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DANIR 2023 | Christin & Dan Olofsson 14
“ Every person has an environment where they
see needs of some kind, and that’s where you
can do something.”
“We live here in Malmö, which has a large immi- “It was a vibrant village in the ’50s when I was
grant population. And Sweden is extremely bad at growing up, but the population has decreased year
integrating immigrants into the labour market. It can by year,” says Dan about this all-too-common prob-
sometimes take ten years for an immigrant to get lem around the Swedish countryside. “And in 2019,
a job, as opposed to six months to a year in many the politicians announced that the school would
other countries,” Dan says about Swedish inability to be closed. And if the school closes, no new young
get immigrants into employment. families move in, and then the gas station closes
down, the grocery store closes down, and the village
“So, we started something called Uppstart Malmö ultimately dies. There are numerous examples of this
12 years ago, and 4,000 people have found work in the inland of north of Sweden. And it’s a bit tragic.”
through that initiative,” says Dan about their suc-
cessful labour market initiative in their hometown. They wanted to see if the negative trend could be
An initiative in which several local entrepreneurs reversed by getting young families with children to
have joined forces to make the labour market acces- choose to live in this fantastic, scenic area again. And
sible to more people. that’s when Project Kaxås was started. An initiative
that is based on two parts: the fantastic drive of com-
ONCE AGAIN, CHILDREN'S PLAY IS HEARD mitted villagers and the construction project that has
ON THE SLOPES OF KAXÅS built 29 new houses on the hill above the village.
And to get even more local, our conversation turns
to the initiative that gave new life to a depopulated In addition, a number of abandoned farms and
area in Jämtland. In Krokom Municipality is the houses have been put up for sale. Farms that no one
village of Kaxås, where Dan’s parents grew up and had any hope of ever being able to sell. Unlike many
where he has visited every year since childhood. other housing projects, potential buyers have been
able to visit the village with their families, where
they can get a feel for the atmosphere and deter-
mine whether living there would suit them.
The project has been a resounding success, and
Kaxås has gone from 100 inhabitants in 2019 to 260
today. The village is once again teeming with life;
children playing can be heard again across the area
and the preschool will be expanded.
“There are many committed people living on-site
who have gotten involved and who are running it,
and they have done a fantastic job,” says Dan. “Some
fifty new families – around 80% of whom don’t come
from the local region – have moved there and now
have a fantastic environment for their children.”
The project has successfully presented a lifestyle
concept including a skiing club, nature, fishing,
