THE Swedish town of Lulea, home to some 80,000 inhabitants, has launched a campaign encouraging residents, who are reputed to be introverts, to start talking to each other.
In a video posted on social networks residents of Lulea, located 150km south of the Arctic Circle, have stern faces which suddenly light up when they meet a passer-by who greets them.
The video is accompanied by a message, "saying hi to your neighbours is a small thing but research shows that it can contribute to social bonds and has a positive impact on health, safety and well-being".
Asa Koski, a social strategist with the municipality who is behind the campaign, told AFP that the message has been displayed on buses and buildings in the city since 31 Oct, and the campaign will run for four weeks.
"Swedish people can be a bit inward ...we need to connect with each other and this is a way to create relationships
"Here it's the opposite of Spain, where you are outside a lot, you talk to people, you sit on benches, you have a collective life outside," she said.
In a region where winter means just only three hours of sunshine and the average temperature in Dec hovers around -10oc, there are fewer opportunities for residents to bump into one another on a daily basis, but Koski says its the modern lifestyle that is to blame.
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