UN - 17 goals to transform our world
With the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ the United Nations present a vision for the future of humanity and the blueprint for achieving a happier and healthier world by 2030. Sweden and countries from all over the world agreed upon the implementation of the ‘17 Sustainable Development Goals’ as a part of this agenda and each goal has specific targets to be achieved over the next 15 years.
They call for action by governments, societies, organizations of any kind and all types of individuals, to take ownership, establish frameworks and also collaborate internationally for their achievement.
Sustainability begins with you
These are the SDGs the ABLE concept will address:
More information: The Sustainable Development Agenda
We serve as the engine to actively unite individuals, initiatives and organizations in whole new constellations and in new forms. Our goal is to encourage national and international collaborations and the creation of optimum synergies, to then jointly achieve the change and transformation into a sustainable society with sustainable people, which are prerequisite for a sustainable world.
We step in and facilitate the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, made tangible for all collaboration partners involved. We conduct a preliminary study to assess and align operations, forms of collaboration and synergies in accordance to the respective goals and further provide guidance with our knowledge and expertise, to steer the development process forward. We help you to combine people, the environment and profitability!
Together we are ABLE
World Values Survey - Sweden And Its Values
The WVS regularly conducts surveys in 100 countries all over the world, to illustrate values of different societies with the Cultural Map. Since the WVS was launched three decades ago, most countries have been increasing their living standards and transiting from developing countries via industrial, to post-industrial knowledge societies. As a consequence they have moved into the direction of the upper-right corner, yet, Sweden remains at the top for quite a while now.
What does it mean?
Sweden has the highest rank on secular-rational values, reflecting that values and social principles are strongly in favor of the individual's freedom of thought and action, thus, not restricted by religious influence, e.g. divorce and abortion are socially acceptable. Beyond, horizontal hierarchies, relative standards and modern family values, just to name few, are highly valued.
Sweden also has the highest rank on self-expression values, indicating a strong sense of individual freedom, well-being, personal fulfillment and environmental protection. More specifically, it highlights e.g. a strong desire to actively shape the economic and political landscape, high tolerance of otherness, be it expressed in form of sexual orientation, ethnic background, high importance of gender equality and interpersonal trust.
Which role does this play in the bigger picture?
It shows us, that the underlying principles of many SDGs are already firmly anchored in the Scandinavian countries' value and belief system. This results in political and financial stability, founded on strong democratic principles, by empowerment of the citizens, which is highly conducive to an easier and swift implementation of the SDGs.
However, as many western countries, Sweden has some challenges to overcome, if it is to further lead the global movement: the lack of inner sustainability. With all the freedom and richness industrialization has brought, it also entailed an impoverishment of many emotional lives, the major cause for burnouts, depression and the lack of meaning, which is currently a plague in the western world. Hence, freedom and wealth alone, don't lead to a balanced and happy life.
More information: World Value Survey Findings and Insights
Institute for Future Studies: Sweden, the extreme country
We empower and inspire people to explore their inner worlds, raise awareness about the causes of imbalance and provide guidance and the tools for the physical, mental and emotional aspects, which are crucial to create personal inner sustainability and a sustainable society.
Together we are ABLE
Global Development
We live in a world, where issues in one part of the world inevitably affect the others. The UN's 17 SDGs, appeal to all the people of the world to unite in a common goal and jointlly address global issues and restore a sustainable world, considering the environment, the society's and the individual's wellbeing.
At the same time, other parts of the world are developing fast and many countries in Asia and Africa are experiencing rapid and enormous growth in their economies and population, with a rise in income levels, which indicates a gradual shift in power from the western countries to these parts of the world in the future. Africa, in particular, will steadily gain major economic importance. It is estimated, that by 2035, Africa's young people reaching working-age will exceed that of the other countries' in the world combined and will continue to do so annually until the end of the century, where the number of Africans will reach approximately 40 percent of the world's population.
This rapid development is comparable to the Western World's after WWII. Just as people the, were rather focused on improving their living conditions and satisfying their materialistic needs, so are the people of these parts of the world, today. Sustainability was not considered an important factor then and a growing number of 5 billion people is following these exact same tracks, neglecting social and environmental factors, while growing at a fast pace.
World income levels
People live on...
