Material for Paper in the Paper Province

The Paper Province (directly from Wiki)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Paper Province is a business cluster for the pulp and paper industry in Värmland, northern Dalsland and the county of Örebroin central Sweden. It is focussed on encouraging collaboration on marketing, skills development, procurement, project development and regional growth. The cluster organization is owned and operated by its 90 member companies, from global giants to local suppliers, representing the entire value chain.

History[edit]

Business history in Värmland and the surrounding area is strongly influenced by the region's natural wealth. Successful exploitation of the forest started early, and already in the mid-19th century there were more than 50 pulp and paper mills in the region. This attracted both skills and suppliers to the region. Much the technology used and installed in pulp and paper mills throughout the world still originates here.^[1]

At the end of the 1990s the pulp and paper industry was facing severe structural challenges. To meet these needs, seven companies, together with Karlstad’s county and other public bodies, formed the cluster organization 'The Paper Province'. The number of member companies has grown to 90 with over 9,000 employees and annual sales of approximately SEK 17 billion, of which 13.5 billion contributes to Sweden’s net exports. In this, the member companies represent a significant part of the region's economy, with effects on both the regional and national economy.^[2]

Milestones[edit]

• In 1999 the cluster organization The Paper Province was established.
• In 2004 The Paper Province established The Packaging Greenhouse, an independent and commercial R&D centre featuring a pilot machine and laboratories. Companies from across the world apply to the centre to test new products and services within the packaging industry. The research resources within the region is strengthened by Karlstad University and seven businesses operated R&D centres focusing on pulp and paper.^[3]

Paper is made of trees, we all know that. But when you live in a town where paper is the biggest industry (second to coffee) then you get to see just how much it takes to create books and posters and pictures, and note pads, and even those small yellow stickies.  

When you see whole trains filled with logs in this town,and  you know where they are going (to be mulched and pulped and then turn into paper)--you instantly connect with Shel Siverstiein's, 'The Giving Tree'. Man/woman (but we need to put a higher blame on men because they were the ones who, being the dominant gender, created a world order that affects us today) are always the takers and nature always the giver. Yet, in the last centuries there has been a serious decline people who live in connection with nature, rituals that honour nature, and a belief that we are one with nature.  

The following few paragraphs were taken directly from the net.  

KARLSTAD, SWEDEN, Sept. 16, 2009 (RISI) - The pulp and paper industry has long and proud traditions in the Swedish region centered on the province of Värmland. By the middle of the 19th century there were already over 50 mills here within an area that now takes less than two hours to navigate by car. But by the end of the 1990s the industry was facing severe challenges. In 1999 the region's pulp and paper businesses formed a cluster organisation called The Paper Province - today ranked as one of Europe's most innovative clusters. In September 2009 The Paper Province celebrated 10 successful years of co-operation.
The Paper Province supports the development of innovative forms of collaboration that improve competitive strength and increase growth within the pulp and paper industry. This is one of the busiest pulp and paper regions in Sweden and the world, with over 230 companies active in the industry. 

When I first arrived in the US, I could not believe how much paper was being thrown away in computer rooms everyday.  I was a poor student and a notebook of nearly three dollars was way too expensive. On our university printer an extra sheet was printed out to mark every print job, so that they were easy to identity for the users.   I started to collect those papers --and staple them into notebooks.  An american friend had asked me why i did that. It took me a while to make her understand that paper was sacred, and to be used for Knowledge (an indian concept).  I finally resorted to protecting the environment.  I was too embarrassed to share the second reason, that notebooks were too expensive.  I still have some of those notes and they bring me to that simple time, when I went out of my way to save trees through saving paper.  

This picture is taken just to illustrate how beautiful the benign autumn sun can be, even in late evenings.  Seriously scandinavia is not as cold and dark as they would have you believe....