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A systems approach is key.

Climate transition plans that lack a systemic perspective can unintentionally shift risks, disrupt supply chains, harm human rights, or even contribute to biodiversity loss. For example, switching to a low-carbon product that requires three times more land may address your carbon goals, but jeopardize your biodiversity targets.

Without considering these interdependencies, your climate strategy may become inefficient and require reworking as new issues arise.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼👇

By addressing root causes and considering the ripple effects of climate decision-making in other areas, a systems lens ensures your plan goes beyond regulatory box-ticking.

Together, we can co-create effective action plans with your stakeholders and develop customized decision-making frameworks, accounting for material impacts on climate, nature, and people across your operations and value chain.

How? Learn how our Systemic Transition Suite can unlock your business’s full potential ⬇️

#BeyondCompliance #climatetransition #sustainabilityreporting #CSRD #ESG #circulareconomy

Scroll naar beneden voor de Nederlandse versie

Growth is an end in itself, dictates the current economic model. For only growth would keep our economy going and be indispensable to further sustainability. At the same time, our planet is being depleted by this drive for green growth.

Is it time to abandon economic growth as a social ideal? And then what are workable, more social alternatives?
More and more business owners are opting for sustainable operations. They settle for less financial gain to do valuable work with positive social and environmental impact. The rise of the commons movement, housing-, energy- and food cooperatives, as well as social initiatives in health and welfare, show that people want to stand together for values other than financial gain.

Achievable and real alternatives

New economic models offer different perspectives for considering the economy as part of a society. They offer tools to make that economy more equitable and sustainable. Yet the new economic thinking is still often dismissed as unrealistic and unachievable. Only by trying out these theories in practice can we demonstrate that these are real alternatives.

New economic thinking, New economic acting

To experiment with new economic theory and models in practice, the Amsterdam Economic Board has started the New Economic Models exploration. In April, we introduced the living lab project “New Economic Thinking, New Economic Acting” at the Marineterrein in Amsterdam. In this we work on socio-economic experiments, together with AMS Institute, AHK Culture Club, And The People, Bureau Marineterrein, Kennisland, The Next Speaker and the knowledge coalition ‘Art, Tech & Science’.

The Marineterrein is the ideal place to do this because it is an official experiment site. Moreover, companies located here are often already working on circular and social projects. Cultural institutions and organisations at the Marineterrein, in turn, can represent what thriving without economic growth could look like and fuel our desire for a new economy.

Read the full Article

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Bouwen aan lokale mini-economie binnen planetaire grenzen

Groei is een doel op zich, dicteert het huidige economische model. Want alleen groei zou onze economie draaiende houden en onmisbaar zijn om verder te verduurzamen. Tegelijkertijd raakt onze planeet uitgeput door die drang naar groene groei.

Wordt het tijd om economische groei als maatschappelijk ideaal los te laten? En wat zijn dan werkbare, socialere alternatieven?
Steeds meer ondernemers kiezen voor een duurzame bedrijfsvoering. Zij nemen genoegen met minder financiële winst om waardevol werk te kunnen doen, met positieve sociale en ecologische impact. De opkomst van de commons-beweging, woon-, energie- en voedselcoöperaties en maatschappelijke initiatieven in zorg en welzijn, laten zien dat mensen zich samen sterk willen maken voor andere waarden dan financieel gewin.

Haalbare en reële alternatieven

Nieuwe economische modellen bieden andere perspectieven om de economie als onderdeel van een samenleving te beschouwen. Ze bieden handvatten om die economie rechtvaardiger en duurzamer in te richten. Toch wordt het nieuwe economisch denken nog vaak weggezet als onrealistisch en niet haalbaar. Alleen door deze theorieën in de praktijk uit te proberen kunnen we aantonen dat dit reële alternatieven zijn.

Nieuw economisch denken, Nieuw economisch doen

Om te kunnen experimenteren met nieuwe economische theorie en modellen in de praktijk, verkent Amsterdam Economic Board deze in de verkenning Nieuwe economische modellen. In april introduceerden we het proeftuinproject ‘Nieuw economisch denken, Nieuw economisch doen’ op het Marineterrein in Amsterdam. Hierin werken we aan sociaaleconomische experimenten, samen met AMS Institute, AHK Culture Club, And The People, Bureau Marineterrein, Kennisland, The Next Speaker en de kenniscoalitie ‘Art, Tech & Science’.

Het Marineterrein is de ideale plek om dit te doen, omdat het een officieel ‘experimentterrein’ is. Bovendien zijn de hier gevestigde bedrijven vaak al bezig met circulaire en sociale projecten. Culturele instellingen en organisaties op het Marineterrein kunnen op hun beurt verbeelden hoe bloei zonder economische groei er uit kan zien en ons verlangen aanwakkeren naar een nieuwe economie.

Lees het volledige artikel

Professionals in the field of circularity and sustainability may experience "eco-emotions," a spectrum of feelings which can have both negative and positive effects on mental health. Eco-emotions arise from ecological crises, such as climate change, and can lead to stress, fatigue, and a sense of powerlessness, but also heightened motivation for professionals.

This work session, led by Marian Zandbergen (CIRCOLLAB, HvA) and moderated by Mareille de Bloois (Royal HaskoningDHV) on the 14th of December, explored the challenges and opportunities associated with eco-emotions, both personally and within organizations. The key question addressed was: How can individuals and organisations constructively manage eco-emotions, and what implications does this have for organisations?

Defining eco-emotions

Eco-emotions are feelings resulting from ecological crises, which can be categorized into backward-looking and forward-looking emotions.

• Backward-looking eco-emotions: include eco-guilt, eco-grief, and eco-anger about past events, such as feeling guilty about the carbon footprint of a vacation flight.
• Forward-looking eco-emotions: encompass eco-anxiety, and focus on current and anticipated future decisions. While eco-anxiety can drive proactive engagement with ecological issues, excessive amounts may lead to feelings of helplessness.

Negative eco-emotions can thus harm your mental health and can even lead to burnout. Therefore, it is important to use strategies to counter the negative effects of eco-anxiety.

Changing attitudes - taking action
Attitudes shape behaviour, and self-efficacy—the belief in one's ability to contribute to problem-solving—is crucial. Concrete action perspectives empower individuals, fostering a sense of control over problems and mitigating feelings of helplessness of eco-anxiety.

Social support - acting as a group
Collaborative efforts within a group can positively impact perceived self-efficacy. Strong collaboration can turn negative effects of eco-anxiety into positive outcomes. Trust and shared motivation play vital roles in effective collaborations, fostering understanding across personal and organisational perspectives.

In the group - recognition and solutions

The participants of the workshop shared personal experiences of eco-emotions and brainstormed constructive ways to incorporate these emotions into circular transition collaborations. Ideas included conducting organizational research to understand the extent of eco-emotions and gain insight into personal motivations in businesses and collaboration, and demonstrating how intrinsic beliefs contribute to shared goals.

Proposed solutions
To address eco-emotions within organizations, various methods were proposed, including workshops with inspiration and practical applications, an HR framework, 'meet & share' sessions featuring talks with industry leaders, and personal purpose hours.

Marian expressed a desire to continue researching this topic, inviting contributions through qualitative interviews within organizations. Are you interested in contributing to this research, please let me know in the comments, or email me at noor@amsterdamsmartcity.com.

