Samplanering.se – ett digitalt steg mot strukturerad dialog
How can digital technology support collaboration between forestry and reindeer husbandry? As project manager for Samplanering.se, I led an initiative where technical solutions, business requirements, and close stakeholder partnerships needed to work in perfect harmony.
Project Overview
With Samplanering.se, I led the implementation of a digital platform designed to enhance communication and information exchange between Holmen and the sami villages. Streamlining planning processes and creating better foundations for meaningful consultation.
We developed the solution in partnership with a specialized technology provider, covering everything from data migration and functionality testing to training programs and operational implementation.
For context: samplanering (co-planning) represents a structured dialogue framework between forestry companies and reindeer herders, enabling collaborative planning for forestry activities in shared territories. The goal is to foster mutual understanding, facilitate effective consultation, and support better-informed decision making.
The project featured close collaboration between business stakeholders, IT specialists, and external technology partners. We embraced agile methodologies with a strong focus on quality, user experience, and timeline management.
Goals
Approach
We drove the project through close partnerships between business units, IT teams, and technology providers, with unwavering focus on quality, implementation pace, and future sustainability. Key components included:
- Testing environment and functionality validation: Comprehensive testing protocols to ensure robust performance and feature integrity
- Technology partner engagement: Ongoing collaboration and dialogue with development teams
- Operational readiness planning: Ensuring long-term sustainability through proper transition and maintenance strategies
A digital transformation initiative bridging forestry operations and indigenous land use through technology and collaborative planning.
Results
The project delivered a stable, functional platform now actively used in daily planning activities between Holmen and sami villages. We achieved our objectives – and most importantly, created a solution that's become integral to actual operations.
A key strategic benefit is that ongoing development now happens collaboratively with other forestry companies and the platform provider. This ensures consistent user experience for reindeer herders regardless of which company initiates consultation – significantly lowering barriers to digital participation.
- The system was successfully deployed according to plan and now serves as a core tool supporting consultation processes
- Significant improvements in internal workflow efficiency and enhanced accessibility to critical digital resources
- Created a replicable model for future digital initiatives requiring multi-stakeholder collaboration
Key Insights
Leading this collaborative digital initiative across business units, IT teams, and external partners yielded valuable lessons:
- Clear role definition and aligned expectations from project inception dramatically reduced friction in decision processes and accelerated implementation
- Early involvement of maintenance and operations teams significantly eased the transition from project development to production deployment
- Addressing diverse user requirements – even for stakeholders not directly represented in project teams – proved essential for adoption and satisfaction