Energy

Eet jij content als ontbijt, lunch en diner? Weet je hoe je het netwerk van de Amsterdam Economic Board kunt aanspreken en activeren? Schrijf je sterke social posts in foutloos Nederlands en beheers je de Engelse taal op een goed niveau? Heeft Google Analytics geen geheimen voor je en maak je graag deel uit van een enthousiast en betrokken communicatieteam?

De Board heeft een vacature voor een krachtige Online Contentspecialist per september voor 32 uur per week. Reageer voor 30 juli en we gaan graag met je in gesprek.

Note van ASC: Wil je net iets meer weten? Laat het Jet weten in de comments.

We share a quick overview of the mobility and energy projects that are on the minds of our partners and community half way through 2021. In another successful Demo Day we glided from Smart Energy to the first MaaS app. We learned about Code the Streets and easier ways to get projects subsidiest after Corona.

Our demo days are part of a series and are intended for Amsterdam Smart City partners to present the progress of various innovation projects, ask for input, share dilemmas and involve other partners in projects. We give you a recap.

The bottlenecks of Smart Energy - Alienke Ramaker from Royal Haskoning DHV

We want Smart Energy and make use of it in a flexible matter. So it’s not a surprise that pilots and projects pop up to make charging more efficient. But for some reason these projects don’t grow. Tom van Loon from Royalhaskoning DHV (commissioned by TKI Urban Energy and RVO) not only presents the 5 bottlenecks with the help of 40 experts but also gives us action points. The next step is to make these points land. How can we do that?

Amaze - Edvard Hendriksen from Overmorgen/Arcadis

Amaze is the first Mobility as a Service (MaaS) app in the Netherlands. It gives you access to public transport, shared mobility (cars, bikes) and taxi’s with one app. To scale up employers need to be convinced so employees are easily triggered to make use of shared mobility. In September 500 companies will join the launch event. Do you know any employers that should join, or are you one? Let us know in the comments so we can connect you to Edvard.

Code the Streets – Sander Oudbier & Lilian Leermakers from AMS Institute

Creating an app that makes cities less busy and saver, that’s what CODE the Streets is doing. Our region keeps growing and the same goes for our streets, neighbourhood’s and cities so we constantly need to come up with smart ways to organize mobility. Lilian Leermakers explains that the streets of Amsterdam are coded and added to navigation software. This can be used to avoid small streets around schools for instance. They’re looking for 200 users in Amsterdam and Helsinki so they can gather good feedback. The pilot starts at the end of August. Would you like to be part of the test team?

Innovation partners - Eefje Smeulders from City of Amsterdam & Dave van Loon from Kennisland

To give the region an economic and sustainable transition boost, the city of Amsterdam has extra funds available. A chance for our network to get a subsidy for the plans they work on.

Dave van Loon from Kennisland is working on a Dutch subsidy request himself: “energietransitie als vliegwiel voor een leefbare buurt”. An area oriented plan in which co-creation will connect multiple transitions. The idea is to work together with all the parties that are involved; residents, government, companies, energy suppliers, housing corporations and knowledge institutions. The end goal would be a Fieldlab. Would you like to know more and work with Dave on this? Let us know in the comments and we’ll connect you.

Amsterdam must and can transit into the doughnut much faster. That is why we organize the Amsterdam Donut Days. Four days full of meetings and workshops to find out together with Kate Raworth how we can create breakthroughs. So mark September 28 to October 1, 2021 in your agenda for the Amsterdam Doughnut Days!

- Donut Design Workshop, WDCD and Tolhuistuin – 28 Sept. 09.00 - 13.00
- Workshop Powers to Act, Pakhuis de Zwijger – 29 Sept. 09.00 - 18.00
- ADC Community Event, Culture Club – Sept. 30 15.00 - 17.00
- The Big Donut Showcase, Pakhuis de Zwijger – 30 Sept. 20.00-22.00
- Center for Economic Transformation, AUAS – 1 Oct. 9.30 - 13.00

A week full of donut events at various locations in Amsterdam. Go where the energy is: save the date and keep an eye on our event page for more info.

The Amsterdam Donut Days is an initiative of the Amsterdam Donut Coalition, in collaboration with the Amsterdam University of the Arts (AHK), Culture Club, the Donut Economics Action Lab (DEAL), Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS), Pakhuis de Zwijger, Tolhuistuin , What Design Can Do (WDCD) and YesAndMore.