Drawing by Govert van der Heijden from Flatland

The city of Amsterdam has ambitious circular goals, aiming to halve its resource usage by 2030. This corresponds to a yearly reduction in material use of the size of 15 Amsterdam Arenas. Collaboration amongst stakeholders, including small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), is necessary to meet this target. In a work session, the focus was on engaging SMBs in the circular transition.

Ambitions and Strategy of the City of Amsterdam (Mariska Joustra):

The City of Amsterdam aims to reduce its use of new raw materials by 50% by 2023 and become fully circular by 2050. Using the Monitor Circular Economy, Amsterdam tracks its progress in the circular economy, enabling them to develop a strategy to achieve their ambitious objectives.
One of the key points of this strategy is to shift the focus from the city's organization to "Collaborating with the City" to better support entrepreneurs in the circular transition. Examples of how they try to achieve this are:

• Initiatives such as scaling up sustainable artificial turf fields through a significant procurement process.
• Using circular procurement as a means of encouraging companies to provide circular products.
• Mandating at least 20% of new construction to be timber-based.
• Offering a circular assessment to local manufacturers, allowing them to explore steps towards greater circularity.

“Rode Draden Raport” from the Versnellingshuis (Gabrielle Werkhoven):

The Versnellingshuis is an organisation that aids entrepreneurs in advancing circular business practices. Each year, they produce a Red Threads (Rode Draden) report that outlines the key issues in the circular economy. Their focus is on mobilizing the entire supply chain, which can be challenging. Process facilitators are vital for fostering circularity throughout the entire chain. Provinces like Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland have lists of such facilitators to assist in making the entire chain more circular.
However, challenges persist, as the costs and benefits can vary significantly between different chain participants, making it difficult to implement systemic changes fairly.

Panel Discussion

Following the presentations, a discussion took place involving Jack Stuifbergen (MKB Nederland), Julius Heyning (Gekko), and Joanne Lucas (HvA), who represented the SMB sector. They highlighted the following key points regarding challenges and opportunities:

• Existing strategies, initiatives, and tools tend to benefit circular frontrunners within the SMB sector, often leaving the rest behind.
• Entrepreneurs often face legal obstacles in their sustainability efforts.
• Entrepreneurs need more financial incentives to transition to circular business models. The concept of "true price" could make a significant difference.
• Many entrepreneurs find it challenging to determine how to make their business more sustainable, particularly in sectors like software, where the environmental impact is not readily apparent.
• The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) offers significant opportunities for increasing circularity. It is crucial to ensure that SMBs are well-informed about the implications of this legislation.

Anne Schaap (MVO Nederland), Kornelis de Jong (municipality Haarlemmermeer), Gabrielle Werkhoven (Versnellingshuis), and Mariska Joustra (municipality of Amsterdam) discussed their efforts to support entrepreneurs:

• Simplifying the concept of circularity to emphasize resource savings and optimize logistics.
• Hosting events to educate SMBs about circularity, offering a platform for frontrunners in circularity.
• Collaborating with organisations like Triodos to assist entrepreneurs.

The consensus of the discussion was that more needs to be done to make circularity a pressing concern for the average SMB, their sense of urgency needs to be increased on this issue. More can be done for the front-runners as well because even though they receive considerable support, they still face legal and collaborative challenges.

This question was introduced in the Amsterdam Smart City network by Mariska Joustra from gemeente Amsterdam. The session was prepared with and moderated by Roos Kramer from Royal HaskoningDHV. Do you have any questions or input for us? Contact me via noor@amsterdamsmartcity.com or leave a comment below.

Which innovative idea will make it to the stage during the finale of the Amsterdam Science & Innovation Award 2023? This Innovation Award is the Amsterdam competition for research based innovative ideas that contribute to a better world. Check out the website and watch the pre-finalists one-minute videos in which they present their innovative ideas and vote for your favorite! During the finale on 21 November, the jury will award € 10,000 to the three best ideas in the categories of Society, Health and Environment & Climate. 

Amsterdam, 10 augustus - Op woensdag 13 september is het zo ver: met de oprichting van stichting N.E.W. (Never Ever Waste) zet New Optimist de revolutionaire stap naar statiegeld op kleding. Het statiegeldsysteem maakt 100% circulariteit mogelijk en geeft de consument de touwtjes in handen om te zorgen dat zijn of haar favoriete kledingstuk uiteindelijk weer onderdeel wordt van de mode-circle of life. New Optimist maakt het systeem toegankelijk voor andere modemerken in de nabije toekomst. Kleding hoeft nooit meer te eindigen als afval.

In de afgelopen 20 jaar verdrievoudigde de hoeveelheid afgedankte kleding in Europa van 550 duizend ton naar bijna 1,7 miljoen ton textiel, presenteert het rapport a EU-milieua-gentschap EEA begin 2023. Wat blijkt? 87% van dit afgedankte textiel, wordt vandaag de dag nog steeds geëxporteerd naar Azië en Afrika. Het merendeel belandt op stortplaatsen of informele afvalstromen.

Uit recent onderzoek verricht door Changing Marketing Foundation, wordt geconcludeerd dat Greenwashing nog altijd rijkelijk aanwezig is. Kledingstukken die netjes door de consument werden ingeleverd voor recycling bij verschillende merken, werden middels geplaatste Apple Airtags gevolgd. Het blijkt dat driekwart werd verbrand, opgeslagen in magazijnen of verscheept naar arme landen.

Volgens de uitgebreide producentenverantwoordelijkheid (UPV) voor textiel zijn kledingproducenten in Nederland vanaf 1 juli 2023 verantwoordelijk voor de textielproducten wanneer zij afval zijn geworden en moeten het afvalbeheer van deze producten organiseren. EU-milieu-agentschap EEA noemt de verschuiving van inzamelingsverantwoordelijkheid een risico. Door onverantwoorde inzamelprocessen in een aanzienlijk deel van de mode-industrie,
kan het exportvolume van afgedankte kleding alleen maar verder toenemen.

Stichting N.E.W. (Never Ever Waste)

Stichting N.E.W. is een initiatief van New Optimist, welke de statiegeld gelden beheert voor alle kledingmerken die deelnemen aan dit statiegeldsysteem. New Optimist roept andere duurzame kledingmerken op zich aan te sluiten bij Stichting N.E.W., en statiegeld in te zetten om kleding die ze op de markt brengen circulair te maken.
Om de steeds maar groeiende textiel afvalberg tegen te gaan, introduceert New Optimist Stichting N.E.W. (Never Ever Waste): het eerste statiegeld platform voor kleding. Dit nieuwe systeem garandeert dat jouw kleding wordt gerecycled en dat je het hele proces tot aan recycling kan volgen. Met een kledingstuk met statiegeld maak je de mode cirkel 100% circulair en laat je aan iedereen zien dat kleding niet als afval hoeft te eindigen.

Candour.Digital

New Optimist, pionier in het veranderen van de mode-industrie, heeft dit digitale statiegeldsysteem ontwikkeld, in samenwerking met Cadour.Digital voor Stichting N.E.W.
Candour.Digital is een IT-startup die zich richt op digitale product paspoorten. Door slim gebruik van QR-codes en blockchain technologie, kunnen individuele kleding stukken in de hele levensloop gevolgd worden.

Geen circulariteit zonder jou!

Hoe werkt het statiegeldsysteem?

