We Are Ystad

We Are Ystad – from good to world class

The project ”We Are Ystad” aims to create better collaboration between entrepreneurs in the entire Ystad municipality, municipal officials, and politicians. The background is a deteriorating business climate and a perception of a lack of dialogue, transparency, and understanding between the business community and the municipality. The project wants to break this development and replace a ”us and them” mentality with common goals, increased trust, and a more solution-oriented approach.

The core is a joint educational process where 60 people – 20 entrepreneurs, 20 officials, and 20 politicians – participate together. Through training and workshops, the participants work on attitude and leadership, values, service, communication, and joint problem-solving. The idea is that the different groups will gain a greater understanding of each other's roles and together find concrete improvements.

An important goal is to develop the ”Ystad model,” a permanent working method for dialogue and collaboration between the municipality, politics, and business. The project will also develop an action plan and service guarantees that can contribute to shorter processing times and better municipal service. In the long term, the ambition is to strengthen the business climate, create better conditions for investments and jobs, and make Ystad more attractive to live, reside, and operate in.

The board's assessment

Decision date: 2026-06-23
Total selection criteria: 565 points
The board's justification: The board approves the application as the project is assessed to create conditions for a long-term strengthened business climate by developing a new collaboration model between business, officials, and politicians. Through joint competence development, establishment of new working methods, and a permanent structure for dialogue and collaboration, the project is expected to provide broad public benefit and contribute to increased attractiveness, competitiveness, and sustainable development in Ystad. The project is assessed to have good local anchoring, a clear implementation plan, and conditions to provide lasting effects after the project's end.