Citizens & Living
Requests

🌍✨ Join Us in Making a Difference! ✨🌍
We're excited to launch a groundbreaking project aimed at transforming e-waste into educational opportunities! 🚀📚 As part of our commitment to sustainability and digital literacy, we're collecting smartphones, laptops, and other electronics to support vibrant educational workshops in Rwanda.
Why join us? By participating, you'll:

• 🌱 Support environmental sustainability by helping reduce e-waste.
• 📖 Contribute to enhancing digital literacy among underserved communities.
• 🤝 Be part of a global movement advocating for responsible technology use.
• 🎓 Help provide essential skills that can transform lives and foster long-term growth.

We're looking for individuals and organizations to donate devices, share expertise, or sponsor our efforts. Every contribution makes a real difference, and together, we can create a more sustainable and inclusive future. 🌟
Let's reshape the future, one device at a time. Join us in this exciting journey and be credited in our upcoming documentary that highlights the collective efforts of our incredible partners from Germany, Latvia, and the Netherlands. 🎥🌍
CONTACT US THROUGH EMAIL - madaralace1999@gmail.com

Hallo allemaal, Fijne woensdag, 😀 (English below)

Wij willen graag begrijpen en leren oof participatie in de gebouwde omgeving de moeite waard is en welke uitdagingen je daarbij bent tegengekomen.

Vul deze enquête van 30 seconden (max. 1 minuut) in en kijk wat andere professionals ervaren.

Cheers,

Playground Team

www.plgrnd.city

----------------

Hello all, Happy Wednesday, 😀

We would like to understand and learn if participation in the built environment is worth it and what challenges you have experienced with it.

Please complete this 30-second (max 1 minute) survey and see what other professionals experience.

Cheers,

Playground Team
www.plgrnd.city

Hi all!

I'll be joining a small urban design & analytics firm as a contractor soon and am looking for a desk or coworking space that has folks in the same discipline/industry. The rest of my team is based in the US and Spain so I'm looking for a place with a nice community feel :)

Cheers!

My name is Arshitha and I am currently a Master's student at the University of Twente, I am doing my thesis on the topic of 'Inclusion in Smart Cities'.

I am currently looking for researches or members of the city administrations or NGOs in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Hamburg who are interested in participating in a research interview for my Master Thesis Project.

The study's main objective is to look further into actual strategies of digital and social inclusion initiatives that can be implemented for the development of a Smart City that is inclusive and accessible to it’s citizens. I want to get real-life insights and learn about the barriers that organizations in the implementation of digital inclusion projects and use to it make a reference framework for my thesis project.

The interviews will be semi-structured and I hope to complete it by the end of April 2024. It should not take more than an hour or an hour and a half.

If you are interested in participating, please send me an email at: 
a.r.jayasinghrajaflorence@student.utwente.nl
Phone Number: +31 645213887

The ground is full of cables, pipes, and other assets but we don’t always know exactly where they are located. Digging is the most common practice to look for assets, however, this has many negative impacts. It can lead to damage to assets, it costs time and money to dig, and it is often an inconvenience to the direct surroundings.

Therefore, it would be extremely convenient if we could find methods to locate assets without having to dig. We are looking for start-ups, research groups, and knowledge institutions that have developed or can develop a technology that can scan, detect, or sense, underground assets without digging.

Are you the person we are looking for, or do you know the person or organisation we are looking for? Please let us know by sending a message to noor@amsterdamsmartcity.com or leaving a comment below.

Werk jij aan één of meerdere initiatieven of ondernemingen die bijdragen aan een Amsterdam met voor iedereen een eerlijke, sociale basis maar binnen veilige ecologische grenzen. Dat noemen wij een 'Donut Pionier': iemand die de Donut Economie in regio Amsterdam een stapje dichterbij brengt.

Om deze transitie naar een circulaire economie te versnellen willen we het belang en de impact laten zien van initiatieven, belangrijke drempels wegnemen en zoeken naar praktische oplossingen om initiatieven te laten groeien. Daarvoor hebben we jouw kennis en ervaring nodig.

Hieronder leggen we meer uit over dit onderzoek, de resultaten, wat je hieraan hebt en de tijdlijn. Wil je meteen de vragenlijst invullen? Deze vind je hier:

[https://forms.office.com/e/ittiJyHtmw](https://forms.office.com/e/ittiJyHtmw "https://forms.office.com/e/ittiJyHtmw") De deadline hiervoor is 4 september.

