Page 51 - U4SSC Factsheet Ålesund, Norway, June 2020

Goals and Projects for a Smart and Sustainable Future

Knowing where it places as a baseline is important to Ålesund in forming goals and strategies that can
navigate the region precisely and effectively into a better future for all its inhabitants. It plans to align
key strategies and their implementation measures with the U4SSC KPIs for SSC, so that the region’s
municipalities will track, report, improve and maintain the KPIs. The region and its municipalities will
work closely with their inhabitants and businesses, in order to best achieve this.

Ålesund considers the upcoming merger of five municipalities within the region into a single Municipality
of Ålesund as of 2020 to be the perfect opportunity to utilize the U4SSC KPIs to better define the
region’s collective goals and strategies (e.g. those related to its desired regional environment, land use
and transport plans) within its new master plan. Ålesund’s aim is to achieve a baseline analysis that
will serve as the foundation for future actions and also in the creation of new goals, strategies and
measures to further improve quality of life for its residents. A related aim is to make the region more
attractive – as well as more viable and sustainable – for the businesses depending on its workforce.

In doing so, the region also hopes to align its future progress measurably to the UN Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). For example, the five councils of the merging municipalities have mandated
that there be a focus on SDG 14: ‘Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources
for sustainable development’ during the development of its master plan. Ålesund plans to leverage
the U4SSC KPIs for SSC as a tool to create further awareness about the need for sustainability goals
and practices within its local councils, businesses and inhabitants.

Some of the previously approved council strategies that the region hopes to measure or support using
the U4SSC KPIs for SSC include those focusing on:

• better public transport to better connect the region within and outside;
• strengthening the role and position of the city of Ålesund as a proactive developer in the region;
• strengthening the region’s reputation nationally and abroad; and

• establishing development networks in which municipalities, businesses, R&D environments and
society participate.

Ålesund is already making headway in operationalizing these strategies. For example, the Municipality
of Ålesund won a prize for most environmental procurer in 2018 for its environmentally friendly
procurement practices in a few areas, including everything from track-driven construction machinery
and wheelchairs to soft plastics in nursing homes and the conversion of passenger cars. In 2017,
Ålesund's purchasers utilized eco-labelling requirements in more than eight tender competitions.
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The county of Møre & Romsdal’s procurement policy for bus transport in the region has mandated
that only environmentally friendly buses be used. 47

The municipalities in Ålesund now encourage more sustainable and environmentally friendly buildings
with low-energy usage when they award new contracts for public buildings. The first nursing home
built according to environmental standards was finished in 2012 in Møre & Romsdal. It achieved a 40
per cent reduction in energy requirements for a net value of 109 kWh/m /year. Another one was built
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