Engaging India at Almedalen 2021: Future Urbanisms
Date: 5 July, 2021
Venue: Almedalen Week / Almedalsveckan
Theme: Innovation & Sustainability - What India and Sweden Can Learn From Each Other

Opening Address
H.E. Tanmaya Lal
Ambassador of India
to Sweden
Keynote Speaker
Uday Shankar
President, FICCI
Welcome to 'Engaging India at Almedalen 2021: Future Urbanisms' on July 5, 2021.
Over the past 18 months, the world has witnessed an unprecedented situation. The Covid-19 pandemic has compelled us to rethink existing systems and explore collaborations and solutions for a changing world. This year the series of seminars deepen the focus on how collaboration between Swedish and Indian innovation ecosystems can foster approaches, frameworks, and solutions for sustainability that is available for everyone.
Accordingly, our theme for 2021 is Sustainability and Innovation: What India and Sweden Can Learn From Each Other.
Organised within the umbrella of Future Urbanisms – a multidisciplinary research programme of Uppsala University at Campus Gotland, Zerocity and Content People AB, the seminar series connects the urban needs, innovative spirit, and entrepreneurial energy of India with the ideas of sustainability and resilience, and the business models of Sweden and the Nordic world. This year’s seminar series will also showcase and formally introduce Zerocity, which is a collaborative network-based platform that has emerged from Future Urbanisms to create sustainable solutions for cities and its communities.
The Perspectives
The seminars will focus on fostering cooperation, collaboration and connections between the Swedish and Indian Innovation and Sustainability Ecosystems and the various key stakeholders, particularly those from the research and thought leadership community. The seminars will showcase three perspectives of:
- Innovations for Sustainable Solutions for Everyone
- Start-Ups & the New Purpose Economy
- Urban centres as Circular Economies of Equitable Growth
The Seminar Series
Seminar 1 - Co-thinking Urbanisation, Technology & Sustainability in a changing world
Key Question: 'In a changing post-Covid world, what are the approaches to co-thinking sustainability, urbanisation, and technology?

Owe Ronström
Professor, Department of Ethnology
Uppsala University

Sujith Nair
Co-Founder & CEO
Beckn

Per-Arne Wikström
Head, Office of Science & Innovation
Embassy of Sweden in India

Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy
Professor, IIT, Madras
Advisor, Avishkar Hyperloop

Neeraj Jain
Chief Innovation Officer,
Start-Up Ecosystem Leader & Partner
Deloitte India
Swaminathan Ramanathan
Researcher, Uppsala University
Curator, Zerocity
Director, Deloitte India

Moderator
Rupali Mehra
CEO and Founder
Content People AB
Seminar 2 - New Energy Systems for the People - Lessons, Insights and Models from India & Sweden
Key Question: How can we increase the per-person access to clean and affordable energy, while reducing the world’s carbon footprint?
Seminar live link: https://www.almedalsveckanplay.info/62778

Ram Divedi
CSO
Pravaig Dynamics

Henrik Johansson
CEO and Founder
Spowdi AB

Tor Broström
Professor, Cultural Conservation
Uppsala University

Jonas Klevhag
Chief Operations Officer
The Bridge by Altitude
Seminar 3 - SDGs & Industry 4.0: Creating a New Purpose Economy
Key Question: How can we design and ‘hard-code’ equity from a perspective of digital democracy, socioeconomic growth, and human development?
Seminar live link: https://www.almedalsveckanplay.info/62805

Venkatesh Hariharan
India Head Representative
Open Invention Network

Ranjula Bali Swain
Visiting Professor & Research Director
Center for Sustainable Research (CSR)
Stockholm School of Economics

Jojo Mehra
Vice President
eGov Foundation
Seminar 4 - Towards a Zero City - what the world can learn from Swedish 'lagom' and Indian 'sunya'
Key Question: Can zero as an ethos bring about a new circular model and show the way towards a more sustainable world?
Seminar live link: https://www.almedalsveckanplay.info/62841

Gökçe Mete
Head of Secretariat,
Leadership Group for
the Industry Transition
Stockholm Environment Institute

Owe Ronström
Professor, Department of Ethnology
Uppsala University

Shalin Tandon
Vice President
Reliance Industries Limited
Swaminathan Ramanathan
Researcher, Uppsala University
Curator, Zerocity
Director, Deloitte, India
Organising Committee:
Prof. Owe Ronstrom, Professor, Uppsala University
Dr. Swaminathan Ramanathan, Researcher, Uppsala University, Director (Social Impact), Deloitte India & Curator, Zerocity Network
swaminathan.ramanathan@etnologi.uu.se
Rupali Mehra, Founder & CEO, Content People AB
Coordinating Team:
Hithaishi Dayananda, M.S. Sustainable Development, Uppsala University
Rahul Kishorekumar, M.S. Sustainable Development, Uppsala University
Communications@contentpeople.se