1. Productaanschaf
Bij aankoop van een New Optimist kledingstuk met statiegeld wordt er een klein bedrag extra berekend.  Het statiegeld varieert tussen de €2.5 en €10, afhankelijk van de prijs van het kledingstuk. Op de hangtag van het kledingstuk is zichtbaar hoeveel statiegeld op het kledingstuk zit. Je kan dit ook zien door het QR label te scannen

2. Items retourneren
Wanneer het artikel niet meer gedragen wordt,
kan het kledingstuk worden ingeleverd om het een tweede leven te geven. Dit kan bij aangesloten winkels of met een retour procedure via New Optimist.

3. Een nieuw leven
Het maakt niet uit in welke staat het item is. New Optimist bekijkt of het nog tweedehands verkocht kan worden (ook dat kan gevolgd worden via de QR-code), maar uiteindelijk wordt de kleding vervezeld en verwerkt tot nieuwe garen.  Niks gaat verloren. 100% circulair!
Via de QR-code kan circulaire route van elk kledingstuk worden gevolgd.

YES statiegeld. NO textile waste!

New Optimist

Voor New Optimist is circulariteit, naast lokaal en sociaal ondernemerschap, al vanaf de oprichting in 2020 bepalend. De mode van New Optimist is ontworpen voor circulariteit:
het merk zorgt ervoor dat elk kledingstuk voor 100 procent gerecycled kan worden. Om mode echt 100% circulair te maken, introduceert New Optimist het eerste statiegeld platform voor kleding. Dit nieuwe systeem, dat ontwikkeld is samen met Candour.Digital, garandeert dat jouw kleding wordt gerecycled en dat je het hele proces tot aan recycling kan volgen.

Meer informatie:

Xander Slager, +31 6 29082052, xander@newoptimist.nl
Nelleke Wegdam, +31 6 12261779, nelleke@newoptimist.nl

www.newoptimist.nl

Whether you’re a visitor exploring Amsterdam, or a local opting for a staycation this summer, boredom is not on the agenda. There are some great things to do and see if you’re interested in innovation and sustainability. Delve into my curated list of smart city summer tips with exhibitions, activities and experiences from our partners and community. Zigzag across the city and discover the city from a different perspective!

1. Discover the city as a living place at the Landscape festival: ‘Met andere ogen’ (with other eyes)
Nature is a source of beauty and comfort, of relaxation and well-being, but it is now also in crisis. Diversity is declining and habitats are disappearing. In the ecological recovery lying ahead, the city plays a remarkable role: not only as a hotspot for biodiversity, but also as a meeting place where we can forge links between human and other life. Waag Futurelab invites you to set your sights on the Amsterdam Science Park and discover the city as a living place, together with artists, local residents and scientists. Take a walk along the walking route across the Amsterdam Science Park past all the installations and interventions.

From June until September 2023. Pick up a map at Café-Restaurant Polder (address: Science Park 201). Costs: free.

2. Take an architectural summer walk through new city areas
Arcam, the centre for architecture in Amsterdam, organises a series of architectural walks through neighbourhoods in development: Houthaven, Sloterdijk, Zuidas, Centrumeiland and Elzenhagen-Zuid. On Sundays from June to September, you can join a summer walk, led by an enthusiastic city expert, to visit and learn more about newly (to be) transformed areas of Amsterdam.

Every Sunday (from June to September) from different pick-up points. Costs: € 15,00 per person.

3. Fix your broken stuff at Repair Café Oud Noord
Give your broken belongings a second chance at the Repair Café in De Ceuvel (Metabolic Lab). Whether it's electronics, textiles, furniture, or bikes, the dedicated team at the Repair Café is there to assist with even the most challenging repairs. Join this community-driven initiative on the first Wednesday of each month! While the repairs are free, donations for used materials are warmly appreciated.

Every first Wednesday of the month (next up August 2, from 18:00-20:00) at De Ceuvel, Metabolic Lab. Costs: Free.

4. Green up your city with the NK Tegelwippen (‘National Tile Removal Championship’)
In the Netherlands, it's common to see apartment buildings, offices, and homes surrounded by tiles. This might be low-maintenance, but they're not particularly beautiful and do absolutely nothing to help the environment. We’re increasingly facing problems such as heat stress and flooding, and all those stone tiles in urbanised areas do not cool down on a hot day or let water through when it rains. Join the National Tile Removal Championship this summer! Remove tiles (for example in your garden) and replace them with plants and flowers for a greener city.

From March 21st till October 31st, more information via the website of NK Tegelwippen.

5. Learn more about our energy addition at the Energy Junkies exhibition
Our dependence on fossil fuels and the effects of our energy consumption on climate change are the focus of NEMO’s new exhibition for adults: Energy Junkies. NEMO invites you to explore the decisions that will determine our future. How would you transform our energy addiction into a healthy habit? Create your own carbon diet, choose the right medicines from the climate pharmacy and dream about a world where we are cured of our energy addiction. Visit Energy Junkies at NEMO’s Studio, the off-site location for adults on the Marineterrein in Amsterdam.
 
Energy Junkies is open from Wednesday – Sunday, from 12:00 – 17:30 until October 29.  Costs: € 7,50

6. Visit the Maker Market
Meet passionate and innovative makers from all over the world at The Maker Market! Here you will find handmade products produced with love and craftsmanship. The event focuses on sustainable production processes and Fair Trade. Engage with the makers, hear their stories, and witness their creative processes. This way, you can discover products with a good story.

On Saturday July 28 (11:00-17:00), Sunday July 28 (12:00-17:00), Saturday August 26 (11:00-17:00) and Sunday August 27 (12:00-17:00) at the Passage. Costs: Free.

7. Book a tour at Mediametic
Get a glimpse behind the scenes at Mediametic! During their weekly tour on Friday, you’ll get the chance to peek inside their labs, in which they explore the possibilities of bio-materials for design, science and art. You’ll also visit the Clean lab, where Mediametic is currently focusing on the use of waste materials, as a source for new material. You get an introduction in the Aroma lab, their open perfume workshop and scent library where scent is explored as an artistic medium. And you will get to see the Plant lab, where herbs and edible flowers are grown for the restaurant in a sustainable way.

On Friday’s at 16:00, Mediametic. Costs: € 4,50 incl. a drink.

8. Keep your head cool! At Waag Open
It's getting hot in here! Since 1923, the KNMI (The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute) measured 28 heat waves and almost half them occurred in the past 20 years. If this trend continues, the number of 'tropical' days (days above 30 degrees) will have doubled by 2050. But what are the consequences of these heat waves in people's homes? In countless Dutch (rental) homes, bedrooms heat up considerably in summer. And that can lead to physical and mental complaints: heat stress. During Waag Open: Keep your head cool, Lisanne Corpel (researcher at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam) shares her knowledge on measuring heat and the phenomenon of heat stress.

Thursday August 3 from 19:30-21:30 at Waag, Nieuwmarkt 4. Costs: € 7,50 incl. a drink.
 
As you explore these smart city summer tips in Amsterdam, let the innovative initiatives inspire you to make positive changes in your own life. Be sure to check out our platform for more exciting events and experiences. Do you have any other tips for inspiring smart city activities not to be missed this summer? Share them with the community in the comments!

Ons plasticverbruik stijgt nog steeds drastisch

Technisch gezien zijn alle oplossingen voorhanden om ons plasticgebruik drastisch te verminderen in zowel productieprocessen en het voorkomen en/of verwijderen van microplastics in de natuur. Toch verandert er in de praktijk bijna niets. Er zijn veel initiatieven, maar de vraag is of die een daadwerkelijk verschil maken, want als we naar de cijfers kijken stijgt ons plasticgebruik nog steeds drastisch. Sinds 2000 is ons plasticverbruik zelfs verdubbeld!