Dit onderzoek
Je bent bij het werken aan jouw initiatief of onderneming vast uitdagingen tegengekomen. Denk daarbij bijvoorbeeld aan regelgeving die niet lijkt aan te sluiten bij je initiatief. Maar ook aan andere drempels die groei van jouw initiatief in de weg staan zoals ruimte, financiering, mensen, middelen, capaciteit, kennis of vooroordelen. Misschien heb je ook geleerd over oplossingen die daarbij werkten, of juist niet. Ten slotte zijn we nieuwsgierig naar de impact die je maakt. Deze vragen staan centraal in dit onderzoek. We richten ons op de succesvolle initiatieven, maar ook op die initiatieven die de drempels en problemen niet hebben kunnen overwinnen en uiteindelijk niet succesvol waren. Van beide valt veel te leren.

De resultaten
Op basis van dit onderzoek kunnen we de grootste uitdagingen agenderen en de beste oplossingen ontwikkelen of delen. Daarvoor analyseren we de reacties op deze vragen in september, met een aantal experts. We delen relevante inzichten met andere Donut Pioniers, maar vertalen het ook door naar beleidsmakers, het onderwijs en de arbeidsmarkt. Daarvoor werken we samen met onder meer de gemeente Amsterdam, Kennisland, Olympia, de HvA en de UvA. Ook werken we aan een Europees vervolg van dit onderzoek waarin verschillende steden worden vergeleken, om lessen te delen en samen te werken aan oplossingen.

What’s in it for you?
We realiseren ons dat je tijd beperkt is. Daarom proberen we je zoveel mogelijk terug te geven.
- De uitdagingen en oplossingen van andere pioniers delen we, met hun goedkeuring, ook met jou. Hopelijk helpt dit je om je doelen te halen.
- Je verhaal kan als voorbeeld worden opgenomen in publicaties in het kader van de 750 verjaardag van Amsterdam, of het internationale onderzoek. Dit ter lering en inspiratie voor iedereen die een stap wil zetten in het maken van positieve impact.
- We agenderen belangrijke concrete drempels bij de relevante partijen zoals de gemeente en werken met hen aan gerichte oplossingen. En daar betrekken we jou bij, als je interesse hebt.

Het vinden van de belangrijkste uitdagingen is één. Het belangrijkste is dat we hiervoor gerichte oplossingen ontwikkelen en de transitie naar een circulaire economie kunnen versnellen.  

De tijdlijn
- 4 september - Deadline voor de vragenlijst. 
- Eind september - We analyseren de resultaten in een workshop, oa. met Donut Pioniers. In de vragenlijst kun je je hiervoor opgeven.
- 13 november - We presenteren de resultaten op de Donut Dag.

Het invullen van deze vragenlijst kost 15 a 20 minuten. Het zou geweldig zijn als je hier wat tijd voor vrij wilt maken. 

De vragenlijst vind je hier: [https://forms.office.com/e/ittiJyHtmw](https://forms.office.com/e/ittiJyHtmw "https://forms.office.com/e/ittiJyHtmw")

Alvast heel erg bedankt voor je tijd.

Met vriendelijke groet,
Namens het Leren & Integreren team
Rosa Tibosch

I am a mid-career Architect and, Urban and Regional Planner. I recently graduated with a second master's (MSc.) from IHS, Erasmus University Rotterdam, with a Specialization in "Infrastructure and Smart Cities". My MSc. thesis research topic was based on Circular Economy concepts including the Circular Business Model and High-value reuse of material and components.

I am very passionate about smart cities and sustainability, and I am highly inspired by all the work in the smart city area that is being done in the Netherlands, where I hope to contribute and make a positive impact.

Previously, in addition to planning and project management roles, I have worked in relevant areas of smart mobility, ICT Infrastructure, renewable energy, and waste to energy, among others as part of consulting firms.

I am looking for possible work opportunities in the Smart City area in the Netherlands. I will appreciate any reference, resource, and mentorship that could be offered to me.

Regards
Anoop Jha
Netherlands

Hello,

with our german initiative <em>KreativLandTransfer</em>, we are currently looking for cross-sectoral collaborations between cultural and creative industries and small and medium-sized enterprises in rural regions <strong>across Europe</strong>. As a first step, we are looking for suitable collaborations throughout Germany as well as in other European countries in order to present them on our website.

