Americans Swedens’ founder, Lauren Ell, has started multiple projects in Sweden and the Nordic region to promote networking, communication and participation among locals and visitors.
“No matter where I have lived I have always been interested in learning what is happening in the area,” Ell said. “I saw area for improvement where I am located in the far north of Sweden so that is where ideas for my projects came from.”
The first project she launched, called Hejsan Soutujärvi, is focused on keeping locals up to date with activities happening in her immediate community. If she sees a flier on a bulletin board she will take a photo and post it to her Instagram page that has over 200 followers at the moment. Additionally she keeps an open eye for activity from local businesses to share on the page. She has also offered opportunities for locals to become involved, such as by sharing birthdays and passing of loved ones.
Her second project is called Bya Telegrafen which focuses on sharing events and news occurring in villages surrounding Gällivare. Ell wanted to host an online page where villagers can learn what is happening in their small communities and possibly gain ideas from each other about events to host for the public. She also wants to entice people living in Gällivare, the “city,” to come out to villages to support their events and learn about the villages.
Another project Ell manages is called Hey Lapland, which focuses on the far north Nordic region, specifically the far north of Norway, Sweden and Finland. This concept was thought of during COVID lock down when terms like “staycation” were promoted to encourage people to enjoy themselves close to home rather than travel far. Ell wanted to share interesting locations and events in the far north to motivate locals to travel more in their immediate region and also attract tourism.
An additional contributing factor to the concept of Hey Lapland was when Ell stayed at a hotel called Cape East in Haparanda, Sweden, while on a shopping trip to IKEA. Ell was amazed by the beautiful ambience of the hotel and its impressive spa. While she happened to stay at Cape East by chance, she was surprised she had never heard of it before through local media.
“I was actually disappointed I didn’t know about Cape East sooner. I would have made a point to stay there on a previous trip to IKEA that I crammed into one incredibly busy and exhausting day,” Ell noted.
Ell’s projects have gradually been gaining larger followings and have even caught the eye of Gällivare kommun staff. They thought the projects were great for sharing information with the public and encouraging locals to become more active in their communities and support local business.
To learn more about each project, visit their online locations: Hejsan Soutujärvi’s website, Hey Lapland’s website and Bya Telegrafen’s Instagram.
Photo credit: Pexels
