The new collaboration between the Follo municipalities and the Center for Climate-Resilient Change (CRED) at NMBU will connect research and local practice to find sustainable solutions for the region’s future.
Climate change and biodiversity loss also challenge the Follo region. At a public meeting on 27 February 2025, challenges and opportunities for climate-resilient development in Follo were highlighted.
Among the nearly 40 participants at the BIT Center in Ås were elected officials and representatives from the municipal administrations in the region, as well as NMBU.
Mayor Christofer Leiknes from Enebakk municipality opened the meeting by emphasizing that both Follo and NMBU are working on the same challenges, but from different perspectives.
They therefore want stronger cooperation, where Follo can gain access to NMBU’s expertise and NMBU can apply and further develop its knowledge through collaboration with the municipalities.
Professor Siri Eriksen from NMBU/CRED presented, for the first time in Norway, findings from the IPBES Nexus Report, launched in December 2024, focusing on local conditions in Follo.
Eriksen is one of the lead authors of the report and pointed out that the more than 70 recommended solutions can individually help reduce climate challenges, increase biodiversity, improve water quality, strengthen food production, and improve public health.
Integrating a selection of these into local planning will be crucial for reversing negative trends and could save society significant costs.
Elisabeth Dahle from the Climate and Energy Network in Follo pointed to the region’s direct emissions from road traffic and the building sector, as well as indirect emissions from consumption.
Although Follo is not among the most exposed regions, it is experiencing a “warmer, wetter, wilder climate” and a loss of biodiversity.
Challenges include more flooding, drought, loss of nature, poorer water quality in the Oslofjord, new invasive species, and an upcoming energy deficit.
New knowledge is needed to understand and find solutions to all these challenges in a comprehensive way.
Nordre Follo municipality presented examples of existing work on restoring nature, reducing water pollution, and the use of a blue-green factor in spatial planning as relevant contributions to the collaboration.
Jan Thomas Odegard, project leader for CRED, explained that the center was established to promote climate-resilient local development in practice, balancing societal development with sustainability, climate risk, and biodiversity loss.
The ambition is to develop a “living laboratory” in the Oslofjord region, starting in Follo. The collaboration is based on a shared desire to solve challenges by applying university knowledge to concrete local issues.
CRED will also work to secure resources through various funding sources, including an application to the Research Council of Norway.
Following dialogue with the mayors, priority themes for the collaboration will include land neutrality, renewable energy, closed water and sewage systems, climate adaptation, and nature-based solutions related to housing development in high-pressure areas.
The approach includes mapping, co-creation, collaboration to find solutions through a “living laboratory” approach, capacity building, and student involvement.
The collaboration between the Follo municipalities and NMBU/CRED represents a targeted effort to address the region’s climate and environmental challenges.
By bringing together expertise and local experience, and through concrete projects and funding, it will be possible to lay the foundation for developing and implementing effective local solutions for a climate-resilient future.