First project meeting

First project meeting has started. Today, October 21st, we have begun to go through our continued work and made important decisions for the project’s implementation.

“Second project day”

Second project day

Backåkra, Kåseberga, Ale stenar, Ystad, Johannamuseet.

The day started with a trip to Dag Hammarskjöld’s holiday home in beautiful Österlen. Dag Hammarskjöld was the UN Secretary General between 1953 and September 1961 when he was killed in a flight accident in Africa, which many believe was sabotage. During his time as Secretary General, he had to deal with several conflicts: the Suez War of 1956, the conflict in Lebanon, the conflict in Laos. During the civil war in Congo, which erupted in 1960, Hammarskjöld took the initiative to send UN forces to be sent there. He also personally tried to mediate between the combatants. For his efforts, he was rewarded posthumously with the Peace Nobel Prize in December 1961.

Hammarskjöld  left his summer home, Backåkra, to the Swedish state with all the equipment he had in his office in the UN. There are paintings of eg. Picasso. There, the UN Security Council held a meeting in May 2018. It was the first time the Security Council met outside New York.

We then went to Ale Stenar, an archaeological mystery. The ancient remains are already mentioned about 1515 in a list of Lund’s founding lands: an ager called dississ Hesten (a field known as Hedsten). The oldest location for the name Ales Stones, Als Stene, is considerably younger, from 1624. In his description of the shipwreck, the parish priest Niels Ipsen in Valleberga then reveals a local tradition that All had built a harbor below Kåsehuvud.

The oldest depiction of the ship setting is also linked to the sea and shipping. In stylized form we find Ales stones marked on Gerhard Buhrman’s coastal map from the year 1684. Apparently the ship’s setting was used as a landmark at this time. The first more detailed drawing was made in 1777 by the antique artist C.G.G. Hilfeling that depicted many ancient remains in Skåne. The first known photograph of Ales stones was taken in 1914.

These and many other older descriptions and depictions are important to the knowledge of Ales stones and the local environment. On two occasions – the years 1917 and 1956 – the ship’s restoration has been restored. Several stones had then fallen, and sand dunes covered large parts of the ship. An aerospace system erected by the military at the site during the Second World War also contributed to the decay. The restoration in 1917 is poorly known, but the interventions that were made were certainly not as great as in the 1956 hard-hand restoration. Then extensive excavation work was done with excavator and bulldozer without close follow-up by archaeologists.

This has contributed to the fact that the knowledge of Ales stones has long been virtually non-existent. There was no actual measurement of the ship’s setting and information on the number of boulders varied. They also did not know which ones were in their original positions. The dating was based solely on comparisons with other, better known ship phrases. There was also a lack of knowledge about the local environment. Did Ales stand alone or were there other monuments on the site? We really don’t know.

Martin Martinez told of his theory that it would have to do with Phoenician sailors, 3000 years ago. He showed similarities between a Phoenician ship and ship depicted on rock carvings in Tanum. For this he has support in the pictures but also in the knowledge that the Phoenicians traded with amber from the area, which was then sold in the Spanish city of Cadiz. 3600 years ago, the lifestyle in Österlen changed dramatically. From paddling in canoes in the Stone Age, southeastern Scandinavians became boatbuilders and long-distance sailors in no time. With amber as a commodity, the Österlen residents took the step right into the Mycenaean and Phoenician worldview of the Bronze Age, and the traces are still left on Österlen. As researchers Bob G Lind, Nils-Axel Mörner also claims.

Kåseberga has been mentioned in the literature during the Middle Ages together with, among others, Skanör, Falsterbo, Malmö, Skåre, Ystad and Simrishamn as regulated fishing locations for fishing and fish trade. At present Kåseberga it is a small fishing village with only 110 inhabitants, of which only a few are fishermen. There are smokehouses and restaurants. During the summer months, about one million tourists from Sweden and around the world visit Kåseberga.

After Kåseberga we visited Ystad. We wandered the town’s medieval streets, among its old houses, and then visited the Church of Mary and the Franciscan Monastery. We could see the oldest school building in Scandinavia, Latin school from the end of the 1400s.