For centuries, entrepreneurship was linked to art and craft and rewarded by personal fulfilment, satisfied customers, and a good life. The term entrepreneur is still associated with giving direction, shape and content to new activities based on personal motivation and skills and thereby creating socially approved value. A description that applies to the self-employed, business entrepreneurs, franchisees or intrapreneurs and includes both commercial, institutional, and artistic activities.
However, there are two problems. Overcoming them opens the way to become a better business.

The plunder of the earth

Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz has warned that the creative power of entrepreneurship can easily become destructive. A 'maker' becomes a 'taker' once creating value becomes making money in the first place. Indeed, for centuries, companies have robbed resources around the world, destroyed nature, traded millions of slaves and exploited domestic workers, creating the divide between rich and poor countries.
The creative power of entrepreneurship can also be aimed at sustainable prosperity, for their employees, the country, and the world. In that case, the “purpose” of a company precedes the pursuit of profit. Unfortunately, still a minority of all companies are moving in this direction while others pretending.

The decline of engagement and passion within the workforce

There is more. In developed countries, the blatant exploitation of labour has disappeared. Instead, the majority of employment relegates into low strain jobs. Research by Gallup and Deloite has shown over consecutive years that over 64% of all employees worldwide are not engaged or passionate. Find John Hagel explain this in a short video. The reason is clear. 20th century companies have organized their production according to principles of scalable efficiency and have top-down planning and control.  Room for initiative is therefore neither expected nor desired. Moreover, detailed protocols and regulations limit employment for people at a distance from the labour market.
In a rapidly changing world, companies must be adaptive and innovative. They therefore need flexible, interdisciplinary teams with a high degree of self-government and less pay differentials. According to recent research in 17 countries, this type of organizations (8%) outperforms in all respects.

Summarizing, to become a better business requires a double challenge:
·  Replacing the dominance of the pursuit of money with a social and environmental purpose.
·  Mobilizing the entrepreneurial and other capacities of their whole work force by forms of self-organization and shared leadership.

Why focussing on startups?

As only a limited number of companies meet these conditions, employees consider starting their own business. In the US alone, approximately two million workers give up well-paying jobs every year and become self-employed. 127,000 starters were registered in the Netherlands in 2018.  Of them, only a minority will become a startup, which means that they will successfully commercialize a promising technological innovation and grow rapidly on an international level.

Start-ups are potential engines of growth and innovation. In the US, their steady growth is compensating for job losses in the rest of the economy. Dutch startups created 20.000 of jobs in 2018 and 2019. A recent reportoffers excellent documentation of the identity, growth and potential of the 4,311 Dutch startups in 2019, most of which have fewer than 10 employees. 34% of Dutch startups can found in the Amsterdam metropolitan area.

The hope is that start-ups will rise to both challenges by nurturing their social and environmental purpose end fueling the commitment and passion of each employee, and thereby become a better business.

Yet, like any other businesses, startups risk becoming takers rather than makers, trading their social and environmental purpose for the pursuit of money and losing the engagement and passion of their employees. Fortunately, they can prevent this.

Eleven ways to become or stay a better business

1.  Embrace self-organization and shared leadership.
2.  Involve all employees in the continuous strengthening of the social and environmental purpose of the company.
3.  Enable all employees to become shareholders or even better co-owners.
4.  Cherish diversity within the employees.
5. Secure shares in a foundation while enabling shareholders to support the purpose of the company.
6.  Cap the profit to a level that guarantees the continuity of the company.
7.  Ban greed, cancel bonuses, or at most pay a limited and equal allowance to all employees.
8.  Place surplus profits in a foundation that spends money in accordance with the purpose of the company.
9.  Being a fair taxpayer who refrains from tax avoidance practices.
10.Create a supervisory board to monitor the purpose of the company.
11.Focus the founder/director/CEO role on monitoring the purpose of the company and the commitment of all employees and on fueling the discussion on how to deal with changing external conditions.

Rapid societal changes require a reinventing the concept of entrepreneurship. Because of their flexibility and commitment, startups are apt to embrace the dual ambition of pursuing a social and environmental purpose and of mobilizing all employee’s engagement and passion.