Waarom verandert er zo weinig?

Hoe kan het dat we, ondanks dat we weten hoe slecht het is voor onszelf en het milieu, er niets significant veranderen aan ons plasticgebruik? En wat kunnen we doen om het plasticprobleem nu wél echt aan te pakken in de regio? Deze vragen stonden centraal tijdens de werksessie ‘Plastic, we love it.’ Tijdens de werksessie hebben de aanwezige strategische denkkracht gemobiliseerd om samen tot nieuwe inzichten komen in de keten van plasticgebruik én nieuwe oplossingsrichtingen met elkaar te bedenken.

Gek, gekker, goed!

Als we doorgaan zoals we nu doen, gaat het dus niet lukken. Daar zijn we het met elkaar over eens. Maar hoe dan wel? Om dat met elkaar helder te krijgen, hebben we eerst een aantal echt onrealistische en misschien zelfs wel onethische oplossingen bedacht. En dat hebben we geweten. Van ‘geen kinderen meer krijgen’ tot aan ‘recyclepolitie op de hoek van elke straat’ en het ‘verbieden van alle plastics’ werden geopperd. En probeerden we zelfs daar nog een schepje bovenop te doen. Natuurlijk niet om uit te voeren, maar wel om daarna weer te kunnen komen tot goede ideeën. We hielpen elkaar en werkten elkaars ideeën en oplossingsrichtingen uit tot realistische en goede ideeën.

Waar ligt jouw invloed?

Maar ideeën bedenken is makkelijk, maar de werkelijke uitdaging ligt bij het komen van idee naar plan naar uitvoering. Dus wat je kun zelf doen? Hoe kan ík een werkelijke bijdrage leveren aan het oplossen van dit complexe vraagstuk? Samen met de groep hebben we gekeken naar daar waar onze eigen invloed zit. De groep kwam met mooie concrete ideeën waar we zelf aan mee kunnen werken en aan kunnen jagen. In de top 3 stonden een bewustwordingscampagne, een plastic politie, lobby richting de politiek door bovenregionaal samen te werken en het belonen van goed gedrag. We kijken terug op een mooie werksessie met waardevolle uitkomsten en kijken uit naar het vervolg en natuurlijk vooral naar een echt resultaat: geen plastic meer in de natuur en in ons voedsel.
 
Marten Boels, dank voor het inbrengen van dit relevante en belangrijke onderwerp!

The transition towards a circular economy and the energy transition are both needed to reach a sustainable economy and society. The two are intertwined, as the materials needed for the energy transition (such as solar panels) are enormous and the speed of the energy transition is very dependent on the availability of sustainable raw materials, scarce earth metals and biomass. An integral approach is needed in the Metropolitan Region Amsterdam.

Metropolitan Region Amsterdam (MRA), City of Amsterdam, Province of North Holland (PNH) and Amsterdam Economic Board commit to actively stimulating this integral approach. In the session on the Transition day, we explored what the current connection or disconnection is between the two transitions in order to define the best next step.

Insights of the session

Led by Marielle de Bloois of Royal HaskoningDHV, all participants drew the current situation of both transitions. By explaining our drawings to each other, we all got new insights into the current situation and barriers between the two transitions. The main findings, visualised by Thomas van Daalen of Flatland are:

• There is enormous attention for the energy transition in terms of money, people and communication;
• There is only little attention for circular economy whilst the urgency is nothing less;
• People working on the transitions are working in separate teams with little connection whilst they are working on the same societal challenges;
• The circular economy is unknown and complex. If people want to connect the transitions they don’t know where to start;
• We have to rethink and link our narrative and connect people working on both transition and connect solutions.

The next steps

The session has led us to valuable new insights, and the participants are ready to take the next steps. For now, we have agreed on the following:

• The participants from the municipality of Haarlemmermeer will internally make a connection with their colleagues working on the energy transition.
• Eurofiber will dive deeper into available knowledge within their organisation.
• Edwin from the MRA will take the lead in setting up an approach with Province of North Holland, City of Amsterdam and Amsterdam Economic Board to make sure the topic of the circular energy transition will be part of the MRA agenda 2024.
• Amsterdam Smart City will keep the topic on the agenda and connect the right people around it.

Everyone should read the latest IPCC report. Current global policies are heading for a global warming of 3.2% in 2100. Although we have to continue emphasizing the necessity of radical policy change, at the same time, we must do more to mitigate the consequences of this increase in temperature.
I have made a short summary of the report (in Dutch), to be downloaded below

Today an article in the NRC about nature in the city. Last week, I published a new e-book (in Dutch) about this topic. Interested? Download it for free.

Om de week op donderdagavond organiseert NEMO een extra activiteit in De Studio. Speciaal voor volwassenen. De workshops, lezingen en dialogen gaan over energie en klimaat en sluiten aan bij het thema van de tentoonstelling Energy Junkies. Voorafgaand aan de activiteiten kun je de tentoonstelling bezoeken.

Activiteiten

2 februari 2023 - Theater - SNIKHEET
Theatergroep Parels voor de Zwijnen komt naar De Studio van NEMO. Met een voorstelling over een ‘hot’ item: we moeten met zijn allen als de sodemieter van het gas af. Maar de energietransitie verdeelt Amsterdamse bewoners.. Lees meer.

16 februari 2023 - Futures Literacy workshop - Dé toekomst bestaat niet!
Nadenken over de toekomst beïnvloedt de beslissingen die we nu maken. En als we het hebben over klimaatverandering, denken we vaak aan de toekomst. Daarom is het de hoogste tijd om eens onder de loep te nemen op wat voor manieren we een toekomstbeeld kunnen creëren en wat daarbij de valkuilen zijn. Wil jij ook leren om opener over de toekomst na te denken? Lees meer.

2 maart 2023 - Dialoog/game - Climate Privilege Walk
In de Climate Privilege Walk ontdek je hoe het is om in de schoenen van een ander te staan. Op basis van jouw persoonlijke situatie beantwoord je verschillende vragen over energie en klimaat. Aan het eind van de Climate Privilege Walk wordt door de afstand tussen de deelnemers duidelijk hoe groot de ongelijkheid is. Lees meer.

16 maart 2023 - Lezing - Eerste hulp bij energie besparen
Is jouw energierekening ook zo hoog en ben je benieuwd naar hoe je jouw verbruik kan verminderen? In deze lezing vertelt Elisah Pals, oprichter van Zero Waste Nederland, hoe je het klimaat én je portemonnee een handje helpt door te leven zonder afval. Pals geeft je tips en tricks hoe je je ecologische voetafdruk verkleint, minder CO2 uitstoot, meer zelf maakt en minder weggooit. Goed voor het klimaat én je portemonnee. Daarnaast vertelt ze over het ontstaan van Zero Waste Nederland en hoe zij zelf al 5 jaar lang geen nieuwe spullen kocht. Lees meer.

30 maart 2023 - Bordspel - The Change Game
Tijdens The Change Game onderzoeken we in samenwerking met Danielle Arets en Jessie Harms hoe we onze omgeving duurzamer, veiliger en groener maken. Hoe kunnen we onze dorpen, steden en gemeenschappen aanpassen aan hetveranderende klimaat. Het spel onderzoekt welke mogelijkheden erzijn om leefomgevingen klimaat adaptief te maken en welke thema’s hierbij belangrijk zijn. Lees meer.

