year. The focus area “World Exhibition for Sustainable Development” was introduced by castle warden Magnus Andersson from the Royal Djurgården administration. We want to attract, inspire and engage our guests through our way of working together long-term and sustainably.

Some points that were raised during the discussion was that what makes Djurgården unique is its combination of culture and nature. We can expand our collaboration with universities and work thematically in different constellations. When everyone contributes with something small we can together create something big.

In the best possible way, we try to create an educational environment where both young and old can learn about how we can create a sustainable world together by preserving and taking care of the environment. We build exhibitions that are firmly rooted in knowledge and discusses the future, e.g., Anthropocene and Human Nature.

In summary, this was an important step forward in setting concrete goals for our work. Nothing is carved in stone yet, but much was well received. The dialogue continues with the ambition that the goals will be adopted at the annual meeting in April 2022. Approving goals is important, but acting is of course more important, so the work continues constantly.

Let’s all pitch in…

We also let Pugh Rogefeldt end this text in the same way he ends the song.

Yes if we all pitch in, in, in.
Let’s all pitch in, in, in.
Let’s all pitch…
Stop nagging, stop whining, be positive instead.

_{Pugh Rogefeldt, lyrics freely translated from Swedish}

Such simple words but yet so important.