My next post will look at how cities can help start-ups to settle, grow and become better businesses. The history of entrepreneurship, its growing distance from ‘makership’ and its possible revival by start-ups is documented in chapter 4 of my e-book Humane cities. Always humane. Smart if helpful. The English version of this book can be downloaded for free below.

Als SMC| Strategie en Management Consultants van Royal HaskoningDHV zijn we op zoek naar mensen die 'samen' impact willen maken op de transities in onze leefomgeving. Niet omdat ze weten hoe het moet, maar omdat ze anderen kunnen begeleiden in hoe het kan! 'Gedeeld Eigenaarschap' noemen we dat in onze visie op samen werken aan maatschappelijke veranderopgaven.

Voor de volgende vacatures na de zomervakantie komen we graag nu al met je in contact:

→ Proces- en programmamanager nationale en regionale energiestrategieen en PPS (circa 10 jaar ervaring);
→ Senior-Consultant Bestuur, Programma’s en Organisatie (circa 10 à 15 jaar ervaring)
→ Proces-professionals Klimaat, Energie, Ruimte, Mobiliteit en Landbouw (circa 2 à 7 jaar ervaring).

Voor een eerste 'teen in het water', bel of mail al gerust met pascal.lamberigts@rhdhv.com / 06 – 22 37 86 65. Dan passen we onze vacatures graag aan op jouw kwaliteiten en meerwaarde.

→ Voor een kijkje in de keuken bij ministeries, provincies, gemeenten, waterschappen en - steeds meer - ook bedrijven;
→ Voor strategisch mensenwerk in de voorfase van nieuwe ontwikkelingen, met 6.500 collega's als inhoudelijke sparringpartners in een groot, internationaal bedrijf;
→ Voor samenwerken in een cultuur gebaseerd op de principes van de netwerkorganisatie – veel vrijheid, veel verantwoordelijkheid;
→ Voor een eigen SMC Academy gericht op samen leren en ontwikkelen in proces- en programmamanagement en organisatieontwikkeling;
→ Voor de snelste leercurve in opgavegericht werken voor young professionals als springplank naar een volgende uitdagende baan bij ministeries, provincies en grote gemeenten.

Are you interested in sustainability & design? Do you also enjoy working in interdisciplinary teams? Then this is your chance to participate in the Global Goals Jam 2021, register here.

On September 17 & 18 the Green Office HvA is organizing the Global Goals Jam in joint effort with the Digital Society School and the UNDP. During these two days participants worldwide will work in multidisciplinary teams, in order to create short- term interventions for local challenges using a design-thinking toolkit.

In this 2021 edition we focus on the topic of the century: Climate change. We have subcategorized this immense theme, into three sub-categories.

1. Climate Justice
How do we shift the focus on greenhouse gasses and melting ice caps into a civil rights movement with the people and communities most vulnerable to climate impacts at its core? How do we make sure that sustainability is not exclusive?

2. Beyond human-centered design
What will happen if non-human actors are our main priority in our design activities? How will design processes and ideas change when we take a nature-centered perspective?

3. Regenerative cities
How do we close the loops of our urban systems and communities? And how could we design our cities as ecological systems that are not only sustainable but also contribute to the economy as a whole?

Let’s partner up.
We’re always looking for partners who can support us in the organization, below are some examples as to how you can contribute. Reach out to exlore the benefits this partnership can bring you!

- A challenge within your organisation related to the themes.
- Speaker who can introducte the challenges on the kick-off on September 17.
- A jury to evaluate the pitches at the end of the event on September 18.
- Catering contributions.
-Professional documentation of the event.

Your own proposal is also very welcome!

Register here for the Global Goals Jam 2021
Do you have a question? Don’t hesitate to send an e-mail to n.troost@hva.nl!

Plastic verpakkingen, welke alternatieven en innovatieve oplossingen zijn er?

Om het toepassen van nieuwe innovatieve en duurzame oplossingen te bevorderen koppelen ABN Amro, Impact Hub Amsterdam en TNW innovaties aan bedrijven tijdens het Impact Nation programma. Op 26 augustus doen we dit live bij CIRCL met verschillende experts op het gebied van plastic en verpakking. Tijdens het evenement behandelen we drie strategieën om met het plastic probleem om te gaan en bijbehorende innovaties:

1. Minder plastic: zoals ontwerpstrategieën die minder plastic materiaal vereisen
2. Beter plastic: ontworpen voor hergebruik inclusief retourlogistiek
3. Geen plastic: biobased of andere alternatieve materialen, verpakking weglaten.

