Sweden unveils ‘flatpack’ climate action toolkit

A Swedish-developed “flat-packed” framework is aiming to help cities accelerate climate action by tackling the internal friction that often prevents projects moving from ambition to implementation.

Developed through action research with 10 Swedish cities, the Actionable Consensus Framework (ACF) is designed as a practical toolkit that municipal leaders can use to improve coordination across departments and unlock stalled decision-making without creating new governance structures or relying on external consultants. The framework has been officially launched.

“We call it a ‘flat-packed’ approach to urban action,” Per Grankvist (pictured), City Consensus Builder at Viable Cities, Sweden’s climate-neutral cities innovation programme, told Cities Today. “Much like an IKEA kit, it’s a DIY guide that allows city leaders to build actionable consensus across departments in hours, not months–without the need for expensive external consultants.”

According to Grankvist, the pilot projects found that the main obstacle preventing climate ambitions from becoming reality was not a lack of knowledge or political will, but the internal friction inside municipal organisations.

“The core lesson learned from the pilot cities is that the primary obstacle preventing climate ambitions from turning into action is internal friction within city administrations, rather than a lack of knowledge or deep ideological disagreement,” he said.

The research identified three recurring problem areas: formalities, structures and relationships. Mandates frequently overlap, budgets are constrained and projects often require several internal champions to survive competing priorities and approval processes.

“Every idea needs several champions to become real,” said Grankvist. “Without them, good intentions quietly die in inboxes and to-do lists.”

The framework also found that departments often operate in silos with different KPIs and objectives, while many municipal decisions depend heavily on informal relationships and trust between individuals.

“A municipality is not an automated conveyor belt,” Grankvist said. “Before an idea becomes reality, it passes through many hands. Outcomes are often shaped more by informal ties and unspoken trust than by flowcharts and organigrams.”

According to the research, these challenges are especially acute in medium-sized cities, which are often too large for informal coordination but too small to have dedicated integration structures.

“Medium-sized cities sit in an awkward middle ground,” said Grankvist. “They are too big to rely on the informal coordination that often works in small towns…but they are also too small to have the kind of full-blown integration machinery…that larger cities can build.”

Rather than introducing a new governance system, the ACF uses ready-made scripts, templates and workshop formats to help small groups of decision-makers identify deadlocks and agree on concrete next steps.

“The result is not another vision, but a short list of agreed actions with clear owners and deadlines,” he said. “Today, cities often rely on informal networks and individual champions to move things forward. That works–until it doesn’t,” he said. “Without a structured way to tackle internal friction, progress depends too much on the right people knowing each other at the right time.”