I did not know there was a “Cathedral” in Mjärdevi?! Outside the matte black triangle building, a handful of Nissan Leaf cars are charging and when the entrance door opens, it feels a bit like I sneaked in backstage.
Untreated plywood, concrete, the giant crescent-shaped screen and a pink grand piano in a corner with instruments – everything just opens up and I hear a quiet Tada!
The fact that the company is world-leading in providing outstanding audiovisual software products used at spectacular shows is not surprising after that gratifying welcome.
Then Björn Sandlund, who founded the company 45 years ago, comes to meet me for a mini-talk regarding #SustainableSciencePark and the future of Mjärdevi.
Dataton is said to be the first IT company in Linköping. First, they were situated in central town but four years ago they moved to Mjärdevi. The roof of the house is 1000 sqm, perfect south facing position so solar panels are planned. In the garden, they planted fruit trees and have their own compost and cultivation boxes where veggies are grown in the summer.
Björn has been driving an EV (electric car) for several years and all the company’s cars are fossil free. There´s a lot of EV tech talk at lunchtime. Driving EVs has become ´status normal´ for the Dataton employees in Mjärdevi.
– “Five miles, and you´ll never want to drive anything else,” says Björn with a happy smile. The EVs are quick as an arrow and quiet, he continues.
The future of Mjärdevi well, Björn and Dataton’s contribution to what is proposed in the overview plan for Mjärdevi and Västra Valla, is the willing to purchase the land next door and build “research apartments” that can easily be converted into offices if the need arises. A bicycle garage is also planned with that.
Regarding Sustainable mobility, Björn addresses a commuter train station in Malmslätt, an autonomous EV-pod between Linköping central station and Mjärdevi and wishes for a more aggressive electric car marketing and subvention.
Big thumbs up for the awareness and visions from Björn and Dataton! Let´s do it! /Sandra
