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Our involvement | DANIR 2021
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With a passion for life
close to nature.
Bert-Ola Bångman, Projekt Kaxås.
Bert-Ola Bångman has the great privilege of being of a project that would reverse the trend and make
able to divide his time between his job as Key young families with children want to move to Kaxås.
Account Manager at Nexer Group and working with Since Bert-Ola is passionate about his hometown and
his hometown, breathing life back into a village that enjoys challenges, his answer came as no surprise.
was about to die out. Bert-Ola was born and raised in Just like that, Projekt Kaxås was launched.
Kaxås, 60 km northwest of Östersund. Throughout – We were quite convinced of the potential of our
his upbringing, his parents ran the village petrol concept. But the fact that so many new people are
station, a gathering point where you could buy moving here now – we had no idea it would be such
everything from penny candy to spare parts for cars, a success story, says Bert-Ola about Projekt Kaxås,
tractors and snowmobiles. The village was vibrant which has doubled the number of inhabitants in the
and flourishing, and the school had operated village since its inception.
continuously since the late 19th century.
Of the 32 newly built houses in Kaxåsbacken,
Bert-Ola moved from Kaxås to study at Mid 27 have now been sold. That means 129 new inhabit-
Sweden University in Östersund, graduating in 1990 ants, 51 of whom are children.
with a degree in Systems Sciences. He started his – It’s incredibly exciting to be involved in bringing a
career at a bank in Stockholm before continuing on to depopulated area back to life and setting things up
a consulting company. Then, in 1996 he was contacted so that young families can feel secure in being able to
by Dan Olofsson, who asked if he wanted to help choose an active life close to nature that also meshes
start up Sigma IT in Stockholm. Bert-Ola jumped with work and school, says Bert-Ola.
at the chance and ended up spending 18 intense
years in the capital of Sweden. But his longing for The people who are involved in the project take
tranquillity, nature, mountains, the countryside and care of everyone interested, if and when they want
fresh mountain air became too strong, and in 2008 to come up and visit the village and get acquainted
Bert-Ola and his family moved north, back to his with all the benefits it can offer today. Not only is
roots in Kaxås. the school filled with children once again, but the
village also has cafes, paddle courts, a bakehouse, a
Kaxås is an absolute idyll for a family with children world-class ski resorts, and a dental clinic initiated
who like nature and active leisure activities. But like by the project. Projekt Kaxås has a goal to build
many other villages in the countryside, Kaxås had ten new houses per year up until 2024, giving even
been hit hard by depopulation. It went so far that the more people the opportunity to live and work with a
school was threatened with closure in 2019. superior quality of life close to nature.
– It wasn’t the time to just lie down and give up; – I can see how other villages in rural areas through-
something had to be done, says Bert-Ola about the out Sweden could follow our concept for fostering a
situation in Kaxås at the time. vibrant countryside, Bert-Ola concludes when asked
how others can benefit from the experiences of
Dan Olofsson, who also has roots in Kaxås, called Projekt Kaxås.
again and asked Bert-Ola if he wanted to be part
