Lund University is one of Scandinavia's largest research universities. Photo: Håkan Dahlström (CC BY)

The transformation from barren agricultural field to state-of-the-art international center for scientific research is under way on the outskirts of Lund in southern Sweden.

Much of the research conducted at the two particle accelerators planned for the site will be in the environmental field, and result in benefits such as eco-friendly materials and more fuel-efficient engines.

But in a world first, both facilities will use their waste heat to warm homes in the area. And one of them, the European Spallation Source (ESS), will be powered by the wind and biomass and have zero net emissions of CO2.

Smashing atoms

The small university city of Lund, surrounded by farmland and – on a clear day – within sight of Malmö to the southwest, has long been an important center of science, both domestically and internationally. It is home to one of Scandinavia’s largest research universities, Lund University, hundreds of hi-tech start-ups at Ideon Science Park, and is part of one of Europe’s biggest life science clusters, Medicon Valley.

Ideon Science Park employs about 2,000 people within information technology, telecom, life science, cleantech and biotech.
Photo: Ideon Science Park

Due in part to its strong reputation within the sciences, Lund was chosen to host the EUR 1.4 billion (USD 1.79 billion) ESS facility in the face of tough international competition. Colin Carlile, ESS director-general, says: “This is the scientific equivalent of hosting the Olympics. Except that the Olympics last for a few weeks while a facility like this lasts for 40 years.”

ESS is essentially a giant microscope – a laboratory for understanding the way in which materials are put together and how they behave at the level of atoms and molecules. Built around a particle accelerator, ESS will be used to carry out experiments in a wide range of scientific fields, from climate to archaeology to computer simulation.

The European Spallation Source is essentially a giant microscope.
Photo: ESS AB
 
Accelerating particles up to almost the speed of light requires vast amounts of energy, and when plans for ESS were first announced the facility was going to require more energy than the city of Lund itself (population 76,000). But thanks to changes to the design of the accelerator and its cooling system, ESS will now require less than half that amount.

Wind and waste power

Apart from being the most energy-efficient scientific facility of its kind in the world, the 250GWh of electricity that ESS will still require will come from renewable sources. ESS energy manager Thomas Parker says: “We felt that this was important for the legitimacy of this facility in a country like Sweden, where people care a lot about energy use and the environment.” Wind turbines and power plants fuelled by biomass will be built which will generate each year the same amount of electricity as ESS consumes.

The energy used by ESS will come from renewable sources such as wind power. Photo: Bob West (CC BY NC SA)

When it comes to the heat that is generated in the facility, it will be used to warm homes in the area, and perhaps beyond. “Sweden is unique in having district heating systems in just about every city, and these often use waste heat from industry,” Parker says. “Facilities like ESS usually have cooling towers or use a body of water such as a river to get rid of the excess heat, but we calculate that we will be able to heat 10,000 homes instead.”

Using 100 per cent renewable energy means that operating ESS will not generate carbon emissions. “But building ESS will create emissions because there are huge amounts of concrete and steel, and then we have the CO2 generated by the staff’s travel,” Parker says. “But even if you put these together, the CO2 savings from the recycled heating are much, much larger. So if we do this right, we are actually a good deal better than carbon neutral. ESS will be a carbon sink.”

Beyond imagination

Next to the ESS site, construction work is already under way on the MAX IV synchrotron light source, which is a different kind of particle accelerator. Jesper Andersen, the facility’s science director, says: “A synchrotron light source is a source of X-rays which we use for doing experiments on matter.”

When completed in 2015, MAX IV will be the top facility of its kind in the world, and will be 100 times more efficient than any comparable facility. “This will be the best facility of its kind ever built,” Andersen says. “It is very close to the theoretical limit where you simply cannot build it better.”

Photo: Gunnar Menander

MAX IV will, like ESS, recycle its excess heat into the district heating system, but its main environmental benefit will be the research done there. “Synchrotron radiation is a very versatile tool and there are many different things we can look at,” Andersen says.

One could be examining in minute detail what happens on the surface of a car’s catalytic converter. “If we can understand what happens there, then catalytic converters could be made more efficient and more effective,” he says. MAX IV’s research could also yield the alternatives to platinum that will be needed if the zero-carbon hydrogen society is to be realized. “However, the most important research is likely to be something we can’t even imagine today,” Andersen says. “That is the nature of frontline research.”

Scientific Mecca

Thanks to its university and the companies that have spun off from research there, Lund is already a leading science city. But the feeling is that the best is yet to come. "With the two premier sources for X-rays and neutrons, it is clear that for material science and life science, Lund will be the place to go," Andersen says.

Electron detectors for the focal-plane array. Plastic scintillators are used to convert the energy deposited by the electrons to a flash of light. Each of the electron detectors has been polished and assembled by hand, then wrapped in aluminized mylar to better contain the individual flashes of light. Photo: Gunnar Menander

Poet Tomas Tranströmer receives the Nobel Prize in Literature from King Carl Gustaf. Photo: Anders Wiklund/Scanpix

I lean like a ladder and with my face
reach into the second floor of the cherry tree.
I'm inside the bell of colors, it chimes with sunlight.
I polish off the swarthy red berries faster than four magpies.

(excerpt from “Winter’s Gaze” in Tomas Tranströmer's The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems, 2006, transl. by Robin Fulton, New Directions Books). 

What better way to begin a summary of Sweden in 2011 than with a poem by Tomas Tranströmer. Known for his condensed imagery, lack of pretension and remarkable precision, Tranströmer is one of few contemporary Swedish writers to have influenced world literature.

When presented with his Nobel Prize by King Carl Gustaf, he was given the longest round of applause of all the laureates — naturally, perhaps, since he was on home ground. Tranströmer is the eighth Swede to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

A controversial choice? Not necessarily, although a number of experts have wondered why little Sweden has managed to acquire so many literature prizes. It’s likely to be some time, however, before another Swede gets the award. 

Swedish actors Ola Rapace, Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist all landed Hollywood roles in 2011. Photos, from left to right: Erik Mårtensson/Scanpix, Lars Lindqvist/ DN/Scanpix and Jessica Gow/Scanpix

Millennium paves the way in Hollywood

Let’s stay with literature, albeit of the more mainstream variety. Hollywood was so thrilled by author Stieg Larsson’s posthumous Millennium success that it brought in David Fincher to direct an English-language version of the trilogy’s first installment.

The US version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo arrived in cinemas in December. During the year, stars Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara had lent luster both to the cobblestone backstreets of Stockholm’s Södermalm district and to small mill towns in the north.

The result was not only a momentous chapter in the history of the Swedish film industry — which was responsible for much of the groundwork — but also a critically acclaimed screen version of one of the greatest triumphs in Swedish literary history. And in a truly international cast, Sweden’s very own Hollywood star Stellan Skarsgård shines in the role of Martin Vanger.

