In this episode I have a talk with Erik Eklund from the Strategic Department of the Municipality of Umeå to explore how a local government can work strategically with EU funding. Erik shares how his team approaches EU projects not just as funding opportunities, but as tools for building long-term local capacity and driving political and organisational development. We dig into how Umeå aligns its project portfolio with actual needs, strengthens cross-sector collaboration, and avoids the trap of disconnected, one-off applications.
In our conversation Erik shares how they have managed to build an approach with ecosystem thinking - bringing in universities, regional actors, and municipal departments around shared agendas. He also gives an honest view of the challenges: working across silos, maintaining internal momentum, and connecting projects to the bigger picture. This episode is for anyone in the public sector who wants to move from reactive grant writing to proactive, mission-driven funding strategies.
Time codes:
00:01:42 Introduction
00:03:49 Fly in
00:06:33 Background
00:14:00 Strategy
00:24:17 Industrial symbiosis initiatives
00:50:45 Lessons and reflections
01:01:25 The toughest challenge