We have published an online form that can be filled out by the representatives of such a collaboration. Our aim is to highlight the success factors and enable a European knowledge exchange. With selected collaborations we also want to conduct in-depth interviews for which they will be compensated financially and have film portraits made.
 
You are part of such a collaboration? Then, you are more than welcome to fill out our online form. You know of other collaborations that would fit our criteria? Then, it would be great if you could send us the relevant information and we will contact them personally.
 
More details about the project and our plans can be found here:

Website KreativLandTransfer
Link to the online form

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

With kind regards

Katrin Kappenberger
Project Manager

Kunstmatige intelligentie rukt op. Studenten kunnen een werkstuk laten schrijven door ChatGPT. Siri beantwoordt je vragen in een handomdraai, maar luistert stiekem ook met gesprekken mee. Intelligente robots kunnen een oplossing zijn voor het tekort aan personeel in de zorg of in de glastuinbouw. De komende jaren wordt veel wetenschappelijk onderzoek gedaan naar kunstmatige intelligentie. We vragen je daarom mee te denken over waar dat onderzoek over moet gaan.

Welke thema’s zou jij wetenschappers willen meegeven? Wat is jouw toekomstvisie over kunstmatige intelligentie? En welke onderzoeksrichtingen moeten onderzoekers volgens jou juist vermijden? Vul de enquête in

De uitkomsten van deze enquête dienen als input voor de Nationale Wetenschapsagenda. Deze agenda bepaalt de richting waar het wetenschappelijk onderzoek in Nederland over gaat.

Wastebuild Zero is the conference that brings together the sustainable construction ecosystem to showcase the latest materials, techniques, solutions and innovations that contribute to lower CO2 emissions. It will take place on 11 and 12 May 2023 at the NDSM wharf, in the NDSM Loods. We expect approximately 1500 architects, companies, developers and policy officers, mainly from the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium/Germany.
 
On the exhibition floor, the Municipality of Amsterdam/Amsterdam Trade & Innovate (AT&I) has a large booth where we offer space for 8-10 startups and scale-ups from the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area to present themselves and get in touch with peers and potential customers.
 
Do you want to be one of these 8-10 companies? Then you can expect this:
• A dedicated spot with for your company, on the AT&I booth
• Your own screen with HDMI cable for presentations and possibility to showcase your products
• Time slot in the pitch area of our booth to hold a presentation
• Free access to the Wastebuild expo
• Discount tickets for 2 people to the conference (info will follow)
• Meetings with peers and potential clients
• Free coffee, tea and water throughout the day
• Inspiration!
 
What do we ask of the companies?
• A contribution of 550 euros
• A pitch in English, including slides
• Continuous presence on the stand
• If you have a physical product, samples or mock-ups to showcase
 
Do you want to join?
Confirm your participation with Nancy Zikken no later than April 7 2023, via n.zikken@amsterdam.nl or 06 28946489. Of course you are more than welcome to ask questions.

Hi everyone,

I am currently in my Final year of of a BSc in City Planning and Environmental Policy in University College Dublin. I am also planning on doing a masters in Urban design and Planning.

I want to pursue an internship opportunity for the summer months of 2023 (June-August). Does anyone have any information on any companies/ projects that are willing to take interns within Europe?

I am super passionate about sustainable development and the urban environment and would love to gain experience in my feild!

Thanks so much in advance!

Is jouw bedrijf actief op het gebied van slimme en duurzame stedelijke ontwikkeling en wil je je activiteiten uitbreiden naar andere landen binnen de Europese Unie? Ga van 13 t/m 16 november 2022 mee naar de Smart City World Expo Congress (SCWEC) in Barcelona.