Hollywood’s relationship with Sweden deepened during the year. Sweden can now boast an array of actor exports to the Dream Factory. Noomi Rapace, Alexander Skarsgård (yes, the son of Stellan) and Michael Nyqvist all made their mark there in 2011.

Rapace, who played Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish Millennium trilogy, got off to a flying start with Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The film grossed USD 39 million during its opening weekend in the US in December, topping the box office lists.

2012 promises even bigger things for Rapace as she will headline Ridley Scott’s space thriller Prometheus later this year. To some, she seems destined for true Hollywood stardom — Time Magazine has already labeled her the Greta Garbo of our age. Her ex-husband Ola Rapace will shortly be seen in the upcoming Bond film Skyfall.

Mikael Nyqvist, the male lead in the Swedish Millennium films, got to play the villain against Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible — Ghost Protocol, while Alexander Skarsgård continues to set young hearts alight in television series True Blood.

But it is not only Swedish actors that are making their mark around the world. Tomas Alfredson, following up his directorial success Let the Right One In, made his international debut with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a stylized nail-biter from the Cold War era based on John le Carré’s novel of the same name. The film stars Gary Oldman and Colin Firth. 

Swedish House Mafia — even bigger abroad than at home. The DJ trio are the first Swedish act to sell out the Madison Square Garden in New York City. Photo: AP Childs/Scanpix

American dreams in music

In music, electropop queen Robyn continued to charm the world, the US not the least. She toured with Katy Perry, featured on the cover of the American edition of Elle, and has been nominated in two categories for the 2012 Grammys. Now we await her next album.

In December, Swedish House Mafia did what no other Swedish act had done before, counting ABBA and Roxette; they sold out the Madison Square Garden in New York City on their own. The DJ trio — Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso — turned in an high-octane two-hour set that had nearly every person dancing in 20,000-seat arena.

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel are expecting their first child in March. Photo: Albert Nieboer/Scanpix

A Royal baby, politicians and a car maker

Back home, it was also an eventful year for Sweden, not least in the Royal Family. To the delight of court reporters, Crown Princess Victoria announced that she and her husband, Prince Daniel, are to have a child in March this year. A historic event, since Victoria is in line to become the first female regent in the house of Bernadotte.

There was financial turbulence in Europe, but the Swedish coalition government weathered the storm comparatively well. In the fall, the Financial Times named the Moderate Party’s Anders Borg European finance minister of the year.

It was a tougher year for the Social Democrats, the largest opposition party which elected a new leader in the spring, Håkan Juholt. During the fall, controversy surrounded Juholt as an investigation into his accommodation reimbursements was launched. The prosecutors later dropped the investigation and Juholt was cleared of any legal wrongdoing, but in December nevertheless the party recorded their lowest ever figures in opinion polls.

2011 also marked the 50th anniversary of the death of former UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld. In 1961, Hammarskjöld, acclaimed for his efforts to spread peace in the world, died in a plane crash in what is now Zambia.

Victor Müller's optimism could not save Saab, which was declared bankrupt in December. Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall/Scanpix

What about Saab? Taken over in 2010 by Victor Müller (the Dutch founder of Spyker Cars), the company has since been torn between hope and despair. This once-prestigious brand in the Swedish car-making industry had a turbulent year, with failed reconstruction efforts, hungry Chinese buyers with bulging pockets, and an uncompromising General Motors that kept blocking bids.

In December even the incurably optimistic Müller seemed to have thrown in the towel as Saab was declared bankrupt.

The Swedish national team made it into their fourth consecutive Europan Championship by beating the Netherlands in their final qualifying match. Photo: Pontus Lundahl/Scanpix  

Sporting success and Zlatan

Finally, a few words about Swedish sporting success. In October, the national soccer team only just made it into the Euro 2012 finals, beating the Netherlands 3-2 in their last qualifying game — without their star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was suspended for the match.

The AC Milan striker is no doubt Sweden’s best player, but after the Netherlands game the Swedish media fuelled a debate about whether the side actually performs better without him. Since his debut, Sweden have a 100 percent record in European qualifiers when Ibrahimovic has been absent, but only a 55 percent success rate when he has played.

Ibrahimovic, in true fashion of a real sports star, published his autobiography at the tender age of 30. Its numerous revelations included details of his schism with coach Pep Guardiola during his Barcelona stint, and the publishers, one of the largest in Sweden, declared it to be among the fastest-selling works in their history.

And so people who had never before picked up a sports book began to read, Zlatan grew even richer — and the question of what was to be the Christmas present of the year in Sweden was settled.

EST (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) were Europe's most popular and arguably most influential jazz act of this century. At the height of their success, the Swedish band were selling out concert halls worldwide — a rare feat in jazz. The Times proclaimed EST's Live in Hamburg (2007) the most important jazz album of the last decade.

On 14 June, 2008, pianist and leader Svensson died in a scuba diving accident near Stockholm. His passing marked the end of the band.

After long hiatuses, both Dan Berglund (bass) and Magnus Öström (drums) have returned to making music. Sweden.se met with the two musicians to talk about life in music after EST.

Tomas Tranströmer — Sweden's eighth Literature Laureate, but the first since 1974. Photo: Ulla Montan

As a people, Swedes are unusually keen on poetry. We have a powerful relationship with our old poets through songs, ballads and hymns, and new poetry is regularly reviewed in the arts pages of newspapers.

When the Swedish Academy awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize for Literature to Tomas Tranströmer, therefore, it was little wonder that people cheered all over Sweden. Not just professional literary experts. In one of the Swedish daily papers, soccer player Henrik Rydström, a midfielder with top Swedish team Kalmar, wrote that Tranströmer almost always manages to evoke such clear and natural poetic images that you immediately think, “That’s it, exactly!”

Okay. Let’s not exaggerate the Swedes’ love of poetry. It is and always will be a fairly exclusive art form. But for anyone interested in starting to read poetry, Tomas Tranströmer is an unusually generous and welcoming bard.

Here is why you should read Tranströmer:

1. Swedish nature

In Tomas Tranströmer’s work, the Swedish countryside is a natural forum. Here we find the lakes, the rivers, the forests, the Swedish archipelago. As a poet, he moves unusually quietly and attentively through the landscape and follows the changing seasons and the shifts in the weather. Few Swedish poets have captured the balm of the brief, intensive Nordic spring with such delightful precision.

2. The sun

The sun is often visible in Tranströmer’s poetry. Darkness and night may seem more common, but if you look carefully the yellow sun is shining there over people’s lives. His sun is warm and benevolent, but sometimes frightening as well; it burns, glows and shines. "I don’t write about God, I write about the sun", Tranströmer once said.