Level 1 less than $2 a day (1 billion people)
Level 2 $2 - $8 a day (3 billion people)
Level 3 $8 - $32 a day (2 billion people)
Level 4 $32 or more a day (1 billion people)
Factfulness (Rosling, 2018)
Africa's development
Since 2000, at least half of the countries in the world with the highest annual growth rate have been in Africa. By 2030, 43 percent of all Africans are projected to join the ranks of the global middle and upper classes. By that same year, houshold consumption in Africa is expected to reach $2.5 trillion, more than double the $1.1 trillion of 2015, and combined consumer and business spending will total $6.7 trillion (Rickman & Booker,2018).
Learn more about our current project:
ABLE Senegal - An African Hub for Sustainability
We believe, that for the sake of a common future, it is an urgent matter, to support these growing societies on their rise. First, to not re-create and add to the challenges, we have already caused in the world and second, to entice and inspire a joint journey towards a sustainable world now and create a better future for all of us. Highlighting and demonstrating, that economic development and financial prosperity actually do go hand in hand, with taking care of the environment and the people.
We also believe, that conveying sustainability in a cool and avant-garde way, hence making sustainable habits a trend, will facilitate a natural integration even more and support a long-term adaptation.
Think global, act local
As ABLE is born global, we want to create an ABLE hub as a common framework uniting actors from different parts of the world to co-create sustainable solutions to global issues, we are having today. This framework will be based on various scientific methods and provide a blueprint, which can be applied anywhere in the world. It will combine the benefits of a globally standardized process, facilitating the initiation and the conduct of collaborations, while being fully responsive to the local community's needs and wants. This allows people around the world to take an active part in changing their societies from within and designing respective solutions to local issues.
Together we are ABLE
Vision Stockholm 2040 - A Stockholm for Everyone
Stockholm is an attractive city. It is one of Europe's fastest growing cities and will be a metropolis, with 1 million inhabitants, by 2020. The rapid rise in population demands a long-term mission and a clear target to develop sustainably over the coming decades.
'A Stockholm for everyone' is Stockholm’s goal for 2040.
This vision lays the foundations for continuous work to develop a Stockholm for everyone. A reinforcement of working collaborations between individuals, organizations and cities in the region is crucial for the vision’s success.
- A Stockholm that stands united
- An eco-smart Stockholm
- Financially sustainable Stockholm
- Democratically sustainable Stockholm
More information: Vision 2040 - A Stockholm for everyone
We serve as the engine to actively unite individuals, initiatives and organizations in whole new constellations and in new forms. The goal is to encourage national and international collaborations and the creation of optimum synergies, to then jointly achieve the change and transformation into a sustainable society with sustainable people.
We step in and facilitate the implementation of the sustainable development goals for Stockholm 2040, by making every step along the way tangible for all collaboration partners involved. We conduct a preliminary study to assess and align operations, forms of collaboration and synergies in accordance to respective goals and further provide guidance with our knowledge and expertise, to steer the development process forward. We help you to combine people, the environment and profitability!
Together we are ABLE
What is a Third place?
The limitless physical and social environments, we find between our homes (first place) and our workplaces (second place); streets, squares, parks, restaurants, cafes, lounges and foyers, in short places, where people meet to socialize and recharge, are the main examples today. With the rise of new types of working models, third places, are also increasingly becoming attractive for remote work.
Due to the digitalization, third places are shifting to the virtual world and resulting in a conversion of conventional consumption patterns and a decline of physical gatherings within our societies today. As third places are also a space for inspiration, focus and reflection - which is what most people need in their jobs, but many lack, it becomes all the more important to enhance the attractiveness of physical spaces again.
In the US some brands, have long recognized the urgent need for adaptation to the shifting trend and modified their brick-and-mortar stores into interactive experience centers. They are now moving closer to their customers, by offering activities and events, where people are e.g. able to exercise, play and spend time at Nike stores, test cook their favorite meal or experience a shower at Pirch. They have realized that it takes a whole lot more to attract the tomorrow’s customer: experiences!
By equipping Stockholm with an attractive, vibrant, forward-looking and engaging offer for recovery, personal development and inspiration in our city center, we can both create a unique retreat environment and unique experiences. These environments provide experiences, which unites 'strangers', they inspire, empower and ignite people's passion for social and environmental impact and promote serendipity.
An important characteristic of this physical environment is co-creation. Daring to let in, be curious and understand other driving forces to build up new energy. A place, where people are ABLE to meet, share ideas, values and co-create concrete solutions for the challenges, we are facing today. Citizens are therefore more likely to spend their time in the city, rather than trying to escape their everyday lives by extensive travels. This results in a minimization of air travels, which is also great news for the environment.This makes Stockholm more enticing to people from all walks of life, as these urban retreats are easily accessible and have something to offer for everyone: experiences, sustainable development and economic growth for the surrounding businesses - win-win-win!