Programma:
15:00 Welkomstwoord en introductie door Impact Nation
15:05 ABN Sector Banker David Kemps: B2B plastic
15:10 ABN Sector Banker Retail Henk Hofstede: B2C plastic
15:15 Expert presentatie: Minder plastic
15:30 Expert presentatie: Beter plastic.
15:45 Expert presentatie: Geen plastic.
16:00 Einde virtueel event.
16:00 Q&A met sprekers en publiek bij CIRCL.
16:30 borrel bij CIRCL

Sprekers
Minder plastic: Tim Brekers, Vytal
Beter plastic: Liz Madaras, PoliLoop
Geen plastic: Jan Berbee, Grown Bio

Voor wie:

• MKB
• Startups
• Experts uit de plastic industrie.

Waarom meedoen?
Er zijn 8,5 miljard stuks plastics in de wereld, dat is 1000 kilo per inwoner. En er overlijden 1 miljoen mensen per jaar door gevolgen van plastic. Voor de toekomst is het nodig dat we met elkaar blijven werken aan slim ontwerp, hergebruik, retoursystemen en hoogwaardige recycling.

Locatie
Dit evenement vindt zowel online als offline plaats. Wilt u het event virtueel bijwonen? Kies dan voor het ticket Online bijwonen in de check-out. Daarnaast zijn er 50 regular tickets (Live bij CIRCL) beschikbaar om het event bij te wonen op locatie bij CIRCL, in Amsterdam.

Partners:
Dit evenement is een samenwerking tussen Impact Hub en CIRCL.

Note van ASC: Wil je net iets meer weten? Laat het weten in de comments.

Are you worried that no one besides your supervisor will ever read your thesis? This year openresearch.amsterdam will publish all theses that are relevant for the greater Amsterdam area.

At openresearch already more than 2500 civil servants, academics and designers find each other’s work. The aim of the platform is to:

• Share knowledge
• Show relations between different kinds of knowledge
• Work together in research projects

A great place for students and starters to work on their own professional network in the city by sharing their work, in line with our motto: Dare to share.

Dare to share
So, is your thesis about the Herengracht in the 17th century, dyslexia in Amsterdam Zuidoost, the Amsterdam energy transition or another topic that relates to the city? Send your thesis to: openresearch@amsterdam.nl

For more information and terms and conditions, click here.

Something to share with your interns
Are you not a student, but do you work with graduating or graduated students in your organisation? Bringing this post to the attention of your colleagues is appreciated.

Note from ASC: Have a tip for Zola? Let’s hear it in the comments.

Gaan we straks met de hyperloop op vakantie, stappen we in een personendrone, of is de (elektrische) fiets hét vervoersmiddel van de toekomst? In vier artikelen zoekt NEMO Kennislink-redacteur Roel van der Heijden op welke transportmanieren we moeten inzetten. Sparen we het milieu of willen we zo snel mogelijk overal ter wereld zijn? Sommige keuzes gaan ten koste van elkaar, maar niet altijd. We definiëren steeds een nieuwe einddoel. Het eerste deel is: hoe maken we vervoer zo duurzaam mogelijk?

De (elektrische) fiets is in dit toekomstscenario doorgebroken als hét vervoersmiddel voor alle afstanden onder de pakweg twintig kilometer. Hij blijkt niet te verslaan als het om duurzaamheid gaat. Ga je iets verder dan pak je de elektrische auto of trein. Voor de echt lange reizen gebruiken mensen het vliegtuig op grotendeels synthetische brandstoffen uit duurzame stroom.

Klinkt dit scenario verrassend ‘gewoon’? De fiets, de auto en het vliegtuig als de vervoersmiddelen van de toekomst? Waar zijn de drones en hyperloops? Uit een rondgang van NEMO Kennislink bij een aantal duurzaamheids- en vervoersonderzoekers blijkt dat we het daar wat betreft duurzaamheid niet van moeten hebben.