Swedish nature — central to Tranströmer´s poetry. Photo: Per-Erik Tell/imagebank.sweden.se  

3. The dreams

Most of us would claim to undergo our most memorable experiences while awake. Tranströmer would not agree. For him, what goes on in the world of dreams is at least as rich and important. As early as 1954, he began his first book with the now-legendary Tranströmer line: "Waking up is a parachute jump from dreams". He turns matters upside down so that we jump from the dream, which seems a superior place, down into waking life! Over the years, he weaves his experience of dreams into all his collections of poems.

4. The Swedish Model

Tomas Tranströmer’s work coincides in time with the Swedish welfare model. Many are the poems in which he travels by car through the lonely villages and brightly lit towns of the Swedish landscape. On these travels, he also passes institutions and government agencies that he finds rigid and hostile to life. Tranströmer delivers his testimony from the years just prior to the privatization of Swedish society, for better or worse.

5. The world

His poetry gives a powerful sense of what it feels like to contemplate the world from a small country in Northern Europe, especially during the Cold War. In the 1960s and 1970s, relations with the Soviet Union were a sensitive matter, in both the political arena and the literary. Tomas Tranströmer was one of the few poets who wrote about the people kept under surveillance and wiretapped in our neighboring countries across the Baltic.

6. Close perception 

In his small book of prose, The Memories See Me (1993), Tomas Tranströmer describes how at the age of five or six he was separated from his mother in the crowds at a downtown Stockholm square, Hötorget. Frightened and worried, the boy sets off alone on the long walk to the part of town where he lives. He passes house-fronts, street crossings, grown-ups. The heightened perception this experience gave him seems reflected throughout his work as a poet.

7. The music

"After a black day/I play Haydn and feel a little warmth in my hands", he writes in his poem "Allegro". Music is everywhere in his writing. He listens to Schubert, Grieg and Liszt, and draws on music for poem titles. Throughout Tranströmer’s poetry, music is a parallel language, more merciful than words.

8. Visions

In the most commonplace situations, Tranströmer’s poetic ego may suddenly have a vision, an epiphany. In mid-step whilst wandering down a mundane city street, he experiences a wonderful sense of existential meaning and ambience. Such revelations have become one of the most distinctive features of his poetry. And he evokes the same sense of wonder in the reader.

9. Death

In Tranströmer’s work, death is often stealthy and unpleasant. We human beings live out our lives while death bides its time. As in the poem "Black Postcard", where he writes: "In the middle of life, death comes/ to take your measurements. The visit/ is forgotten and life goes on. But the suit/ is being sewn on the sly".

10. The Nobel Prize

Tomas Tranströmer has been translated into 60 languages. It is no secret that previous Nobel laureates, such as the Irish poet Seamus Heaney, the St. Lucian Derek Walcott and the Russian-American Joseph Brodsky have all argued that he should be given the award. All have testified to the power and inspiration of his poetry. Tomas Tranströmer may have been born in the small country of Sweden but he is a great poet on the world stage.

King Carl XVI Gustaf at the Stockholm Concert Hall, handing out Nobel medal and diploma. Queen Silva, Prince Carl Philip, Prince Daniel and Crown Princess Victoria look on. Photo: Dan Hansson/SvD/SCANPIX

Watched by millions on television, and with all its elegant pomp and pageantry, the Nobel ceremony could easily be mistaken for a royal wedding.

Except instead of royals exchanging nuptials, the guests of honor are leading scientists, professors, and writers who’ve traded lab coats and offices for tuxedos and ballroom gowns.

Here are 11 Nobel things to keep you up-to-speed about the big day.

1. The story of the Nobel Prize, plus a few numbers

Named after the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) who made his fortune by inventing dynamite, the Nobel Prize has been awarded since 1901 to individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace.

In 1968, an additional prize for economic sciences was added by the Swedish Riksbank. The prizes are awarded in Stockholm, with the exception of Peace, which is awarded in Oslo, Norway.

Alfred Nobel, who had no children, signed his will in 1895, little over a year before he died. His wishes were for his estate to be turned into a fund to be given out as prizes to people paving the way in select academic fields.

Sweden and Norway were still in union at the time of Alfred Nobel’s will, and exactly why Nobel wanted the Peace Prize in particular to be awarded by a Norwegian committee remains unclear.

Nobel Day — when the laureates are officially presented with their prizes and enjoy a lavish banquet in their honor — is always on December 10, the date of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.

However, some Nobel-related festivities begin as early as December 5, when the laureates start arriving in Stockholm, and they conclude with an invitational dinner at the Royal Palace on December 11. Between these two dates there are lectures, more dinners, and receptions organized by embassies and hosting institutions.

Each Nobel Prize is currently worth SEK 10 million.

For more information:
Alfred Nobel: The Man behind the Prize
Alfred Nobel Timeline

2. The King's speech 

Not a mass viewing of the Oscar-winning movie, but an actual speech — more like a few words — given by Sweden’s monarch Carl XVI Gustaf.

King Carl XVI Gustaf is tasked with handing each of the laureates their awards, which includes a diploma and medal to acknowledge their achievements in their respective fields. At some point during the festivities, he will give a toast in Alfred Nobel’s memory.

It’s important to note though, that the opening address is usually given by the Chairman of the Board of the Nobel Foundation, Marcus Storch.

For more information:
Opening Addresses at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony   

1,300 guests are fitted into Stockholm City Hall for the Nobel Banquet. Photo: Fredrika Berghult/Nobel Media AB

3. Venues for the ceremony and banquet

Since 1926, the prize award ceremony has been held at the Stockholm Concert Hall. It is here that King Carl XVI Gustaf hands each laureate their diploma and medal. The celebration then moves to Stockholm City Hall, where a banquet awaits 1,300 guests, 250 of whom are students from various Swedish universities.

The Nobel banquet has been held at City Hall since 1934. It was held at the Grand Hotel’s Hall of Mirrors for its first 29 years before being transferred to City Hall’s Golden Hall to accommodate a longer guest list. In 1974, the banquet was moved to the Blue Hall, which is the banquet’s venue today.

For more information:
The Nobel Banquets — A Century of Culinary History  

4. The Who’s Who of Swedish government and society

The Nobel ceremony and the banquet are among the few events in Sweden that usually bring out the entire Royal Family — King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silva, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip, and Princess Madeleine — as special guests of honor.

In addition to the celebrated laureates, who each get to invite 16 personal guests, notable appearances are made by representatives of the Swedish government and parliament, including the prime minister.

Other guests include foreign dignitaries from the sciences, arts, culture, and other branches of academia, as well as patrons and other Nobel Foundation staff and supporters.

Princess Madeleine will not be present this year — she's expected at The New York Academy of Sciences, which is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Marie Curie’s second Nobel Prize.

Poet Tomas Tranströmer on the day of the Literature Prize announcement. Photo: Dan Hansson/SvD/Scanpix

5. Literature Laureate Tomas Tranströmer

I have to admit I knew absolutely nothing about Tomas Tranströmer and I suspect I wasn’t the only one to quickly google his name when he was announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in October.