De jaarlijkse Smart City Expo in Barcelona is dé plek waar corporates, startups, steden en kennissinstellingen die werken aan van klimaatneutrale en slimme steden, elkaar ontmoeten. Dit jaar vindt tegelijkertijd weer het Tomorrow.Mobility congres over plaats. Deze twee zakenbeurzen zijn belangrijke plekken om te netwerken en zaken te doen met internationale steden, bedrijven en investeerders.
Nederlandse partijen, waaronder Amsterdam Smart City, organiseren dit jaar diverse activiteiten.
Ben je geïnteresseerd of van plan om te gaan? Dan zijn er twee goede opties:

1. Er is een handelsmissie van RVO en de 5 grote steden, speciaal voor startups en scale-ups met maatschappelijke uitdagingen in steden, die willen groeien in Europa. We bezoeken de beurs, er komt een businessforum met matchmaking, plus meer informele (inter)nationale bijeenkomsten, er is vooraf een climate impacttraining (om de impact van je innovatieve oplossing op duurzaamheid en klimaatneutraliteit kwantitatief te meten) en we maken de combi met het 100 Climate Neutral Cities programma van de EU. Voor meer informatie en aanmelden: https://english.rvo.nl/news/events/smart-city-expo-world-congress-scwec-2022
 
2. Past deze missie niet bij jou of bij de fase waarin je bedrijf zich bevindt, maar wil je wel naar de Smart City Expo? Dan is er genoeg te doen! Diverse Nederlandse partijen werken op dit moment aan een (inter)nationaal programma voor Nederlandse bedrijven. Ook hier moet je denken aan een bezoek aan diverse stands, tours door de stad Barcelona en deelname aan het businessforum met workshops voorafgaand aan de Expo. Aan dit programma wordt de komende tijd nog gewerkt. Zodra er nieuws bekend is, deel ik dat.
 
Ben je hierin geïnteresseerd of heb je vragen? Neem dan contact op met Nancy Zikken, trade developer smart & sustainable cities bij Amsterdam Trade & innovate, via n.zikken@amsterdam.nl. Ik vertel je graag meer en houd je op de hoogte!

Dear reader,

I am Estefanía Morás, and I am a master student in Industrial Design at the University of Twente, currently working on an exciting research project. This project focuses on supporting transdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder collaboration in smart city initiatives and is supervised by Dr.ir. Deger Ozkaramanli (link). Current issues in smart cities cannot be tackled by a single profession or a discipline, yet bringing together multiple stakeholders from different backgrounds requires tools and methods that are tailored to their needs to ensure fruitful collaboration. I would like to address this challenge by designing a toolkit (physical or digital) that will facilitate managing value conflicts that may emerge among various stakeholders when trying to jointly define a ‘problem’ or find ‘common ground’.

To do this properly, I need input from both researchers and practitioners. This will ensure that the toolkit will be both evidence-based (based on the latest scientific research) as well as relevant for practitioners working in smart city projects such as yourself. Would you be available for a 1-hour interview with me to discuss a specific smart city project that you have been involved in? The emphasis in this interview will be on the opportunities and challenges that emerged in the collaboration (the process) and not so much on specific smart city technologies.

The date of this interview entirely depends on your availability, but if possible, I would like to meet before the end of September.

Hi everyone, I am Kyaw and currently studying master's in Urban Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change at Erasmus University Rotterdam. As I am currently doing my master thesis in Buiksloterham, I would like to conduct the interviewees with the residents and future residents of the district.

I would like to ask the questions about why the residents are using renewable energy systems in the existing households in that neighbourhoods and how they can communicate with their neighbour to increase the sense of community.

Please let me know where I can find the interviewees and distribute the surveys

I am Sener Kaya from Turkey. I am a lecturer in Ankara/Turkey. Also I am a PhD student in sociology at Sakarya University. My thesis subject is "The Transformation Revealed by Smart City Applications in Urban Identity: Amsterdam Example".  Because of my thesis, I want to come to the Amsterdam and do interviews with experts who work on smart city. If you accept, I would like to work with you. I am also member of Amsterdam Smart City.
There is no study on smart cities in the field of sociology in Turkey yet. If I finish my thesis successfully, it will be the first study. I would be very happy if you support me in this matter.

My thesis's main question is '' What kind of change/transformation do smart city applications reveal in urban identity?''.

Today, many smart city applications are made by local governments. What kind of a transformation do these studies reveal in the economic, physical and socio-cultural identity of the city that it has carried from the past to the present? How do these studies carried out by local governments respond to the social problems of individuals living in the city?These are some of the sub-questions in my research. When I decided to study this topic I noticed that smart city studies generally are about physical or economic dimensions, especially in Turkey. But In studies in Turkey, this issue has almost never been addressed with its social dimensions. Therefore, I decided that this issue should be studied. Because all the elements that make up the identity of the city should be taken into account in order for the studies to be put forward by the local governments to be holistic. This is why I chose the city of Amsterdam as an example. While the work done in the city of Amsterdam was done from the top to down in the past, the work done today is done from the bottom to up and the people are at the center. I would like to come to Amsterdam and have interviews with people and institutions working on this subject. I am waiting for good news from all of you. I hope someone else accept to work with me.