Lees het artikel hier. In vervolgdelen nemen we op een vergelijkbare manier de snelheid, betaalbaarheid en het delen van vervoer onder de loep.

(foto Petar Milošević via CC BY-SA 4.0)

What are the opportunities for biodiversity in the market this year? Conventional farming is a huge driver of climate change and biodiversity loss. The good news is that regenerative agriculture could be the answer to turning it all around! However, scaling regenerative agriculture should not fall on farmers alone – it should be a joint effort across the supply chain.

Food companies and retailers should reward farmers who embrace these practices as well as governments, and intergovernmental organizations must reshape policies or plans and even incentivise regenerative agriculture. Consumers should be educated about this problem and encouraged to make conscious food choices, which will grow demand for sustainably produced products. Join us for this webinar and get to know more about the possibilities for your food startup to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable food system.

Get to know the latest from the regenerative agriculture & biodiversity industry and learn about our programmes in just 30 min during lunch!

For whom

• Startups that would like to grow their business
• Idea owners that would like to turn their idea into business.
• Anyone who would like to learn more about regenerative agriculture and biodiversity

Why join

• The latest development in regenerative agriculture and biodiversity
• First hand experience about our accelerator and incubator programs on food
• Ask all your questions to our alumni and team
• Expand your network

Program
12:30 intro
12:35 expert talk: 2021 market trends in regenerative agriculturen& biodiversity
12:50 Q&A about our food accelerators

Speakers
Felipe Villela, reNature
Wij.land

Note from ASC: Would you like to know more? Let Hendrike know in the comments.

Get to know the opportunities for short & value chains in the food sector and learn about acceleration opportunities in just 30 min!

For whom

• Startups that would like to grow their business
• Idea owners that would like to turn their idea into business.
• Anyone who would like to learn more about a short & fair value chain in the food industry

Why join

• The latest trends in a short & fair value chain
• First hand experience about our accelerator and incubator programs on food
• Ask all your questions to our alumni and team
• Expand your network

Short & fair value chains
The value chain is defined as the set of activities performed to design, produce, market, deliver, and support products. The sustainable food system starts with fair and ethical chains, emphasising quality, safety, diversity, responsibility, and traceability. What are the opportunities for short & fair value chains this year in the market? What do we need to change to be a part of the Sustainable Food Ecosystem? Join us for a discussion over lunch during our webinar and get the answer to these and more chains-related questions. At the end of your lunch break, you will be acquainted with the possibilities for your food startup to accelerate the transition.

Programme
12:30 intro
12:35 expert talk: 2021 market trends in short & fair value chains
12:50 Q&A about our food accelerators

Speakers
Alum Yorick Bruins, co-founder Wakuli
Mentor & sector expert Drees Peter van den Bosch, chairperson Taskforce Korte Keten

Learn about the opportunities in the market and our acceleration programs in just 30 min during lunchtime!

For whom

• Startups that would like to grow their business
• Idea owners that would like to turn their idea into business.
• Anyone who would like to learn more about packaging & circularity in food

Why join

• The latest developments  in packaging & circularity in food
• First hand experience about our accelerator and incubator programs on food
• Ask all your questions to our alumni and team
• Expand your network

Program
12:30 intro
12:35 expert talk: 2021 market trends on packaging & circularity
12:50 Q&A about our food accelerators

Speakers
Pieter Pot

Vandebron is a scale-up in the energy world, with a mission to transform the energy market, starting with 100% green and local energy in the Netherlands. We are doing so by using state of the art technology that helps us distinguish ourselves from other utility providers. Our Digital team is looking for people that want to create a better world using software.

We create software that enables the energy transitions by balancing smart grids, facilitating electric mobility and producing more (local) green energy. Currently there are multiple open, technical positions:

• Engineering Manager
• Backend Developer
• Fullstack Developer

Or also find some of our non-technical open positions here. Feel free to reach out to me in case you have any questions!

Note from ASC: Have a question? Let’s hear it in the comments.

Over the coming months, the building of the Temporary Courthouse Amsterdam will be dismantled and completely reassembled on 'Kennispark Twente' (the area of Business & Science Park/Campus UT) in Enschede. There, it will have a new function as an office and research facility.