There are various fantastic initiatives on innovation and sustainability taking place at different locations at this very moment. Following the ancient Greeks’ example, we believe, that it is time to create physical and social environments with a purpose in the city center.
A place for everyone to work in an appealing environment as a change of setting, relax from work or just be and feel good.A place to meet like-minded people from all over the world, socialize, have fun and exchange ideas.
A place with a purpose: people, change and international attractiveness. People from all over the world are ABLE to co-create new innovative ideas and join forces across borders, to achieve the transformation into a sustainable society with sustainable people, the world desperately needs today.
We further believe that the power of gatherings, based on value and purpose, will attract more people to this physical places, entailing an increase in potential customers and guests for hotels, restaurants and other businesses in the vicinity. A perfect opportunity for businesses to collaborate with surrounding businesses, to actively address sustainability issues and have a positive impact, by providing subject-related offers, while promoting their brands and generating profits at the same time.
We believe, that this is what sustainable development is and with collaborations we can turn these visions into reality!
We aspire to be the hub with a global community, which unites the stakeholders of the city around a common vision to take the UN's SDGs into action in a cool and inspiring way. The ABLE concept will attract locals and tourists to a physical place in the city center, inspiring and guiding them towards more sustainability in their lives, societies and the world, while strengthening their own local economic development. This concept is based on the shifting needs of the growing number of people, who highly value meetings and communication in person and further want to take part in achieving something greater.
We want to unite the City of Stockholm, hotels, shops and other businesses around the third places, to create activities and events, which provide unique experiences, address contemporary sustainability issues and appeal to different customer segments, utilizing the physical place and the surrounding areas both outdoors and indoors.
We step in, by providing the content and facilitating the implementation of the sustainable development goals for Stockholm 2040, making the steps tangible for all collaboration partners involved. We conduct a preliminary study to assess and align operations, forms of collaboration and synergies in accordance to respective goals and further provide guidance with our knowledge and expertise, to steer the development process forward.
Together we are ABLE
Cultural Creatives - A Global Movement With World-Changing Ambitions
There is a global change appearing in the world being pushed forward by the Cultural Creatives (CCs), also known as the millennials, a large segment of the western society, which is characterised by strong social awareness, environmentalism and high education. Studies show that future talents, which all companies want to recruit, consider work as an extension of their personal identity. They are optimistic, connected and self-conscious world citizens. In alignment with their strong values, they deliberately put their efforts in changing their societies for the better, while following their passion.
According to Conscious Connection, an online magazine specifically for CCs (Yes, they even have their own magazine!), cultural creatives can be characterized as follows:
Many CCs place great significance on constant personal and spiritual growth.Hence, they are well-educated and all about lifelong learning. As self-actualization and meaning is of high importance to them, CCs often combine their personal passion, with contributing to a better world.
A nature is sacred to them, they are highly concerned about our planet-wide issues, such as climate change and pollution. Thus, they are willing to pay higher taxes and spend more money on and qualitative food, in order to restore balance and improve the environmental issues.
CC’s highly value developing and maintaining relationships, care deeply about humanity and therefore often work for good causes in their societies. They believe in the advantages of joining forces, developing synergies in business and politics and equality in every context, especially emphasizing women, based on the fact, that they constitute the majority of CCs.
For CCs it is important to be healthy, by, as mentioned above, making sure they eat food of high quality, being physically active on a regular basis and encouraging others to do likewise. They tend to combine their professions (yoga instructors, holistic health advisors, nutritionist, personal trainer) with their interests and further seek holistic approaches to develop physically, as well as spiritually.
CCs like to appreciate a modern, relaxing living environment and it highly matters to them, that it is a creative home, which promotes relaxation, balance, creativity and productivity. They enjoy cultural and outdoor activities, such as music, art, writing, hiking, climbing, skiing, surfing, camping and they love traveling all round the world.
CCs are going to represent the main population and leaders of tomorrow’s world. Living their lives from this perspective, is already shifting the cultural paradigm of regions, nations and the world towards sustainability and will continue to do so as they grow. With Stockholm being Europe's fastest growing city and startup capital, with an openness to innovation, diversity and freedom of self-expression, it has become a magnet to enormous numbers of CCs from all over the world. Relative to Sweden's population, CCs will comprise the majority in the near future, leading the global movement of sustainable development.
More information: Who are the Cultural Creatives
Why the world's Millenials are moving to Stockholm