If you are a user of voice assistants, you have probably experienced misunderstandings, especially if you are a woman or have an accent.  One of the reasons behind misunderstandings is bias in voice biometrics. This is not a problem if you’re a white US male, but for the rest of us, voice-based systems may be biased.

If you use Google Assistant, whether you use the Assistant App, use Google Home, or Google Nest, you can help mitigate bias in voice biometrics by donating your voice records.

In the process, you will be able to explore your data before committing to donate it.
To do so:

1. Download a copy of your Google Assistant records (See detailed instructions)
2. Upload your data to our Data Donation Platform and explore it
3. Decide what exactly you want to share and donate your data!

We will use the donated data to develop design guidelines and construct an evaluation dataset that reflects real-life usage conditions of voice biometrics technology. In addition, you can participate in a follow-up interview to delve into your personal experience with voice assistants and further explore your data.

This project is part of my PhD research and your contribution would be greatly appreciated! Feel free to reach out :)

Dear Amsterdam Smart city community

I am reaching out to you to present a bit more of my project of Piss Soap and to ask you to vote and support my project at the New European Bauhaus Prize.
You can follow the link that will lead you to the voting page.

Piss Soap is a finalist in the section of “Rising Stars”, category Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life-cycle thinking

Please vote, share and support and make sure to check all the amazing projects around sustainability, inclusivity and a greener future together.

"Piss soap is made entirely out of human activity waste materials, namely wood ashes, used cooking oil and urine. All these materials are easily gathered locally, in Amsterdam. The gathering of material and production of the Piss Soap is locally implemented and redistributed to the public cleaning services as well as the inhabitants. Piss soap has a regenerative impact in our cities, allowing to transform in a creative and useful way, wastes that our cities congregate."

If you have any question or comment do not hesitate to contact me

Hello there,
Do you know about initiatives, projects, groups that are working to decrease the cost of living of a Dutch household? Energy, rent, food, care, etc, all those field could be interesting for our research. Successful or less, is not important, I am looking for lessons learnt.

We are an innovation studio funded by PostNL and Dasym looking into Application of technology to increase disposable income in the household (also by unlocking the potential of the neighbourhood).

Let me know if this resonates or rings any bell!
Gianluca

Smart mobility and LEV’s: a general introduction

 #Smart-Mobility is an important aspect for daily life and commuting/recurrent transportation needs and in this day&age there are many potential solution(s) for smart-mobility in Amsterdam. Today some of these new vehicles types are mostly restricted on city streets and Amsterdam citizens cannot grasp the potential of this vehicles. These devices can go up to at least 20km of range for short trips and with vehicle speeds ranging from 20, 25, 45 km/h (e-scooter, e-bike, moped respectively) and some as far as 90km/h (micro-car 90), etc.

Potential CO2 emission reduction research

There is a study regarding CO2 potential emission reduction by the use of light electric vehicles (LEV's) in contrast to short car trips usage. LEV's CO2 emissions is averaged at 24g CO2 eq/km compared with conventional vehicles (including EV's) averaged at 203g CO2 eq/km. The findings are quite relevant since it could reduce CO2 emissions as much as 44% = 57 million tones CO2 eq per year. The full study can be found at URL link below.

Proposal

If the Gemeente Amsterdam would lift the ban on LEV’s, this would be beneficial for Amsterdam citizens since they would have less noise (silent devices), cleaner air (by the study analysis) and maybe more fun alternative to ICE-scooters and cars.

Dear community,

To finish my studies at Hotelschool The Hague, I am conducting a research project. My research examines how the level of self-efficacy of residents in intensively visited cities can influence the creation of social cohesion. Over the years, the city of Amsterdam has become flooded with tourists and will therefore be the main focus of this research.

Are you, or have you been, a resident of Amsterdam? Then please do take five minutes out of your day to share your experiences with me. It would mean a lot!
In case of any questions or remarks, do not hesitate to contact me at 781008@hotelschool.nl.

Sharing is much appreciated and thank you very much in advance!

Link to the survey: https://lnkd.in/gtDReWrX

Warm regards,

Manon Gravesteijn