The temporary accommodation provided the Amsterdam judiciary continuity during the construction of the new permanent court. Now that this new home has been completed, the building will move as planned. At the time, the Central Government Real Estate Agency (RVB) tendered the assignment as a Design, Build, Maintain & Remove contract, which was realized by dpcp, a cooperation between cepezedprojects and Du Prie Bouw & Ontwikkeling. cepezed and cepezedinterior designed the building and Du Prie took care of the execution.

National Sustainability Award Steel after completion
Importantly because of its high degree of circularity, it won both the Amsterdam Architecture Prize (Golden AAP) and the National Sustainability Award Steel after completion. Also, in the report 'Circular Buildings – a measurement method for detachability' it scores the highest of all tested projects. The demountable construction and floors, which cepezed designed in close collaboration with IMd Consulting Engineers, play an important role in this.

Dismantling and reassembly with a 3D model
Yesterday saw the handover of the key from the RVB to dpcp, which heralds the new phase of the building. For the relocation, dpcp called in the expertise and experience of Lagemaat from Heerde, a company with a solid background in the dismantling and reassembly of buildings. Through a unique coding based on the 3D model and a 3D scan, the precise position of each part is known. Smaller elements are transported in containers and larger ones, such as the walkway, are loaded directly onto trucks. Lagemaat processes materials that are not reused in other projects. A minimal amount will be recycled in a high-quality manner. The dismantling period starts today already. The building is expected to be taken into use by the Overijssel Restructuring Company in early 2022.

Note from ASC: Would you like to know more? Let Menno know in the comments.

We leven in een tijdperk van 'fast fashion', waarin we vallen van de ene trend in de andere. We dragen een paar keer dat toffe jasje, waarna deze onderin de kast verdwijnt of zelfs wordt weggegooid. Monique Drent pakt deze symbolische 'klerezooi' aan met The Swapshop. In deze winkel lever je jouw kleding in, en kun je met je verdiende punten of 'swaps' weer een tweedehands outfit scoren!

Ik de Swapshop kun je jouw kleding inleveren en hier krijg je punten voor. In de winkel kun je met deze zogeheten ‘swaps’ en een klein bedrag aan servicekosten een ‘nieuwe’ tweedehands outfit scoren.

‘Je draagt bij aan het verkleinen van de afvalberg, je verlengt de levensduur en je hoeft minder te produceren. Het is win-win-win!'

Lees in ons interview met Monique wat zij doet voor een duurzaam Amsterdam en welke mooie samenwerkingen zij opzoekt!💚

Note van ASC: Wil je nog net iets meer weten? Laat het weten in de comments.

Build your knowledge & skills on the Living Lab approach during the online AMS Summer School 2021.

You will learn to understand what a Living Lab is and when it can be of value to start one. You’ll also gain hands-on knowledge on what is needed to have a successful start, and how to deal with issues such as stakeholder involvement and citizen empowerment.

The Summer school will challenge you to work with a new mindset, build a new network of professionals and academia. It gives you the opportunity to be a part of the next steps towards the future of one of Amsterdam’s key projects.

During the Summer school, we will help you solve the real-world challenge you bring with your team.

What can you expect?
During the week you will work in a team of 5 participants on a pre-defined real-life case. The Urban Living Lab Summer School consists of lectures, online co-working sessions, trainings, and real-world interventions. It will tap into theoretical frameworks of Living Lab methodology, process tools to help deliver a plan of approach and deploy teamwork on a real-life case. It will focus on your own learning goals for reinventing cities of tomorrow. The mix of participants - academic researchers, public professionals, and company innovation managers, with at least 5 years of experience - generates new insights and perspectives on the challenges by co-creating solutions together.

Cases we'll work on

• Case 1 – Circularity at IJburg 2
• Case 2a – Mobility hubs: area-oriented approach ‘Jordaan’ & ‘Westelijke Grachtengordel’ Amsterdam
• Case 2b - Exploration of mobility hub development at ‘Appeltjesmarkt/Europarking’ location, Amsterdam

During the week
In the week of 16 August you can expect a full-time online program running from Monday to Friday from 9:00-17:00. We expect you to be present to get the most out of it, also be there for your team. Every day you will attend inspirational lectures, participate in workshops, get personal coaching and work with your group on your case. All classes, materials and discussions will be in English.

Pricing
PhD student: € 500
Senior researcher € 900
Professional € 2000

The application deadline is July 16, so make sure to apply on time.

