Case Study – Swedish Athletics Federation
A national strategy embedded at all levels
This is how the Swedish Athletics Federation is working to make its strategy real and alive – together with the whole movement.
How do you reach out to 950 organisations with a strategy – and make it meaningful to everyone, regardless of role, level or resources?
Athletics is a broad sport with many disciplines, cultures and organisational layers. The previous strategy was broad but difficult to use in everyday life. For the work on the next strategy, the Swedish Athletics Federation chose to prioritise both anchoring and implementation – with a focus on involving the entire movement right from the start.
About the Swedish Athletics Federation
About the Swedish Athletics FederationThe Swedish Athletics Federation consists of 950 associations, nine districts and a national office. The federation brings together the entire spectrum – from elite sports to grassroots activities, from traditional arena athletics to exercise activities;
The challenge
The 2021-2025 strategy was developed with ambition, but was perceived as difficult to prioritise in everyday life. With the next strategy, the aim was to create clarity, participation and direction from the start and give everyone the opportunity to contribute.
How do you make a strategy feel relevant to everyone – from federations and districts to associations with completely different conditions?
Previously, input was collected via forms and meetings, which took a lot of time and produced varying results. There was no effective way to analyse free text or provide feedback directly, which limited engagement. There was no effective way to collaborate across the organisation.
The solution
With Vocean, the Swedish Athletics Federation has a new hub for strategy work – a platform for co-creation that saves both time and increases engagement. They can now collect input from associations and districts via QR codes, ask low-threshold questions and analyse answers using AI. Vocean has so far been used both before and during physical meetings, allowing for direct feedback. With a collaborative tool, the focus shifts from writing ideas on post-its to actually solving important challenges together.
“Being able to quickly show the results of our workshops on the spot makes a big difference. There’s not that feeling of ‘what happened to our answers?
Freja Avebäck,
Member of the Board of Directors, Swedish Athletics Federation
The report function is particularly highlighted as a powerful tool. It helps them to identify patterns, highlight unexpected perspectives and save a lot of administrative time.
“We used to spend hours putting together post-it notes. Now we get everything in place immediately – understandable and immediately useful.”
Freja Andersdotter,
Member of the Board of Directors, Swedish Athletics Federation
The result
The strategy work has now become more of a joint process where participation and co-creation are at the centre. Participants can see their own thoughts reflected in the material, which increases the sense of influence and commitment. The platform creates the conditions for collaboration at all levels and a clear direction.
The result in short
- The strategy is anchored throughout the movement
- More time for collaboration and reflection – less administration
- Dialogue is enabled at all levels of the organisation
- Direct feedback to participants increases engagement
- AI-generated reports provide new insights and lead to action
“Vocean is both a process tool and a relationship tool. Being able to communicate directly with the whole movement is super valuable.”
Freja Avebäck,
Member of the Board of Directors, Swedish Athletics Federation
Do you also want to make your members co-creators?
Get in touch – we’ll be happy to show you what it looks like in practice.