The day ended with a visit to the Johannas Museum. A work of a man, who in 1952 decided to preserve all that he had experienced from his youth. In an old farm he gathered everything, from school desks, whole shops, musical instruments, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, clothes, machines of all different kinds. a spectrum of things that explain the evolution of technology from the mid-19th century to the present. The museum is now run by the founder’s son. He stated that it all started with his father buying an old T-Ford from 1914 in the fall of 1952 and then continuing to collect material throughout his life, he died in 1997. The current owner plans to expand the museum with agricultural implements from the Stone Age to our days. It will be ready by 2021 and will be an important excursion destination for all schools in southern Sweden.

Third project day

Today, Octobr 23, the day started with a bus trip to Skäralid, in Söderåsens National Park, which is a 100 meter deep crack valley with steep rock walls. At the bottom of the ravine, Skärån flows. From the Copper Hat viewpoint you have a fantastic view to the ravine stream and beech forest with all the beautiful autumn colors. In Skäralid there is also an end moraine and some snow drive niches to look at.
Back in Lund, we attended a seminar at The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University. Professor Lars Hansson presented the department’s work and presented how environmental awareness and sustainability have a positive effect on a country’s economy, from macroeconomics to the individual company. With statistics he showed which are the main sources of global warming and how different countries, especially China where he is a visiting professor, are trying to reduce CO2 emissions.
Doctoral student Steven Curtis presented his research on shared economics, electric scooters, Airbnb and the like, how this type of economy affects the environment.
Finally, we visited Kulturen, the world’s second oldest open-air museum, which contains the living environment from different social classes at the end of the 19th century. On the way home we took a round around central Lund and visited the cathedral, the university house and the academic association.

Fourth project day

Fourth project day
Today, on October 24, the day began with a work lunch in Kulturens restaurant. We were received in the City Hall by the chair of the municipal council, Mats Helmfrid, who lectured on the city’s history and its interesting present. The city, founded around 990 AD, when Scania was part of Denmark, has gone from being a Christian metropolis, with 27 churches and monasteries, to becoming a modern Swedish city of 123,000 inhabitants, with a university of 43,000 students and very modern innovation industries in medicine and communication, in close collaboration with the university.
In the evening we visited Stångby, an old village with historical traditions. The biggest battle ever fought in Scandinavia took place here, the so-called Battle of Lund, December 6, 1676, with 9000 dead. The battle was between Denmark and Sweden. From the battle, Denmark gave Skåne as lost and the university, founded in 1666 on the initiative of the archbishop, helped to transform the former Danish country into a Swedish province. Here in Stångby we met Philip Sandberg, the young and energetic chairman of the municipality’s board, and the executive mayor of Lund, who was very positive about our project.

Fifth project day

Today, October 25, we began a work meeting to determine the ongoing work.

Ambassador school programme

At Lund Municipality with Anna-Karin Poussart, environmental strategist and Helena Görtz – Tourism Developer.

Lund Municipality has decided that greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced by at least 50 percent by 2020 and emissions by 2050 will be close to zero. The goal is tough, but we see that we are on the right track. Greenhouse gas emissions in the area have decreased by 47 percent compared with 1990. The biggest contribution to the reduction has been that the proportion of renewable energy in district heating increased dramatically when the Örtoftaverket was put into operation in 2014, which means that natural gas is no longer used in the district heating network.
Lund Municipality is located in an expansive region and in order to create sustainable, attractive urban environments, we need to be forward-looking in our urban planning where we maintain a compact city with a vibrant center. At the same time, the opportunities for green environments in the city for the well-being of the inhabitants must be safeguarded. It should be easy to walk, cycle and use public transport, so that we can reduce car dependency. By densifying the city, the good soil is also saved, which is extra important as Lund’s city is surrounded by 10+ soil – the best arable land in the world.
A rich, vibrant nature with great biodiversity and well-functioning ecosystem services is the basis for long-term sustainable development. Ecosystem services are the benefits that nature provides us with such as water purification, pollination and recreational opportunities. The challenge is how to protect them and create opportunities and strengthen them in connection with exploitation.
Clean water and fresh air are essential for all life. In Lund, the quality of the air is continuously measured and the goal is to stay below the low-risk levels that the state and the EU have set for various harmful substances. When it comes to water, we have problems with surface water, partly because of eutrophication, which is something we have to work on to reach the EU directive.
LundaEko is a target program based on the sixteen national environmental quality targets and on the Bruntland Commission’s definition of sustainable development. Based on the sixteen national environmental quality objectives, the above eight priority areas have been developed. Within each priority area there is a main goal and below it a number of sub-goals.