Note from ASC: Have a question? Let’s hear it in the comments!

Demodays are part of our innovation process and intended to boost the progress of the various innovation projects, put requests for help on the table, share dilemmas and involve others in your projects or challenges. Invitations are sent but we're always open to adding a few new names to the list.

We host them every 8-10 weeks. During Demo days, community members pitch projects and ask for input and in small groups we work on concrete questions that our partners put on the table. We organize workshops with them and other partners to get a step further in the process. All in a very positive, open and cheerful vibe.

This time on the agenda:

Pitches:

Bottlenecks in Smart Energy - Royal Haskoning DHV
Smart energy is more flexibel; use, production and storage can be adjusted according to the need or capacity of the net. To get where we want to be we need to speed thins along. Royalhaskoning DHV presents research that show the bottlenecks.

Introduction Overmorgen - Arcadis
Overmorgen will be part of Arcadis. Both companies will join forces to make even more impact in realizing a sustainable living environment. As Overmorgen also becomes a Amsterdam Smart City partner via Arcadis it’s good to get to know each other.

CODE the streets - AMS Institute
Creating an app that makes cities less busy and saver, that’s wat CODE the Streets is doing. Our region keeps growing and the same goes for our streets, neighbourhood’s and cities so we constantly need to come up with smart ways to organize mobility.

Innovation partner subsidy - City of Amsterdam
To give the region an economic and sustainable transition boost, the city of Amsterdam has extra funds available. A chance for our network to get subsidy for the plans they work on.

Workshops:

• Knowledge platform Smart Energy - MRA bureau
• Smart mobility as a part of region development  - Vervoerregio Amsterdam
• Neighbourhood participation learnings - Pakhuis de Zwijger
•. Improving energy infrastructure for cars at resting areas - Firan

Have a question? Let’s hear it in the comments!

The Regional Green Deals of the Metropolitan Region Amsterdam were presented by Frank Weerwind, Mayor of Almere at the Mayor’s Summit of the 100 Intelligent Cities Challenge. Together with the Amsterdam Economic Board and Amsterdam Smart City, the Metropolitan Regio Amsterdam acts as a mentor region for the 100 European cities who participate in the challenge to work together on their ambitions for the digital and green transition.

For cities that want to work with their stakeholders on ambitious green deals the European Commission now published a practical guide titled Local Green Deals, A Blueprint for Action.

Find the speech by Mayor Weerwind below

22 June 2022

Honorable guests, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure and honor to me to be invited to the Mayors’ Summit of the 100 Intelligent Cities Challenge,  and I am very excited to share with you some of my thoughts on the green and digital – or  twin – transition in the cities and regions of Europe. I also would like to express my gratitude to the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions for organizing this event on Green Deals and for launching the 100 Intelligent Cities Challenge. By doing this, you recognize the power of cities in the twin transition, you see the need for support for cities to make this transition happen and by this programme, you facilitate the network that cities can create.

My own city is Almere, a new town near Amsterdam and just 45 years old: it was created from scratch on reclaimed land from the sea, and is now a vibrant city with over 215.000 inhabitants. It is a city without ancient history and traditions, but a young city with a strong pioneering spirit, where there is space to experiment and to test innovative solutions in living labs. Our living lab approach has resulted in various circular and sustainable energy innovations in the city, for example: a smart thermal grid for the new Hortus neighborhood. The living lab approach has also led to the choice for Almere as the location for the World Expo on Horticulture in 2022, the Floriade, which will showcase innovations on greening, feeding, healthying and energizing cities, under the umbrella off Growing Green Cities.  The twin transition is evidently a core aspect in this event. I will take this opportunity to invite you all to visit the expo next year in Almere.

But this morning I represent not only Almere but the Metropolitan Region Amsterdam, a region consisting of 32 municipalities and two provinces. An economically strong region in Europe with a high quality of life, an international hub with a huge amount of talent, knowledge, innovation and businesses. The Metropolitan Region Amsterdam is one of the so-called mentors in this programme, because we believe in sharing our vision with other cities in terms of knowledge and innovation, but, please, let me assure you that our ‘success’ story has been established, due to knowledge and innovation coming from the cooperation between cities. My aim for now is to continue the dialogue with you on the issues that we are sharing together.

