Malmö - Sweden’s first Fairtrade City
Population: 286, 500
Declaration date: 17th May 2006
www.malmo.se

Through cooperation with the City of Malmö the Swedish national Fairtrade initiative, Rättvisemärkt, launched their Fairtrade City campaign by making Malmö Sweden’s first Fairtrade City in 2006. At that time there was a growing interest in fair trade in Malmö; a local World Shop had just opened, the Red Cross Youth organized information campaigns and there was an interest to work on fair trade within the municipality.

The Fairtrade City campaign is run by a steering group made up of representatives from the municipality (the deputy Major, employees from the procurement division and the environment department, including one full time coordinator), representatives from the city businesses (including the “Malmö City co-operation”, a company that represents all shops, house owners and restaurants and cafés in the city centre), a representative from the local world shop and a journalist. The chairperson is appointed by the city council. Other people and organisations also work for the campaign e.g. the “ambassadors for Fairtrade”. Starting in 2008 the municipality of Malmö now gives 1 million SEK (about 100, 000 Euros) per year to finance the Fairtrade City coordinator, information campaigns and events etc.

There has been a lot of media interest in Malmö as a Fairtrade City from the press, radio and TV. Workplaces using Fairtrade products can register on the website and get a diploma to show they are part of the campaign and this has been advertised in the local press. In December 2007 there was a cinema advertisement that promoted the campaign, with the message “think before you shop”. When a new football stadium was built in 2009 the group was contacted to say that they were using Fairtrade coffee and sugar in the bars. This was promoted on the stadium’s website along with the Malmö Fairtrade City campaign. In 2009 the first Fairtrade School pilot scheme was launched in Malmö aimed at 9 – 12 year olds.

Events past, present and future:
•    ”Fairtrade afternoon coffee” is a one week campaign when 11 central cafes have a special offer with Fairtrade Coffee and a piece of Fairtrade Chocolate from Malmö Fairtrade City.
•    Fair Trade Festival held on World Fair Trade Day each year, with a market, café and events such as “unfair football” or “fair fashion show” and music performances.
•    A sustainable Christmas market in December 2008 had about 14, 000 visitors over 2 days, and a lot of media coverage.  This will be repeated!
•    Information and education meetings about Fairtrade within the municipality of the City, to involve as many employees as possible, and encourage them to choose Fairtrade in their work places.
•    In summer 2009 the football, handball, volleyball and basketball youth cup will use Fairtrade hand- and footballs.
•    In October 2009 Malmö will host the Swedish Fair Trade Forum, a two days event with exhibitions, market and seminars about fair trade.

Top Tips
•    Cooperation! Try and find interested partners from all sectors and get them involved in the campaign.
•    If possible, make something “big” happen in the city, for example a festival, market or fashion show. Even if only a few people attend the event the first time,  you will reach many more people through media coverage!
•    Good media coverage is the key to success! Make sure you let local media know what you are doing and send press releases about your reports, statistics, latest events and activities.
•    Involve the municipality, get explicit support for the campaign from a top politician in the city; this will make your work a lot easier. Find interested employees in the municipality who can do some work for the campaign as part of their work (for example someone who works with Agenda 21, environment strategy or procurement) and preferably involve them in the steering group. Maybe they can also find a budget for the campaign or for some events. Funding for a paid coordinator opens up a lot of new possibilities - but it is possible to do a lot without paid support. Malmö ran the campaign for two years before getting a coordinator!
•    Don’t try to do everything at once… In the Malmö steering group there are plenty of good ideas, but not enough resources to make everything happen at once. To avoid frustration choose one or a few projects to start with and keep other ideas in a “bank”.