According to a poll on the official Nobel website, 88 percent of site visitors had never read his poetry, yet the 80-year-old’s works have been translated into more than 60 languages.

You'll find a good introduction to his poetry here.

In the early 1990's, Tranströmer suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak. At the press conference held after the announcement, his wife Monica answered questions on his behalf.  

Tranströmer is the eighth Literature Laureate from Sweden but the first since Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson shared the award in 1974. In 1909, Selma Lagerlöf became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Awarding the Literature Prize hasn’t come without controversy. Both Johnson and Martinson happened to also be on the Nobel panel, and many still question why children’s author Astrid Lindgren never won a Nobel Prize for her impressive body of work, including the Pippi Longstocking series.

For more information:
Nobel Prize Winner Tranströmer: Poetry, Music and Nature
Tomas Tranströmer: Ten things you never knew about the poet you never knew
Swedish Nobel Prize Winners
2011 Nobel Prize in Literature  

The Nobel Banquet — meticulously planned down to the smallest detail. Photo: Fredrika Berghult/Nobel Media AB

6. A culinary spread fit for royalty

Duck galantine with pickled vegetables and spicy jelly; fried truffled turbot with winter salad, chanterelles and truffled oxtail gravy were what last year’s 1,300 lucky guests had the pleasure of dining on — all topped off with dessert of milk chocolate and orange Bavarian cream flavored with Gammeldansk bitter and orange salad.

Starting in September, three menus submitted by internationally-renowned chefs are presented to the Nobel Foundation for taste testing and selection, and the final menu is kept secret and only revealed at the banquet. The Nobel Foundation has a list of banquet menus dating as far back as 1901 available on its website.

Each banquet has a cultural theme which is usually reflected in the interior decor of the hall as well as in the 9,422 delicately polished pieces of cutlery, 5,384 immaculate drinking glasses, 6,730 pieces of porcelain and plate settings, more than 23,000 flowers imported from Italy, and classical music from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Past themes have included “Nordic,” which focused on Scandinavian folk traditions.

For more information:
Menus at the Nobel Banquet
The Nobel Banquets: The First 100 Years

Of the 1,300 guests at the Nobel Banquet, 250 are students at Swedish universities. Photo: Fredrika Berghult/Nobel Media AB

 7. A very strict dress code

Sneakers and jeans are definitely not welcome. In fact, business casual attire would also be totally inappropriate.

For the prize award ceremony at the Concert Hall, guests are expected (well, required) to wear dark suits (for men) and dresses (for women).  For the banquet at City Hall, the dress code is strictly formal. White ties, tuxedos, and tails for men, while women need to pull out their very best evening gowns.

The only exception to the rule is if you’d like to wear traditional dress representing your nationality. Even the latter must check with the organizing committee to make sure they consider it formal enough for the banquet.

For more information:
Dress code at the Nobel banquet

8. Lots of royal “bling” and a baby bump

Chances are, no matter how formally a guest dresses for the event, she probably won’t be able to pull out jewelry or “bling” more expensive than Sweden’s Queen Silvia’s.

For starters, Queen Silvia will be sporting an intricate crown of jewels worth a few million kronor. Almost as iconic as her crown will be her evening gown designed to sparkle and start out amidst 1,300 patrons. Interested in seeing what the Queen has worn every year since 1976? The Nobel Foundation has an online gallery of photos here.

Crown Princess Victoria will be sporting a baby bump beneath her evening gown — she and her husband, Prince Daniel, are expecting their first child in March.

For more information:
The Queen’s Gowns
The Local — Victoria pregnant

9. Impressive logistics at work

How does one keep a hall of 1,300 guests comfortable, served on time, and attended to while making it all look effortlessly synchronized?

According to the official Nobel site, the staff responsible for making the banquet run smoothly include a catering manager, a banqueting hall manager, one head chef, eight head waiters, 210 waiters and waitresses, five wine waiters, 20 cooks, and roughly 20 cleaning staff responsible for cleaning up and transportation.

Equally impressive as the number of logistical staff is the shopping list for the banquet’s 1,300 guests. Here is a sample shopping list from a past banquet published by the Nobel Foundation:

“2,692 pigeon breasts, 475 lobster tails, 100 kilos of potatoes, 70 liters of sweet and sour raspberry vinegar sauce, 67 kilos of Jerusalem artichokes, 53 kilos of Philadelphia cheese,  and 45 kilos of lightly smoked salmon.”

Needless to say, three days before the banquet, the kitchen is a beehive of activity with staff running on a very tight and fixed schedule.

The City Hall's "Golden Hall", where the Nobel Ball takes place. Photo: Fredrika Berghult/Nobel Media AB

10. The Nobel NightCap

After-parties such as Nobel NightCap extend the celebrations well into the night. The NightCap brings together students, guests from the official banquet, as well as some Nobel laureates in a more relaxed setting.

Founded in 1978, the idea for the Nobel NightCap was conceived by a student who felt that the official banquet at City Hall usually ended too early for such a prestigious event.

Today, the NightCap is organized by the four largest student unions in Stockholm — Stockholm University Student Union (SUS), THS at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), SASSE at Stockholm School of Economics, and Medicinska föreningen at Karolinska Institute (KI) — all of which alternate hosting responsibilities.

This year, NightCap is hosted by SUS.

11. Influx of international media outlets

Major TV networks like CNN and BBC are bound to have some Nobel-themed coverage leading up to the events, including on the main day itself.

The Nobel Foundation’s official website has a comprehensive archive of videos of past events dating as far back as 1929. Swedish public television SVT broadcasts the event — and nowadays, come December 10, they also live stream on the internet.

You can also follow the event live on Nobelprize.org where there will be real-time live coverage of lectures, prize ceremonies, press conferences, and other festivities during Nobel Week.

With the ever-growing popularity of social media outlets, you can follow the event live via Twitter on the official Nobel account @nobelprize_org, or follow the online conversation through the hashtag #nobelprize. You’ll also find Nobelprize.org on Facebook. Why not participate in the online discussion, while you’re at it?

For more information:
SVT 2011 Nobel Coverage
Videos from past Nobel ceremonies  

The Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis. Photo: Fredrik Broman/Imagebank.sweden.se

An advantage of Sweden’s geographical location in Scandinavia is its proximity to the Arctic Circle, the magnetic north pole, and higher latitudes — 65 to 72 degrees.

This polar proximity means a significant portion of the country lies within a zone (called the "auroral oval"), where solar particles collide with gases in the earth’s atmosphere to create colorful ribbons of light known as the Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis.

Usually red, green, or purple in color, they dance and unfold across the sky like curtains, lasting anywhere from a few minutes to several hours.

In Sweden, the Northern Lights usually occur during the winter months through late March or early April, but they can be spotted as early as September in the northernmost parts.