13 april 2023 - Lezing - Kernenergie: kans of bedreiging?
Hoe zorgen we voor voldoende energie én bestrijden we de gevolgen van klimaatverandering? Hoewel het aandeel van duurzame energie stijgt, wordt het grootste deel van de Nederlandse elektriciteit nog altijd uit fossiele brandstoffen gewonnen. Kan kernenergie een oplossing bieden voor een CO2-neutrale samenleving? De meningen over dit controversiële onderwerp lopen flink uiteen.

In deze lezing vertelt Behnam Taebi (professor Energie & Klimaatethiek TU Delft) over de wortels van de technologie in de militaire toepassing, over het risico op ongelukken en over de impact van radioactief afval. Lees meer.

Tickets

Voor een bezoek aan een activiteit op donderdagavond reserveer je een apart ticket. De toegangsprijs is: € 7,50. Het programma is inclusief een bezoek aan de tentoonstelling Energy Junkies. Reserveer hier je ticket.

Locatie en tijd

De activiteiten starten om 20.00 uur. Voorafgaand kun je vanaf 19.00 uur de tentoonstelling Energy Junkies bezoeken.

Adres: Kattenburgerstraat 5, gebouw 027A in Amsterdam. Volg de bordjes vanaf de hoofdingang aan de Kattenburgerstraat.

Foto: DigiDaan

Amsterdam verwelkomt op 9 oktober meer dan 40 burgemeesters van middelgrote en grote steden uit de hele wereld. Op de 3-daagse mondiale stedentop Bloomberg CityLab, gaan zij samen met experts aan de slag met oplossingen voor grote- stadsproblemen.

Het gaat over stedelijke problemen en slimme innovaties. Op het gebied van bijvoorbeeld klimaatverandering, digitalisering, toerisme, een duurzame economie, de opvang van vluchtelingen, pandemieherstel en het fietsverkeer. En meer. Burgemeesters van grote steden als Mexico City, Athene, San Francisco, Washington en Bogota doen mee. De top brengt burgemeesters en directeuren in contact met prominente stadvernieuwers, experts, ondernemers, kunstenaars en activisten.

Wat heeft Amsterdam te bieden?
Naast paneldiscussies, interviews, interactieve sessies en culturele optredens (van onder meer Wende Snijders) gaan de deelnemers ook op excursie naar unieke bestemmingen in Amsterdam. Zij gaan met eigen ogen zien wat Amsterdam zoal te bieden heeft aan oplossingen voor grote stedelijke vraagstukken.

Hét innovatieterrein
Allereerst gaan zij naar het Marineterrein, hét innovatieterrein van de stad. Hier worden ideeën bedacht en vinden experimenten plaats die toepassing vinden in de publieke ruimte.

Zelfvarende boot
Denk aan een zelfvarende boot. Amsterdam krijgt ’s werelds eerste vloot van zelfvarende boten. Zij kunnen helpen om de druk op kades en bruggen te verminderen door goederen, afval en personen te vervoeren. Nu wordt de eerste grote zelfvarende boot getest.

Niet een groen maar een blauwgroen dak
Er loopt een wetenschappelijke proef met een blauwgroen dak. Dit dak slaat hemelwater op en gebruikt dat opnieuw voor begroeiing op het dak. Het geeft veel meer verkoeling dan een gewoon groen dak en helpt goed tegen het warmer worden van de stad. Dat laatste komt door de klimaatverandering.

BuurtHub
Op het Marineterrein is een zogeheten BuurtHub waar Amsterdammers op elk moment een elektrisch voertuig kunnen huren. Zoals elektrische fietsen, bakfietsen, scooters, auto’s en brommers. Amsterdam heeft 17 van deze BuurtHubs.

Drones en camera’s met meer oog voor privacy
Verder zijn we in Amsterdam aan de slag met nieuwe oplossingen zoals camera’s die de drukte meten en tegelijk de privacy van bewoners beter beschermen, testvluchten met drones en het circulair maken van de stad. Drones kunnen bijvoorbeeld medicijnen vervoeren, of een brand signaleren.

Andere plekken bezoeken
Ook gaan de deelnemers naar andere inspirerende plekken in de stad. Zoals De Waag Fab Lab, de Johan Cruijff Arena en het Rijksmuseum. Verder zijn er een boottocht, fietstochten en een avondtour vanwege de Nachtvisie van Amsterdam.

Wereldtoneel
CityLab 2022 onderzoekt de nieuwe rol van steden als actoren op het wereldtoneel. Het doel is de nieuwe werkelijkheid van steden te ontdekken, te vieren en te verspreiden. En de reactie vorm te geven op grote, actuele problemen.

Stedentop
Eerdere CityLab-conferenties zijn georganiseerd in New York, Los Angeles, Londen, Miami, Parijs, Detroit en Washington. D.C. Bloomberg CityLab is een jaarlijkse mondiale stedentop van Bloomberg Filantropies samen met het Aspen Institute.

Meer
Meer weten over wat Amsterdam doet aan innovatie in de stad? Ga naar amsterdam.nl/innovatie.

Foto: Sjoerd Ponstein

Om de week op donderdagavond organiseert NEMO een extra activiteit in De Studio. Speciaal voor volwassenen. De workshops, lezingen en dialogen gaan over energie en klimaat en sluiten aan bij het thema van de tentoonstelling Energy Junkies. Voorafgaand aan de activiteiten kun je de tentoonstelling bezoeken.

Geplande activiteiten

13 oktober 2022 - Inspiratiesessie - Eerste hulp bij klimaatstress
Na twee zomers kamperen in je tentje in Nederland wil je eindelijk weer eens op een verre vliegvakantie. Maar je schaamt je om het aan anderen te vertellen. Wil je lang douchen, maar vindt jouw partner dat niet goed voor het milieu? Twijfel jij ook weleens aan wat je nou echt kan doen voor een beter klimaat en ben je daar soms gestrest over? Of valt het in jouw ogen allemaal wel mee? In de inspiratiesessie Eerste hulp bij klimaatstress gaan we in gesprek over persoonlijke ervaringen met klimaatverandering. Houd je hoofd koel en ontdek samen met klimaatpsycholoog Jeanine Pothuizen hoe je het beste omgaat met emoties rondom het klimaat. Lees meer en reserveer tickets.

27 oktober 2022 - Lezing - Een hoopvolle toekomst
Klimaatverandering is de grootste bedreiging van het leven op aarde. Het is dan ook logisch dat de gevolgen soms zorgen voor een pessimistisch gevoel. En hoe meer je je in het onderwerp verdiept, des te sterker dat gevoel kan worden. In deze lezing legt cultuursocioloog Ruben Jacobs uit hoe we zover zijn gekomen en waar onze verantwoordelijkheid ligt. Maar hij vertelt vooral over hoop in tijden van klimaatverandering en welk verhaal we onze kinderen straks kunnen vertellen. Lees meer en reserveer tickets.

10 november 2022 - Stand up comedy - Comedy for Climate
Klimaatopwarming is niet het meest grappige onderwerp. Toch proberen we daar door middel van een stand-up comedy avond voor één keer verandering in te brengen. Waarbij we lachen om onszelf en het klimaat. Met alleen een microfoon zetten de comedians van Het Comedyhuis zware klimaatonderwerpen om in luchtige grappen. Een lekker avondje lachen dus. Want lachen is gezond! Om daarna met goede moed en op volle kracht te werken aan de oplossing. Lees meer en reserveer tickets.

