Culture and Society Fund, KOSA

KOSA is developing and testing a new model for long-term investments in culture and community development in Norrbotten. Luleå University of Technology is providing expertise in social innovation, knowledge-based learning, and cross-sector collaboration.

Project Duration

August 2025 through June 2028.

Funding

The project has been awarded 3.5 million Swedish kronor from Vinnova under the Impact Innovation program Swedish Metals & Minerals. The project’s reference number at Vinnova is 2025-01299.

The ongoing societal transformation in northern Sweden is creating new opportunities, but also a need to develop attractive, inclusive, and sustainable communities where people want to live, work, and stay. The Culture and Society Fund (KOSA) brings together stakeholders from the business community, the public sector, the cultural sector, civil society, and academia to explore how culture can be given a more long-term and strategic role in this societal transition.

The project’s overarching goal is to develop and test in practice a model in which resources from the business sector can be reinvested in culture and community development. The model is intended to create the conditions for long-term investments in culture-driven initiatives while also contributing to social sustainability, inclusion, regional attractiveness, and the supply of skilled labour.

KOSA is based on the premise that culture can contribute to living environments, gathering places, community, and a sense of belonging. Through new forms of collaboration between the cultural sector, the business community, civil society, and public organisations, the project aims to develop solutions that create mutual value and strengthen Norrbotten’s long-term development.

Implementation

The project involves developing the fund’s organisational structure, funding model, and forms of collaboration. Various approaches are being tested through calls for proposals, workshops, dialogues, cultural case studies, and collaborations among participating stakeholders. Five pilot projects in fields such as dance, film, and music will provide practical experience on how culture-driven initiatives can be funded and implemented.

The project also includes the development of a long-term structure and a consortium that will be able to continue operating the fund after the project period ends. The work involves analysis, learning, impact assessment, communication, and capacity-building support.

The project is led by the City of Luleå and involves a broad range of stakeholders from industry, the public sector, the cultural sector, civil society, and academia. Among the participating stakeholders are SSAB, LKAB, the City of Kiruna, Dansinitiativet, BD Pop, Filmpool Nord, Ebeneser, and Luleå University of Technology.

Luleå University of Technology’s Contribution

Luleå University of Technology’s contribution is carried out within the research field of work science. Eugenia Segerstedt and Klara Rydström serve as knowledge support for the project and help ensure that the project’s development work is grounded in knowledge of social innovation, organizational learning, and cross-sectoral collaboration.

Luleå University of Technology’s contribution is specifically focused on:

• support the project’s knowledge-based learning and reflection
• contribute knowledge about social innovation and socially oriented change work
• support the development of forms and methods for cross-sectoral collaboration
• help ensure that lessons learned from the project’s activities, cultural cases, and collaboration processes are capitalized upon
• support the analysis of how different actors create a shared understanding, organise collaboration, and develop long-term structures together
• help ensure that the project’s lessons learned can be documented, communicated, and utilized in ongoing development efforts.

Through this knowledge support, the researchers help highlight the organisational and relational conditions required when stakeholders with different mandates, resources, and perspectives collaborate on social innovation. Luleå University of Technology thereby strengthens the project’s ability to move from individual activities and pilot initiatives to more long-term and transferable working methods.

The project has a clear connection to human work science research on the interaction between people, organisations, technology, and society, as well as on the consequences, problems, and opportunities that arise in change processes.

Project Management

Project Owner and Coordinator: Luleå Municipality.

Project Manager: Hanna Isaksson, Luleå Municipality.

Read more

• About KOSA and the fund’s purpose
• KOSA in Vinnova’s project database
• Luleå Municipality’s presentation of the project