Your best chance of catching a glimpse of the Northern Lights is on cold winter nights when the sky is clear, dark with little to no moonlight, and cloudless. You need to be away from city lights, which dilute the effects of these natural phenomena, so head out into the countryside.

On clear nights, the Northern Lights can be visible from most locations in Swedish Lapland, occurring between 6 pm to and 2 am, with the strongest shows happening between 10 pm and 11 pm.

For those willing to brave the cold on winter nights, here are some of the best locations in Swedish Lapland for viewing these phenomena. Spend two or three days in one of the regions below, chances are high you'll catch the Northern Lights.

But remember — if you do get the chance to see the Northern Lights in person, never whistle to them. According to ancient Sámi mythology, it brings you bad luck... 

Abisko National Park

Abisko National Park, a couple of kilometers north of Kiruna, is a prime location for viewing the Northen Lights. The scientifically proven “blue hole” — a patch of sky over the Torneträsk lake that usually remains clear despite overcast weather in surrounding areas — gives Abisko its own micro-climate, which is suitable for catching the lights.

In addition to guided tours, back-country camping and trekking out into the park at night, travelers can also take a chair-lift up to the Aurora Sky Station and its lookout tower, which overlooks the park.

You can enjoy the Northen Lights from the comfort of your hotel room via a live webcam video feed, but nothing beats being there in person to see those lights dance across the sky.

For more information:
Abisko National Park 
Abisko Tourism
Aurora Sky Station

Jukkasjärvi and the Torne Valley

Not only does the village of Jukkasjärvi (population roughly 541) boast the world’s first ice hotel (rebuilt ever year from Torne River ice), it’s also one of the best regions to view the Northern Lights. ICEHOTEL organizes guided tours for guests which takes the to the Esrange Space Center located 30 minutes from Kiruna. You can dine at a wilderness camp and get the chance to scan the Arctic winter sky for aurora borealis.

Usually red, green or purple in color, the Northern Lights can last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. Photo: Fredrik Broms/Imagebank.sweden.se

The Tornedalen region (home to the Torne River), the areas around Lake Poustijärvi, and the neighboring villages of Nikkaluokta and Vittangi, are all ideal for viewing auroras. Several companies run night dog-sledding and snowmobile trips that take you through the surrounding wilderness for sky-watching.

For more information:
ICEHOTEL, official site 
ICEHOTEL — a frozen dream
Esrange Space Center
Spaceport Sweden — Northern Lights flights

Porjus and Laponia

Porjus is a tiny village of roughly 400 residents, located in Swedish Lapland some 60 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Laponia.

Porjus — close to national parks Sarek, Padeljant, Muddus, and Stora Sjöfallet —  is  located along the shores of the Stoma Lulevatten lake. Plenty of clear days under zero degrees Celsius and little light pollution from nearby houses makes Porjus a prime spot for viewing Northern Lights.

You can rent a private apartment or share one of several apartments located along the edge of the lake, providing front-row seating to for amazing light shows over the lake.

For more information:
Porjus Tourism 
Laponia, the great wilderness in Western Europe

Other regions in Swedish Lapland

As mentioned earlier, if weather conditions are just right (clear, dark, cold, and cloudless), you might catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights from any location within subarctic and arctic Sweden — even close to larger towns such as Luleå, Jokkmokk, Arvidsjaur, and Gällivare. You can find descriptions of various winter activities as well as links to local operators on each of their tourism sites listed below.

While in Luleå, you can head out into the surrounding Brandö forests and wilderness, far from bright artificial city lights to view the natural ones. Dog-sledding across frozen Lake Skabram just outside Jokkmokk might also put you in close contact with the Northern Lights.

You can drive a snowmobile to the mountaintop of Dundret in Gällivare for a private light show, or head a few kilometers to nearby villages around Arvidsjaur to watch those lights shimmer across the dark winter sky.

For more information:
Jokkmokk Tourist Information
Visit Luleå 
Gällivare
Arvidsjaur 

Ice swimming followed by a sauna can be lovely. Seriously though, try a few other winter past-timers in Sweden before you go all Viking. Photo: Helena Wahlman/Imagebank.sweden.se

When silky white snow coats Sweden’s vast landscapes — from its mountains and wilderness in the north to its southern region dotted with lakes — you get to experience a whole new rugged side of the country.

Traditionally, traveling to Scandinavia during winter usually brings less crowds, deeper hotel discounts, and cheaper airfare except during Christmas, New Year’s, and sportlov — when school kids get a one-week sports break in February.

So this makes winter a particularly good season to explore Sweden. In addition to avoiding larger crowds and enjoying more affordable deals on lodging and transportation between November and April, you also get to enjoy unique outdoor activities that are native to the subarctic and Arctic regions of Scandinavia such as dog sledding, moose and reindeer safaris, searching for the Northern Lights, and learning about indigenous Sámi history.

While winter provides opportunities to try a slew of adventure activities, for the less outdoorsy travelers, there are also many events — from Christmas markets and winter festivals to relaxing saunas — to enjoy all over the country.

Here are 10 reasons to consider spending your winter in Sweden, with links to additional resources to help you start planning your trip.

1. Ski in one of 200 resorts

Did you know that there are about 200 ski resorts in Sweden? From resorts around the popular ski village of Åre in central Sweden to ski facilities in Dalarna, Jämtland, Härjedalen as well as Swedish Lapland, there are hundreds of places where you can hit the slopes.

The Swedish slope, producer of quite a few alpine skiing world champions. Photo: Henrik Trygg/Imagebank.sweden.se

The most popular downhill skiing slopes can be found around Åre, which is 1.5 hours by plane from Stockholm (660 km). Åre hosted the Alpine World Championships in 2007, and provides a myriad of courses from off-piste slopes to easier downhill slopes and family-oriented bunny runs.

For more information:
Ski resorts
Skiing for everyone

2. Track wild reindeer and moose on safari

Safaris aren’t limited to tracking the “Big Five” in Africa. During winter, you can enjoy several safaris that take you through Lapland’s wilderness, forests, and tundra regions to find Sweden’s own “Big Six” — moose, wolverines, wolves, brown bears, lynxes, and musk oxen.

Enough photos! Alright, just the one, then. Photo: Fredrik Broman/Imagebank.sweden.se

Companies such as Kiruna i Norr offer safaris around Laukkuluspa, close to Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost city. On tour, you get to travel along the frozen Kalix River, keeping your eyes open for hoof prints and animal droppings while in search of various Arctic wildlife.

For more information:
Sweden’s "Big Six"

3. Sleep in hotels and igloos made of ice

For a long weekend, you can head up to Jukkasjärvi, close to Kiruna, to bed down in the world’s first ice hotel. Opened in 1990, the ICEHOTEL is rebuilt every year based on designs from various artists, using ice blocks made from water collected from the Torne River.

