INCH – Innovation arena for civil defence and sustainable transition in Halland
INCH establishes a regional innovation arena at Halmstad University to strengthen innovation capacity in civil defence, preparedness, and sustainable industrial transformation in Halland, Sweden. The arena serves as a neutral platform where public authorities, industry, academia, and business support organisations collaborate to identify challenges, develop solutions, and test them in real-world environments.
The initiative focuses on energy and resource systems, materials and circular reuse, digital infrastructure and security, healthcare and logistics, and sustainable food and agricultural systems. Through applied research, test and demonstration environments, hackathons, pilot projects, and innovation procurement, INCH will accelerate the development of resilient and circular solutions that enhance regional competitiveness and preparedness.
The project will establish thematic test environments, engage public and private stakeholders in innovation activities, and generate new collaborative projects and investments. The long-term ambition is to create a sustainable innovation arena with national relevance, supporting scalable solutions for a resilient, secure, and sustainable society.
Reference group
The following organisations contribute in the form of time (in-kind) and are members of the reference group:
- The Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency
- The Swedish Civil Defence League
- The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
- The Halland County Administrative Board
- The National Agency for Public Procurement
The reference group’s role is to act as a strategic and advisory forum that:
- Ensures the project’s relevance in relation to national environmental and climate targets and regulations.
- Contributes expertise and experience within each organisation’s area of responsibility.
- Acts as a source of support and a sounding board on development and strategic decisions.
- Promotes collaboration between national, regional and local levels.
About the project
Project period
- 2026-09-01–2029-09-30
Project Manager
Other participating researchers
- Linnea Gustafsson, Professor
- Anna Hansson, Senior Lecturer
- Anna Maria Mårtensson, Coordinator
- Fredric Ottermo, Senior Lecturer
- Kristian Widén, Professor
Collaboration partners
- Coompanion, EMC
- Hallands Matgille
- HighFive
- Hushållningssällskapet Halland
- IUC Halland (TEK)
- CSR Västsverige
- Varbergs kommun/Campus Varberg
- Högskolan i Halmstad Innovation AB
Financier
- Region Halland
- The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth/ERUF