24 november 2022 - Kledingruil - Swap till you Drop
Je kent het vast wel: je kledingkast puilt uit en toch heb je niets om aan te trekken. Vaak kun je anderen blij maken met jouw kleren – en anderen jou. Dus verzamel de kleding die jij niet meer draagt en kom naar de kledingruil in De Studio van NEMO. Onder het genot van een drankje ruil je de leukste jurken, truien en shirts. Goed voor je garderobe, én voor het klimaat. Lees meer en reserveer tickets.

Tickets

Voor een bezoek aan een activiteit op donderdagavond reserveer je een apart ticket. De toegangsprijs is: € 7,50. Het programma is inclusief een bezoek aan de tentoonstelling Energy Junkies. Reserveer hier je ticket.

Locatie en tijd

De activiteiten starten om 20.00 uur. Voorafgaand kun je vanaf 19.00 uur de tentoonstelling Energy Junkies bezoeken.

Adres: Kattenburgerstraat 5, gebouw 027A in Amsterdam. Volg de bordjes vanaf de hoofdingang aan de Kattenburgerstraat.

De Studio van NEMO

De Studio is een extra locatie van NEMO Science Museum op het Marineterrein in Amsterdam. De programmering in De Studio is speciaal voor volwassenen.

Winactie vrijkaarten NEMO De Studio

Wil jij weten hoe je het beste omgaat met emoties rondom het klimaat? Wil jij een avondje lachen om jezelf en het klimaat? Of heb jij kleding die je niet meer draagt die je wilt ruilen? Laat het ons weten in de comments, en wie weet win jij twee gratis tickets voor een donderdagavond naar keuze in NEMO De Studio.

That was the main question we talked about September 14 at the FuW Forum in Zurich. Sharing learnings and exchanging ideas and experiences is of great value. To learn from each other, align and get inspired. That is why Amsterdam Smart City hosts a lot of international groups in our Smart City Lab and sometimes visits interesting international conferences to share our story.  

The FuW Forum in Zurich had a very interesting line-up with speakers from all over the world. It was an honour for me to give an inspirational key note on behalf of Amsterdam Smart City. The message I wanted to get across: "Don't overestimate technology. Smart technology offers great opportunities but to make it work we have to make a whole ecosystem work. And that means cooperate, listen to each other, help each other, fail, learn, adapt, try different perspectives.....All so called 'soft' skills that we need to combine with a world of bits and bytes. That is where the real challenge lies. To overcome these issues a world in transition needs an independent and neutral place, where changemakers can meet interact and start working together.” An exciting message to bring being at Google headquarters. But I was glad to hear that most speakers and participants saw smart technology as a means to an end instead of a goal in itself.  

Below some interesting quotes of other speakers: 
Prem Ramaswami – Google 
"We invented the technology of cars to move from A to B and now we spend most of the time standing still in the traffic – 42% of the cities are parking lots."

Ute Schneider - Technical University Wien 
"We only start moving, when it really hurts"

Silke C. - Fraunhofer Gesellschaft  
“At the moment, data is not fully exploited, the data is distributed everywhere and cannot be brought together, there is a lack of trust – that is why a European governance is now being built."

Salomé Mall - Smart City Lab Basel
"The real estate industry is not mobile, it needs innovation to bridge the next crisis."

Markus Schläpfer - ETH Zurich  
"If we measure and understand human flows, we can use this for transport, infrastructure and the use of modern technologies.”

And Audrey Tang, Taiwan's Digital Minister  
"With the first Ministry of Digital Affairs we encourage the digital collaborative democracy between government and people - we must trust each other going into future live.”

The primary reason to renovate buildings is to improve indoor climate quality and reduce environmental impact. This can be extremely effective, as 75% of buildings' CO2 emissions are released during the use phase. However, using non-renewable materials during renovation can be entirely counter-productive.

Check out this article to learn about bio-based materials in the renovation, and the obstacles to bio-based innovation.

The first Circularity Gap Report for the Built Environment in The Netherlands has launched!

The Netherlands has set an ambitious goal: a circular building sector by 2050. However, the built environment in the Netherlands is a massive motor for downcycling. Only 8% of the total material consumption comes from secondary materials.

This report by Metabolic, C-creators, Goldschmeding Foundation and Circle Economy shows new insights and specific actions for businesses, policymakers, urban planners and labour unions to accelerate circularity in the sector.

Get the overview from the summary in Dutch or download the full report in English below.

At the end of its production process, waste or “output” produced by one company can be reborn into a valuable raw material or “input” for another.

This process is called “Industrial symbiosis”.

Learn more about it in the link below.

The 22nd and penultimate episode in the *Better cities: The contribution of digital technology-*series will discuss two ambitious ‘smart city’plans of two governments and the associated risks.

Recently, the European Commission launched a 100-city plan, the EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. One hundred European cities that aspire to be climate neutral by 2030 (you read that correctly) can register and count on supplemental funding. I immediately thought of another 100-city plan, India's Smart City Mission. In 2015, Prime Minister Modi announced that in six years 100 Indian cities would become 'smart'. The official term of the project has now ended, and I will examine below whether this goal has been achieved, I discuss the two plans and then explain why I call both of them a leap forward. At the end I will make a few suggestions for how the European mission can still learn from the Indian one.

India's Smart City Mission

The problem
In India, 377 million people live in cities. In 15 years, 200 million will have been added. Already, traffic in Indian cities has come to a complete standstill, each year more than 600,000 people die from air pollution, half of the urban areas have no drinking water connection, waste collection is poor and only 3% of sewage is treated. The rest is discharged into surface water, which is also the main source of drinking water.

The mission
The Smart City Mission was intended to implement substantial improvements on all these problems in 100 cities, which together comprise 30% of the population. In the improvements digital technology had to play an important role.
The 100 cities were selected because of favorable prospects and the quality of the plans, which usually consisted of a long series of projects.

Governance
The regular city governing bodies were deemed incompetent to lead the projects. That is why management boards (‘special purpose vehicles’) have been appointed, operating under company law and led by a CEO, supported by international consultancy firms. All rights and duties of the City Council regarding the execution of the mission were delegated to the appointed boards, including the power to collect taxes! Not surprisingly, this decision has been challenged in many places. Several cities have withdrawn from 'the mission' for this reason.

Financing
To implement their projects, each city would receive $150 million over five consecutive years. This money should be seen as seed capital to be supplemented from additional sources such as public-private partnerships, commercial bank lending, external financing, loans, and foreign investment.

Area-oriented and pan-urban approach
The plans contain two components: an area-oriented and a pan-urban approach. The first aims at adapting, retrofitting or new construction and should relate to a wide range of 'smart services'. For example high-speed internet, waste facilities, parking facilities, energy-efficient buildings, but also replacement of slums by high-rise buildings. The slick 'architectural impressions' that circulated at the beginning of the planning period (see above) mainly concern the area-oriented approach.
The pan-urban approach includes at least one 'smart' facility for a larger part of the city. The choice is often made to improve the transport infrastructure, for example the construction of new roads and highways and the purchase of electric buses. No fewer than 70 cities have built a 'smart' control center based on the example of Rio de Janeiro, which I believe was rather premature.