Sip chilled vodka (or fruit juice if you prefer) from frozen ice glasses served in the Absolut Ice Bar, take in elaborate sculptures carved from ice, or even get married in the Ice Chapel. The hotel also offers winter activities you can enjoy in the surrounding area.

Just about the coolest place you can spend the night. Photo: Peter Grant/Imagebank.sweden.se

If you want to sleep closer to nature, try the natural igloo carved by the frozen waters of Sweden’s strongest waterfall, Tännforsen. When the waterfall freezes, it forms a natural labyrinth of caves and ice formations, and the igloo is built from this. Located along the edge of Lake Skabram just outside of Jokkmokk, you could also learn to build as well as sleep in your own igloo at the Arctic Igloo Village (Illua).

For more information:
ICEHOTEL — a frozen dream
Tännforsen Ice Igloo
Arctic Igloo Village

4. See the Northern Lights

For those willing to brave the cold on clear crisp winter nights, you may be rewarded with one of nature’s most spectacular displays — the Aurora Borealis (also known as the Northern Lights). These light curtains of green, red, and purple often dance across the sky during from October to March and, depending on weather conditions, can be viewed from anywhere in northern Sweden.

The Northern Lights. Photo: Fredrik Broman/Imagebank.sweden.se

But the best location for viewing the Northern Lights is Abisko National Park north of Kiruna. This is due to the presence of a famous "blue hole", which is a patch of sky over a lake in Abisko that usually remains clear despite overcast weather in surrounding areas.

For more information:
Abisko National Park

5. Experience Sámi culture

With roughly 20,000 indigenous Sámi living in Sweden, enjoy one-on-one cultural experiences by learning about one of the oldest cultures (at least 10,000 years) on Earth.

Spend a few days in the village of Jokkmokk during early February when the 400+ year old Jokkmokk Sami market is in full swing; from reindeer races and traditional fashion shows to sampling reindeer, moose, and other dishes as well as watching the reindeer caravan procession led by Sámi elder Per Kuhmunen.

Traditional Sámi clothes. Photo: Lola Akinmade-Åkerström

In addition to the market, you’ll find the Ájtte Sámi museum, Sámi Duodji, which is a cooperation of local artists and exhibition of various Sámi artisan works, the Sami Education Center, and Restaurang Samernas where you can sample and learn to cook traditional recipes like dried reindeer soup.

For more information:
VisitSápmi
Sámi people — the native Scandinavians
Slow food from Sápmi

6. Drive your own dog sled

Dog sledding is one of the high energy and exciting winter activities around Swedish Lapland and the Arctic Circle as well as the spectacular mountain regions of Padjelanta and Sarek National Parks in Laponia.

Dog sledding through the wilderness gets you closer to Sweden’s natural beauty. Photo: Staffan Widstrand/Imagebank.sweden.se

Many companies run several dog sledding tours from daytrips to multi-day expeditions with Siberian Huskies. Dog sledding through the wilderness gets you closer to Sweden’s natural beauty and you may just spot wildlife as well as the elusive Northern Lights while on an expedition.

For more information:
Dog sledding in Sweden
Jokkmokkguiderna (Jokkmokk Guides)
The Silent Way

7. Try backcountry snowshoeing

Snowshoeing is like hiking, except you have to wear special shoes for trudging through several feet of compact snow. You can go snowshoeing along the Kebnekaise mountain range and foothills of Mount Kebne in Swedish Lapland, or along Kungsleden ("King’s Trail") located 200 kilometers inside the Arctic Circle. There are several mountain cabins to stay between treks which can be as long as 10-20 kilometers from cabin to cabin.

Sneakers won't work, folks. Photo: Fredrik Broman/Imagebank.sweden.se

For the more adventurous travelers, you can go hiking in Sarek National Park where trails are more demanding and you’ll need to put your igloo-building and winter camping skills to the test.

For more information:
Winter in the mountains
Snowshoeing Kungsleden

8. Catch fish from frozen lakes

If you’ve never gone fishing before, now might be the time to drill a hole through a frozen lake to catch fish such as Arctic char, trout, salmon, pike, perch, grayling, and whitefish.

There are thousands of lakes as well as rivers all over the country — from Skåne and Gothenburg to Dalarna, Västerbotten, and Lapland — where you can try your hand at ice-fishing.

Looks like this kid got the entire gear. Right? Photo: Magnus Ström/Bildarkivet.se

Traditionally, once you drill a hole in the ice large enough for your bait, you then lie on reindeer skin placed on the ice and look through the hole at often crystal clear waters to see your bait and unsuspecting fish swimming by.

Tour operators such as Nordic Footprints run winter fishing trips to lakes around Northern Dalarna.

For more information:
Paradise for the angler

9. Go snowmobiling across frozen rivers

Get off the well-worn road and try an invigorating ride across the frozen Kalix River, Lule River, or Torneträsk in Swedish Lapland.

Sure, you can explore Swedish wildlife while sitting. Photo: Peter Grant/Imagebank.sweden.se

Snowmobiles are quite easy to navigate and don’t require the level of endurance that skiing or backcountry snowshoeing demand, making them ideal for families who want to explore the wilderness and tundra of Lapland. You can fly into Luleå and spend a few days on a snowmobile expedition that takes you through forests, across frozen lakes and rivers, and up mountains.

For more information:
Experiencing the wilderness by snowmobile

10. Shop at traditional markets

If you’d rather stick to bustling city life, be sure to check out some of Sweden’s classic Christmas markets in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö.

Stockholm’s Gamla Stan (Old Town) comes alive during winter with the sweet smell of warm glögg (mulled wine) and pepperkakor (gingerbread cookies) wafting through the air, and rows of stalls filled with handicrafts, toys, Christmas decorations, and seasonal food items like smoked meats, jams, and candy. You can also try your hand at traditional candle making as well as peruse the market at Skansen — the world’s oldest open air museum.

The Christmas market in Stockholm's Old Town. Photo: Ola Ericson/Imagebank.sweden.se

In Gothenburg, you can enjoy the largest Christmas party lit up by 5,000,000 (yes, five million!) lights at Liseberg Amusement Park.

And in the far south of Sweden, starting the last Sunday in November, over 800 shops in Malmö put out window displays in what is known as "Shop Window Sunday". It's a visually impressive mix of sparkling lights, decorations, vibrant bursts of color, and everything else that creates that special Christmas holiday feeling.

For more information:
Christmas in Stockholm
Christmas at Skansen
Christmas greetings from Gothenburg
Merry Christmas from Malmö

Tomas Tranströmer's works have been translated into more than 60 languages. Photo: Paul Hansen/Scanpix

In awarding the prize of SEK 10 million, the Swedish Academy said it had chosen Tranströmer “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality.”

