Most archipelagos are very centralised, by which I mean that it is relatively easy to travel from the islands to the ”hubs” = mainland harbours. But it is difficult to travel from island to island, for islanders to meet and for tourists to go island-hopping in the archipelagos of Scotland, France, Ireland, Denmark and Greece.

The archipelago of Stockholm stretches eastwards over 1,700 km2 with 30-35,000 islands. The bigger islands in the inner archipelago have either bridges or car ferries, while the smaller islands in the middle archipelago and outer archipelago have passenger ferries with set schedules and are mostly car-free.

Now, it has become possible to travel from north to south and vice versa in the Stockholm archipelago thanks to Gustav Hemming, one of Europe’s few regional politicians with a distinct responsibility for small islands.

Just like the Danish trial with ferry Hjortøboen, it is a one-year experiment. Just like the Danish trial, it is an attempt to try out an idea in real life, and see what can be learnt. Let’s call it the Hemming Way.

Photo: Sofia White

Map: Dagens Nyheter/Christian Pleijel