As many of your regions, our region, with an economy highly defined by tourism and services industries, was hit hard by COVID-19. Therefore, we decided at an early stage to investigate, together with knowledge institutions and the business sector, how we could aim for green recovery. We felt more was needed, besides the required regional energy strategies, investing in our energy backbones, which nowadays also include a hydrogen-infrastructure, and ongoing European energy transition projects such as Atelier. We asked the Amsterdam Economic Board to organise this investigation, since they act independently and aim for connecting the companies, research and education institutes and governments in our region. Facing such an unprecedented crisis, we did not want to do this as governments alone, but together with all relevant stakeholders. And, my fellow Mayors, that is a lesson I want to share with you: don’t do it alone.

Based on interactive stakeholder sessions and scenario-planning, we started a trajectory towards green recovery, resulting so far in 3 Regional Green Deals and with these deals, extra focus on skills for sustainable jobs. The Green Deals are: making the textile value chain circular, developing the region as a innovative bicycle hotspot and -for the Netherlands this is really innovative- increase the amount of new-build houses in timber to 20% of the total of new residential building activity.

As a result of those Local Green Deals, we invest faster and more effectively in the economy of today and tomorrow. The aim is to anticipate on changing jobs and the necessary skills, to fill existing and future vacancies and to achieve greater well-being and prosperity in the long term. And that is what we wish for the whole of the European Union.

To conclude, I would like to compliment you with your efforts in the 100 Intelligent Cities Challenge. And please feel free to take a closer look into the work of the Metropolitan Region Amsterdam and to learn, copy the elements that would benefit you, but also to bring your knowledge to us, for example via our online platform Amsterdam Smart City. That way, together we advance in the European twin transition. And move forward to the digital, inclusive and sustainable future of our cities.

We are currently looking for a lot of new colleagues, in various departments:

• Energy Control Systems Developer
  - Senior Software Developer
  - Software Developer
• Technical Project Manager
• Smart Energy Consultant
• Front-End Developer
• New Business Development Manager
• Embedded Systems Engineer
• Finance & Admin Support
• Marketing Intern
• Software Team Lead for our Smart Building Platform
• Software Developer for our Data Platform

Come join our growing international team and help us make the world more sustainable while having fun!

During this online event, we will identity opportunities to accelerate circularity for solar panels. We will do this together with frontrunners from science, industry, and government.

For solar panels to be sustainable, we need circular solutions addressing their full life cycle. Currently their production causes huge environmental and social impact, while reuse and proper recycling does not occur.

When: Monday 28th of June
What time: 14:00h - 18:00h CEST
Where: Online event live from NEMO

Sign up for the 24th Circular Economy Lab: Circular Solar Panels.

Toward circular solutions for solar panels
Nowadays solar panels are treated as disposables. In the Netherlands, currently about 7 to 8 million new solar panels are installed every year, amounting to over 120.000 ton of valuable materials imported each year. Soon this growth of the solar energy market will result a huge pile of discarded PV modules.

It is about time that we start investing in circular solutions for solar panels. At present, we don’t do much with discarded panels. There is no demand for used PV modules, which either end up in landfills or are downcycled. This way, we will run into trouble, as solar panels are valuable high-tech products. Production of panels costs a lot of energy and causes a lot of CO2 and environmental impact while being associated with forced labor in China. Moreover, Western countries increasingly make themselves dependent on scarce and critical raw materials applied in PV modules.

Starting off a circular PV movement
In collaboration with Amsterdam Economic Board, City of Amsterdam and Alliantie Cirkelregio Utrecht, Utrecht Sustainability Institute and AMS Institute organize the 24th Circular Economy Lab on solar panels.

During the Circular Economy Lab, experts and frontrunners from science, industry, and governments will come together to identify opportunities and hurdles for circular innovations in the solar energy market. The goal is to start a circular movement for solar panels in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. We will address promising market innovations in a circular design, business models, and high-value recycling. In addition, we will discuss the incentive role of governments in policymaking and green public procurement.

Join the panel discussions, learn from the experts and raise the questions that help your organization forward. The Circular Economy Lab will be an online and interactive session, live streamed from NEMO Studio.

This event is in Dutch.

Sign up here for the 24th Circular Economy Lab: Circular Solar Panels

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