A cheer went up in the academy when the announcement was made on Thursday. Tranströmer follows in the footsteps of Swedes Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson, who shared the award in 1974.

Peter Englund, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, said the academy members were particularly cautious about honoring Swedish writers, so as not to be perceived as biased.

The big questions

“And I think we’ve considered the matter carefully and haven’t been rash,” he said. “(Tranströmer) is writing about big questions. He’s writing about death, he’s writing about history and memory, and nature.”

Tranströmer’s poetry is distinguished by economy, concreteness and poignant metaphors. In 1990 he suffered a stroke that left him semi-paralyzed and largely unable to speak, and in his latest collections, The Sorrow Gondola (Sorgegondolen) and The Great Enigma (Den stora gåtan), Tranströmer has shifted towards an even smaller format and a higher degree of concentration.

Widely translated

Tranströmer was introduced to an international audience in the 1960s by his friend, American poet and activist Robert Bly. He has since become one of the most highly regarded and widely translated Swedish poets, translated into more than 60 languages.

Tomas Tranströmer is also a skilled pianist. He still plays despite his paralysis. Photo: Lasse Modin/Scanpix

Tranströmer has periodically published his own translations of poetry written in other languages. A collection, entitled Interpretations (Tolkningar), was published in 1999.

Tranströmer was born in Stockholm in 1931, and studied poetics and the history of literature, the history of religion, and psychology at Stockholm University. After writing poetry for several journals, Tranströmer published 17 poems (17 dikter) in 1954. He was already then showing an interest in nature and music, themes that have featured strongly in much of his production.

With the collections Secrets along the way (Hemligheter på vägen, 1958), The Half-Finished Heaven (Den halvfärdiga himlen, 1962), and Klanger och spår (1966, for English translations, see Windows & Stones: Selected Poems, 1972), he consolidated his standing among critics and the public as one of the leading poets of his generation.

Childhood memories

A suite, Baltics (Östersjöar, 1974), gathers fragments of a family chronicle from Runmarö Island in the Stockholm archipelago, where his maternal grandfather was a pilot and where Tranströmer spent many summers since boyhood. His reminiscences from growing up in the 1930s and 1940s are collected in a memoir, The memories see me (Minnena ser mig, 1993).

Englund said that Tranströmer took the news of the Nobel Prize award in his stride. “I think he was surprised, astonished,” Englund told Swedish television. “He sat relaxing and listening to music. But he said it was very good.”

Now you can swim and fish in Växjö’s lakes that were once too polluted. 
Photo: Mats Samuelsson

If there something that Växjö has a lot of, it is fresh water and trees. This little city in southern Sweden is surrounded by dozens of lakes and millions of trees, and these natural resources have important roles in the story of how Växjö received the title “Europe’s greenest city” and how it hopes to live up to that honor.

The once-polluted lakes in and around the city have provided an important lesson in how environmental action at a local level can have an effect. The trees are a renewable resource with which the city is tackling some of today’s most pressing challenges: energy security and climate change.

Fossil-fuel free

Växjö was named “Europe’s greenest city” by the BBC in 2007, which led to massive interest in the city from policymakers, entrepreneurs and journalists from around the world eager to learn from its example. The visitors — two or three foreign delegations per week ever since — soon learned that Växjö had not jumped on the early 21st century’s environmental bandwagon but had in fact been cleaning up its act for years, even decades.

In 1996, for instance — one year before the Kyoto Protocol set binding targets for greenhouse gas emissions and raised awareness of climate change — the city decided to become fossil fuel free.

The key to Växjö’s achievements in reducing CO2 emissions is that about 90 percent of the energy used for heating in the city, and about half its electricity comes from trees. Waste from the local forest industry — branches, bark and sawdust — is burned to generate heat and power, and the Sandviksverket plant where this takes place has become a must-see for delegations on their study tours of Växjö.

Local forest industry waste is transformed into heat and power at the Sandviksverket plant. Photo: Jerzy Kociatkiewicz (CC BY A SA) 

Something for nothing

Lars Ehrlén, manager of the Department of Heat and Power at City of Växjö, says: “The alternative to burning this waste for heat and power is to leave it in the forest to be broken down by natural processes. And then the CO2 emissions will be about the same as the emissions from our chimney. But what we gain from this is energy.”

About 55,000 people get their domestic heating from the plant via the municipal district heating system, which since last year also provides district cooling to buildings including the university and hospital.

But the story of Växjö’s environmental engagement dates back to the 1960s, way before its fossil fuel-free pledge in 1996 and the conversion of the Sandviksverket plant from oil to biomass in 1979.

As Sohie Kim-Hagdahl, environmental coordinator at City of Växjö explains, politicians learned back then that environmental problems can be tackled if the political will is there. “In the 1960s the lakes in the city were very polluted,” she says. “So it all started with a local environmental problem that you could see and smell. Local politicians made the decision to restore the lakes, and this showed that we could do something ourselves about environmental problems.”

Building on the momentum generated by this early success — today you can fish and swim in the city’s lakes — Växjö drew up a list of ambitious environmental targets. On energy, the city aims to be fossil fuel-free by 2030. The milestone of a 55 percent reduction in CO2 emissions per person by 2015 has been set, and by 2009 — the most recent year for which figures are available — a reduction of 34 percent had been achieved.

Fuel from waste

“Passive” apartment blocks that require no external energy source for heating have been built; solar panels have been installed in schools and on the roof of City Hall; and charging stations for electric cars can be found around the city. A biogas plant producing vehicle fuel from sewage and school food leftovers is operational, and a bigger plant, which will also use domestic waste as its feedstock, will be opened next year.

Kim-Hagdahl admits that reducing emissions from the city’s transport system will be the biggest environmental challenge, but a new initiative has shown potential. "Since last year we are coordinating goods distribution to about 400 municipal workplaces with an initiative which is unique in Sweden and Europe,” she says. "This reduces the number of vehicle journeys and their emissions. The driving distance is 33 percent less, and we save several million Swedish kronor in transport costs.”

Keep aiming higher

Växjö has no plans to surrender the “Europe’s greenest city” label, and Börje Svensson, a local science teacher who got involved in environmental issues in the 1960s after observing first-hand the deterioration of the lakes, intends to make sure that it doesn’t. A regular debater on environmental issues in the local press, he would like the municipality to be even more ambitious. He is disappointed in the levels of investment in public transport, and points out that other Swedish municipalities are outperforming Växjö on the purchase of organic food.

“The city was a real pioneer in cleaning up its lakes, but the city’s expansion is threatening them with pollution again,” he says. “Växjö is good on environmental issues, but it could be even better.”

Some thought before action goes a long way. Photo: Alex & Martin Photographers/Johnér

1. Do your research

In Sweden’s online society, information is easy to come by, so there’s no excuse for not doing proper research before starting your business.

