“You cannot make business as usual on a planet that is dying”
Linnea Skoog, Finalist in Grön Utopi 2023
The final of the second edition of Grön Utopi took place at Europahuset in Stockholm on the 13th of June 2023.
After a long selection process, the number of entries finally boiled down to two finalists: Carolina Liungman & Linnea Skoog from LE Sustainability at Lund University who received their prize certificates from France’s Ambassador to Sweden, H.E. Étienne de Gonneville.
With the support of the Institut français de Suède, the Lund University students organized a clothes-swapping event in May, to spread awareness of unsustainable practices in the textile industry and promote the reuse of garments amongst students at Lund University. Discussions during this event led up to several proposals for a more sustainable Europe based on the UN SDG:s 12 and 13, that Linnea Skoog and Carolina Liungman respectively presented.
The proposals submitted were focused on advancing responsible consumption, production, and climate action through a more sustainable textile industry. Please find their proposals in full here.
During the final, some of the proposals debated were:
- An EU label that is following EU laws in the same style as organic food labels
- Warning signs about the number of emissions or water used to produce the garment on the tag on the inside of clothes (similar concept as pictures on cigarette packaging)
- A bonus system based on the 3 R’s: reuse, repair and recycle, instead of buying new clothes
The jury was composed of Cecilia Thorfinn, Team Leader Communications at the Representation of the European Commission in Sweden, and Dr. Emma Engström, researcher at KTH and the Institute of Future Studies.
The finalists’ winning proposal was production and business: focusing on investing in R&D in recycling of clothes through for instance training programs across the EU, a bonus system, and responsibility for clothes not sold through cooperation of reusing and recycling.
The winning proposal will be presented at the European Parliament during the finalists’ study trip to Strasbourg, where they will meet representatives of the EU institutions. Stay tuned for more updates on their trip!
We thank the European Commission’s Representation in Sweden and Europahuset for the great cooperation, the jury members, and the finalists!
Were you not able to participate in this year’s edition? No worries – Grön Utopi will be back again next year!