Popular culture has long shaped our perception of robots – as everything from cold war machines to loyal companions. At Robot Rally, visitors experienced firsthand how close fiction and reality have become, with robots now emerging as helpers in healthcare, partners in education, and drivers of sustainable cities.

Helsingborg is this year’s host city for A Sustainable Tomorrow, and we are proud to host this forward-looking event. This year’s theme, "Mobilize with Courage and Diversity", encourages all of us to act bravely and inclusively in facing the major global challenges of our time.

As the world’s most ambitious energy project takes shape in southern France, an engineering firm from Helsingborg plays a key role. Fagerström Industrikonsult AB has been commissioned to design one of the most central instruments for the experimental reactor ITER.

The international conference “VR in Mental Health” was recently held in Helsingborg, Sweden. The event brought together some of the world’s leading experts in virtual reality therapy. Around 170 participants from countries including Japan, the USA, Australia, and several European nations had the opportunity to engage with cutting-edge research and explore various technical solutions.

In order to create a long-term, sustainable and secure food supply, the Canadian agricultural sector looks to Swedish technology to recover phosphorus from incinerated wastewater sludge. 

In Drottninghög, a residantial area located in Helsingborg, a pilot project is underway that could have major implications for how the sustainable cities of the future are planned and built. Behind the project is Helsingborgshem, which, together with the EU initiative ReCreate, is testing how housing built during Sweden’s post war Million Programme housing initiative can become part of the smart city’s future infrastructure.

The source-separating wastewater system “Three Pipes Out” drew the world’s attention to Helsingborg. The initiative called "One Water" aims to make the city an international growth engine in sustainable water management.

The City of Helsingborg and the Municipality of Umeå have received SEK 10 million from the EU's Horizon Europe program to explore how cities can aid in the industry's climate transition. The HYDROSYM-2030 project, involving industry stakeholders and researchers, aims to identify the roles cities can play in achieving a competitive climate-neutral industry.

In Helsingborg, something is currently happening that has attracted the world's interest — a groundbreaking pilot where AI helps to create safer, more legally secure conversations and less stressful workdays for social workers within the social services and labor market administration. The goal is that after the ongoing pilot, the use can be scaled up both in the administrations running the pilot today and in other areas such as healthcare and education.

In May 2026, Helsingborg will host NATO's informal foreign ministers' meeting – the first of its kind to be held in Sweden. A historic event for the country, but also for the city. During the meeting, over 1,000 delegates, officials, security experts, and journalists will gather to discuss the future of security and cooperation.

Earlier this year, the prestudy of the HelsingBotica project was presented. It highlights the potential for innovative solutions in micromobility and autonomous delivery. This paves the way for smarter, safer urban transportation. The next step is an ongoing project aimed at increasing knowledge about the possibilities of robot deliveries for e-commerce in last-mile delivery solutions.

Last year, the city of Helsingborg received SEK 2.8 million in funding from Sweden's Innovation Agency, Vinnova, and its strategic innovation program, Drive Sweden.