Statistics Sweden is a mine of information about Sweden and its demographics, covering everything from population and age to business sentiment and industrial capacity.

You can also check with the trade organization (branschorganisation) covering the field of work you are aiming for — they can often provide information and statistics about the size and type of companies involved in that sector, as well as the regulations that apply and the general state of the market.

Here is a selection of useful organizations in some of the most popular start-up sectors:

The Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Association — resource for the Swedish hospitality industry.
The Swedish Trade Federation — covering the wholesale and retail sectors.
The Swedish Construction Federation — trade body for the construction industry in Sweden.
The Swedish IT and Telecom Industries — organization for companies in an area including some of Sweden’s largest and most well-known industries.
Lantmännen — national body covering agriculture and farmland resources.

2. Get your network going

One of the keys to success in business is in making your network work for you, regardless of what country you’re in.

Besides friends, colleagues and relatives you might have in Sweden, how and where do you find people with ideas similar to yours?

You could contact your local branch of Nyföretagarcentrum (the Swedish Jobs and Society Foundation), who provide advice to new businesses and hold regular events around the country.

Another way to find advisors and build your network is through a website called verksamt.se — set up by three Swedish authorities (the Companies Registration Office, the Tax Agency and the Agency for Economic and Regional Growth); they have a page to help you find advisors depending on which region you are living in.

Swedes are very much an online breed, so as you get to know more people, use social networking tools like LinkedIn and Facebook to help you keep track of your new contacts and watch your networks grow.

Nearly half of Sweden's population is on Facebook. Photo: Henrik Trygg/imagebank.sweden.se

3. Get permission

Certain types of businesses in Sweden require a permit to operate. Verksamt.se has a handy list of the various trades, professions and businesses that require permits, as well as contact details for the bodies that issue them.

4. Register your business

As a sole trader, your venture will be identified by your personal ID number (personnummer) which is allocated to you by Skatteverket, the Swedish Tax Authority.

The key step in starting as a sole trader is registering for F-skatt — “F tax” (the ‘F’ stands for företagare — entrepreneur). F-skatt basically means that you undertake work as an entrepreneur and not as an employee, so those contracting you don’t administer your tax or social security payments — that responsibility is yours.

Skatteverket has a brochure explaining how F tax works. The brochure includes the information about where to find the appropriate forms for registration. These are only in Swedish — it’s important that they are filled in correctly, so you may want to enlist the help of an accountant and/or make a personal appointment with Skatteverket for guidance.

If you are good enough in Swedish by now, Skatteverket also offers free information meetings giving step-by-step help about how to start up a business. You can find more information here.

Sweden has different rules and regulations about residence requirements for those moving to Sweden to start a company, depending on their citizenship. Nordic citizens (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland), do not need to register with the Swedish Migration Board or apply for a residence permit.

Citizens of the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland are entitled to residence in Sweden but must register with the Swedish Migration Board within three months of arriving in the country. Once your right of residence has been established, you can apply for a personnummer.

If you’re from outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland and intend to start a business, you’ll have to apply for a resident’s permit before coming to Sweden — you’ll find the details and requirements on the Swedish Migration Board’s website.

If you are a temporary resident in Sweden, you can apply to the Tax Authority for a co-ordination number, which replaces the personal identity number and will allow you to apply for F-tax status. You can read more about the co-ordination number in this brochure (Swedish and English).

5. Protect your business name by registering it

This is not an obligatory step but still a wise move. It will ensure that no-one else is allowed to operate under the same business name in your county.

To register your business name, visit the Companies Registration Office website. They will process your registration for a fee.

6. Make your business plan

Having decided on what goods or services you want to sell and discovered if there’s a market for it, it’s time to start getting your dream down on paper. A good business plan is essential in getting others to listen, whether they are banks, investors or potential customers.

Your business plan doesn’t have to be long and complex: it is simply a statement of what you plan to do and how you plan to do it.

As with a CV, the format of a business plan can vary from country to country; in certain countries the idea is everything, whereas in others a sound financial footing is the key. Verksamt.se offers an excellent guide to what Swedish bankers, investors and authorities look for in a business plan.

7. Hire staff, and do it legally

Fast-forward a little and you might find yourself in the happy position of being able to offer work to others —then it’s good to know the basic tenets of Swedish employment law.
Dress for success and keep it legal. Photo: Henrik Trygg/imagebank.sweden.se

Employment conditions in Sweden are regulated by the Employment Protection Act (Lagen om Anställningsskydd, often shortened to LAS). This act states that employment contracts are for an indefinite term unless otherwise explicitly stated in the employment contract.

The act also contains a description of the four types of fixed-term employment contracts that cover everything from temporary replacement work to special legislation for those over the age of 67.

Swedish employment law has wide-ranging provisions for parental leave, holiday and pension entitlements and it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the legislation before making the decision to hire.

Another way to deal with your labor needs is to sub-contract to other sole traders like you — just make sure they have registered for F-tax.

Translations of the relevant labor laws and acts can be found on the Swedish government’s website.

8. Get your bookkeeping right

Unless you’re setting up an accountancy business, get an accountant. The whole point of setting up your own business is to get the most out of your talents, so if you don’t have a head for figures and tax and regulations, it’s worth paying someone else to do it.

There are plenty of qualified firms out there that specialize in helping small firms like yours who will bill you an hourly rate for their services. One of the easiest ways to find a good, trustworthy accountant is to ask other entrepreneurs in the same field who they use.

You can also contact the Association of Swedish Accounting Consultants and they can help you find a suitable firm in your area. An accounting consultant can also teach you how to write invoices properly according to Swedish regulations and laws.

Remember that hiring an accountant doesn’t absolve you from the responsibility of understanding basic bookkeeping, so if you haven’t already done so, take some time to learn the basics.

Not your thing? Then hire a pro. Photo: Fang Guo (CC BY ND)

9. Finance your venture

Stating the obvious — unless assignments pour in from the beginning, you'll need to make sure you can pay your regular household bills as you get your venture off the ground. Maybe you'll use your savings to finance your first few months, or you might build up your business slowly alongside a full- or part-time job.

Of course you can also apply to your bank for a business loan, but as most businesses are not profitable in the beginning, they will require you to put up some sort of security.

An alternative for financing is Almi Företagspartner AB (ALMI), a state-owned company that helps businesses with capital and advice. Though their interest rates are often higher than the banks, they usually require less security. You can read more about what they provide here.

10. Create routines for your business

On a more general note — organize yourself. Most entrepreneurs will be eager to work as hard as possible on the sales side to begin with, but make sure you find time over for the administration side of your business too. This tip applies to any budding entrepreneur, regardless of where you are in the world.  

Make sure to take some time each month to review your progress and talk to your financial advisors about what taxes or other charges need to be paid. Doing so will help you compare your progress to your business plan and allow you to make adjustments, whilst keeping you on the right side of the authorities.