Progress
Now that the official term of 'the mission' has ended, a first inventory can be made, although observers complain about a lack of transparency about the results. About half of all the 5000 projects that have been started have not (yet) been completed and a significant part of the government funds have not yet been disbursed. This could still happen in the coming years. This is also because attracting external resources has lagged behind expectations. These funds came mainly from governments, and large technology companies. This has had an impact on the implementation of the plans.
The slow progress of most projects is partly because most of the population was barely aware of the mission and that city councils were not always cooperative either.

Impact
It was foreseen that half of the available resources would go to area-oriented projects; this eventually became 75-80%. As a result, on average only 4% of the inhabitants of the cities involved have benefited from 'the mission' and even then it is not clear what the benefits exactly entail. The city of New Delhi covers an area of almost 1500 km2, while the area concerned is only 2.2 km2: So you're not even going to have 100 smart cities. You're going to have 100 smart enclaves within cities around the country, said Shivani Chaudhry, director of the Housing and Land Rights Network.
It soon became clear that the mission would be no more than a drop in the ocean. Instead of $150 million, it would take $10 billion per city, $1000 billion in total, to address all ambitions, according to an official calculation.  Deloitte was a little more modest, calculating the need for $150 billion in public money and $120 billion from private sources.

Type of projects
The many topics eligible for funding have resulted in a wide variety of projects. Only one city has put the quality of the environment first. Most cities have initiated projects in the areas of clean energy, improving electricity supply, reducing air pollution, construction of new roads, purchasing electric buses, waste disposal and sanitation. What is also lacking, is a focus on human rights, gender, and the interests of the poorest population groups.
In some places, it has been decided to clear slums and relocate residents to high-rise buildings on the outskirts of the city. Indian master architect Doshi warns that the urban vision behind the smart city plans will destroy the informality and diversity that is the cornerstone of the country's rural and urban society. He challenges planners to shift the emphasis to rural areas and to create sufficient choices and opportunities there.

The European Mission on Climate-neutral and Smart Cities

The problem
Cities produce more than 70% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and use more than 65% of total energy. In addition, cities in Europe only cover 4% of the total surface area and accommodate 75% of the population. The ecological footprint of the urban population is more than twice what it is entitled to, assuming a proportional distribution of the earth's resources.

The mission
On November 25, 2021, the European Commission called on European cities to express their interest in a new European mission on Climate-neutral and smart cities. The mission aims to have 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030, which will act as a model for all other European cities.
The sectors involved in this transformation process are the built environment, energy production and distribution, transport, waste management, industrial processes and product use, agriculture, forestry, and other land uses and large-scale deployment of digital technology. That is why the European Commission talks of a green and digital twin, or a simultaneous green and digital transformation.

Governance
Reaching the stated goal requires a new way of working and the participation of the urban population, hence the motto 100 climate neutral cities by 2030 - by and for the citizens.
According to the plan's authors, the main obstacle to climate transition is not a lack of climate-friendly and smart technology, but the inability to implement it. The current fragmented form of governance cannot bring about an ambitious climate transition. Crucial to the success of the mission is the involvement of citizens in their various roles as political actors, users, producers, consumers, or owners of buildings and means of transport.

Funding
The additional investment to achieve the mission is estimated at €96 billion for 100 European cities by 2030, with a net positive economic benefit to society of €25 billion that will increase further in the period thereafter. The European Commission will provide €360 million in seed funding.
The overwhelming amount of funding will have to come from banks, private equity, institutional investors, and from the public sector at the local, regional and national level.

What went wrong with the Indian Mission and its follow-up

The gap between ambitions and reality
Almost all comments on 'the mission' emphasize that three necessary conditions were not met from the start, namely a widely accepted governance model, adequate funding, and involvement of the population and local government. There was an unbridgeable gap between ambitions and available resources, with the contribution of external capital being grossly overestimated.
The biggest problem, however, is the gap between the mission's ambitions and the nature of the problems that India it faces: Cities are bursting at the seams because of the millions of poor people who flock to cities every year in search of work and a place to live that find them only in the growing slums. The priorities for which the country must find a solution are therefore: improving life in rural areas, improving housing in the cities, ensuring safe drinking water, waste disposal, sanitation, and purification of wastewater, good (bus) transport and less polluting car traffic. Urgently needed is a sustainable development model that addresses ecological problems, makes urbanization manageable, controls pollution and will use resources efficiently.

Leap forward
The 'Mission' is a leap forward, which does not tackle these problems at the root, but instead seeks a solution in 'smartification'. Policymakers were captivated by the promises made by IBM and other technology companies that ICT is the basis for solving most urban problems. A view that I objected in the third episode of this series. IC solutions have been concentrated in enclaves where businesses and prosperous citizens are welcomed. The Government of India Special Rapporteur on Housing therefore notes that the proposals submitted had a predominant focus on technology rather than prioritizing affordable housing and doubts the correctness of this choice.
Instead of emphasizing the role of digital technology, the focus should have been on equitable, inclusive, and sustainable living areas for all. Not the area-oriented but the pan-urban approach should have prevailed.

Follow-up
Several authors suggest future actions consistent with the above comments:
• Setting a longer time horizon, which is much more in line with the problems as they are felt locally.
• Decentralization, coupled with strengthening local government in combination with citizen participation.
• A more limited number of large-scale pan-urban projects. These projects should have an immediate impact on all 4000 Indian cities and the surrounding countryside.
• More attention for nature and the environment instead of cutting down trees to widen motorways.
• Training programs in the field of urbanization, partly to align urban development with Indian culture.

The European mission revisited

Leap forward
Europe and India are incomparable in many ways, but I do see similarities between the two missions.
With the proclamation of the 'mission', the Indian government wanted to show the ultimate – perhaps desperate – act of determination to confront the country's overwhelming problems. I therefore called this mission a flight forward in which the image of the 'smart city' was used as a catalyst. However, the country’s problems are out of proportion to this, and the other means employed.
It is plausible that the European Union Commission also wanted to take an ultimate act. After the publication of the ambitious European Green Deal, each national governments seems to be drawing its own plan. The ‘100 cities mission’ is perhaps intended as a 'booster', but here too the feasibility of this strategy is doubtful.

Smart and green
The European Union cherishes the image of a 'green and digital twin', a simultaneous green and digital transformation. Both the Government of India and the European Commission consider digital technology an integral part of developing climate neutral cities. I hope to have made it clear in the previous 21 episodes of this series that digital technology will certainly contribute. However, the reduction of greenhouse gases and digitization should not be seen as an extension of each other. Making a city climate neutral requires way more than (digital) technology. Moreover, suitable technology is still partly under development. It is often forgotten that technology is one of the causes of global warming. Using the image of green and smart twins will fuel the tension between the two, just like it happened in India. In that case, it remains to be seen where the priority will lie. In India it was 'smart'.

Funding
Funding of the Indian mission fell short; much is still unclear about funding of the European mission. It is highly questionable whether European states, already faced with strong opposition to the costs of 'climate', will be willing to channel extra resources to cities.

Governance
The European mission wants to be by and for the citizens. But the goal has already been established, namely becoming climate neutral by 2030. A new 'bottom-up' governmental approach would have been to investigate whether there are cities where a sufficiently large part of the population agrees with becoming climate neutral earlier than in 2050 and how much sooner that could be and next, leave it to these cities themselves to figure-out how to do this.

