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Sweden Backcasting, Now?—Strategic Planning for Covid-19 Mitigation in a Liberal Democracy

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  • Jouni Korhonen

    (Department of Sustainable Production Development and CE@KTH Initiative, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 114 28 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Birk Granberg

    (Independent Researcher, 151 02 Södertälje, Sweden)

Abstract

Sweden is applying the herd-immunity as its main natural science strategy to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. This has been communicated in a transparent manner. Small groups of young(er) people of up to approximately 50 individuals are subject to a bigger risk of infection than others. The objective of this paper is to make a case for the argument, that alongside herd-immunity, Sweden is using the social science originated planning approach: backcasting . The government has not been transparent on backcasting. The authors present the use of backcasting only as an argument based on available data and authors’ reasoning. A backcasting exercise for the case of the Swedish economy is constructed. This frame outlines five interdependent levels with which a national economy can apply what this paper calls a backcasting herd-immunity approach in its COVID-19 policy. The authors further suggest how it is possible to use social science, natural science and political ideology as complementary in COVID-19 mitigation in particular and in sustainability strategies in general.

Suggested Citation

  • Jouni Korhonen & Birk Granberg, 2020. "Sweden Backcasting, Now?—Strategic Planning for Covid-19 Mitigation in a Liberal Democracy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-15, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:10:p:4138-:d:359984
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. D'Amato, D. & Korhonen, J., 2021. "Integrating the green economy, circular economy and bioeconomy in a strategic sustainability framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).

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