Can Europe still prevent its mission from failing like India's? I propose to look for in the same direction as India seems to be doing now:
•      Opt for one unambiguous goal: Reducing greenhouse gases significantly earlier than 2050.
•      Challenge a limited number of cities each to form a broad coalition of local stakeholders that share this ambition.
•      Make extra resources available, but also ask the cities themselves to make part of the necessary investments.
•      Stimulate universities and industry to provide a European response to Big Tech and to make connections with the 'European Green Deal'.

My e-book Smart City Tales contains several descriptions of intended and alleged smart cities, including the much-discussed Saudi Arabian Neom. The Dutch version is here.

In the 19th episode of the Better cities - the contribution of digital technology-series, I address the question of how digital technology can help in the long road to a circular society.

The contribution of digital technology becomes most visible when viewed in conjunction with other policy instruments and actions. That is why in this episode Amsterdam is in the spotlight; this city has been pursuing a consistent circular policy from 2015 onwards.

Why is a circular economy necessary?

European countries together need an average of 2.9 copies of planet Earth to meet the needs for raw materials. But even one Earth has finite resources, and it is therefore obvious that more and more countries aim to be circular by 2050. The circular processing ladder contains a range of options with the lowest step recovery of energy from materials unsuitable for re-use and furthermore recycling, repurposing, remanufacturing, renovation, repair, reuse, reduction, reconsideration to rejection.

A circular economy is an economic and industrial system that eliminates waste and takes the reusability of products and raw materials and the regenerative capacity of natural resources as a starting point, minimizes value destruction in the total system and pursues value creation in every link of the system. In this context, the term cradle-to-cradle design is often referred to. This is done in terms of material flows and the preservation of values, so that in the long term there is no longer any need for an influx of virgin materials. Maersk has developed a cradle-to-cradle passport, a first for the shipping industry, consisting of a database of all ship components, including all the steel, for recycling, reuse and remanufacturing of new ships or their parts.

The Digital Sustainability-memorandum is considering digitization as an enabler on the way to a circular economy. A fourfold distinction is made in this regard: (1) the coordination of supply and demand of materials, (2) facilitating maintenance and repairs, (3) improving the production process, and (4) supporting partners in chain cooperation. Examples of all these options are discussed below.

Amsterdam and the realization of circular principles

Amsterdam's ambition is to use 50% less virgin raw materials by 2030 compared to the current situation. This goal is also very important for achieving its climate targets: 63% of the CO2 emissions for which the city is responsible come from products and materials that are produced abroad. The municipal government can only partly influence this steam. That is why the policy focuses on three areas where the city has most influence, namely food and organic residual flows, consumption and the built environment.

Amsterdam published its first policy plan Amsterdam Circular: Vision and roadmap for the city and regionin 2015. The emphasis was on organic waste and the built environment. It included 75 action points and its approach was positively evaluated in 2018 and a new report was published. It was decided to continue with the same emphasis with the addition of food and consumption. The addition of consumption was obvious, because Amsterdam had been making a strong case for the sharing economy for some time.

Shortly after the publication of the new report, Kate Raworth’s donut-principles made their entrance. Remarkably, none of the previous reports contain a reference to her work on the donut economics. In May 2019, the first fruit of the collaboration with Kate Raworth appeared, building on the report from the previous year. The collaboration resulted in a new report Building blocks for the new Amsterdam Circular 2020-2025 strategy, involving many stakeholders from the sectors, food and organic residual flows, consumption, and construction. It resulted in 17 building blocks, named 'development directions'.

This report was based on the original 2012 publication on the donut economy. However, there turned out to be one pitfall. The original donut model was designed for global-level applications, which, according to Kate Raworth, cannot be directly traced to the urban level. The social implications of behavior in one city not only affect this city itself, but also the rest of the world. The same applies to the ecological aspects.

As a next step Kate Raworth invited representatives from Amsterdam, Philadelphia and Portland to join a task force and discover what a city-level donut model looks like. In each of these cities, dozens of officials and citizens participated in an interactive process. The result was a new model that uses four lenses to view urban activities: The first and second resemble the original lenses but applied at the city level, for example, the impact of local industry on local nature. The third is how activities in a certain city had a negative social impact on the rest of the world, think for example of clothing, produced under poor conditions. The fourth is the impact of local actions on nature worldwide.

These activities resulted in a new publication, The city donut for Amsterdam. It is an instrument for change that can be applied more broadly than to circular policy. In this publication, the new donut model is mainly used as a conceptual model. Instead of exact calculations, snapshots are collected as illustrations.

While city representatives were busy developing the urban donut model, the work towards the circular city continued unabated, resulting in the publication of the final circular strategy for the period 2020 – 2025 and the action plan for the period 2020 – 2021 at almost the same time. In terms of content, these plans are in line with the publication of the building blocks-report from 2019, including the application of the 'old' donut model from 2012.

In the following, I use both the strategy and the action plan to show the role of digital tools. At the end, I come back to the future role of the city donut.

Digital techniques in the circular strategy of Amsterdam 2020 – 2025

I align with the three value chains: food and organic residual flows, consumption and the built environment that are central to the strategy. Three ambitions are formulated for each of these three, further detailed in several action directions, each containing several projects, most with measurable results to attain in 2021. In addition, a couple of projects are described, that bare related to types of companies, institutions and the port. Finally, there are overarching projects, in which I will again pay attention to digitization, also because the role of the city donut will become visible here.

Below I briefly describe the three value chains, name the three ambitions for each, and give references to digital tools that will play a role within each of the three value chains.

Value chain food and organic residual flows

The municipality wants to combat food waste and reuse organic residual flows as much as possible. The role of regionally produced (plant-based) food will be strengthened in line with the Amsterdam food strategy. In realizing its objectives, the municipality participates in an extensive European project, Rumore.

The three ambitions are: (V1) Short food chains provide a robust, sustainable sensory system, (V2) Healthy and sustainable food for Amsterdammers and (V3) Food and organic residual flows.

Examples of digital tools

• GROWx vertical farm is a farm that aims to achieve maximum returns by applying artificial intelligence to the indoor cultivation of food crops, among other things.

• Restore is a measurement system and simulation model for Amsterdam and surrounding municipalities and companies that provides insight into the financial, ecological, and social effects of various forms of composting and bio-fermentation, including the use of biomass.

• The InstockMarket platform will map (surplus) food flows and - if possible - predict them so that the catering industry can anticipate this when purchasing. The data from this project will be linked to the circular economy data platform

• The Platform www.Vanamsterdamsevloer.nl  makes all local food initiatives (including food events) visible and residents of Amsterdam can share news about food and urban agriculture.

Value chain consumer goods

The emphasis is on consumer goods that contribute substantially to the depletion of rare raw materials, their production is polluting and often takes place under poor working conditions. In addition, the impact on climate change is significant. The emphasis is on electronics, textiles, and furniture because repair is also possible in each of these cases.

Furthermore, a lot of profit can be made by good collection and reuse through sharing and exchange.

Here too, a multi-year research project funded by the European Commission is important. The Reflow project maps data on flows of materials and develops processes and technology to support their implementation.

The ambitions are :(C1) The municipality is setting a good example and will consume less; (C2) Together we make the most of what we have and (C3) Amsterdam makes the most of discarded products.

Examples of digital tools

• The municipality will develop digital tools within the (purchasing) systems that support civil officers in circular procurement.

• The West-district supports www.warewesten.nl. This website brings together the sustainable fashion addresses of Amsterdam-West.

• Using artificial intelligence, among other things, it is being investigated how the lifespan of various goods can be extended so that they do not end up with bulky waste. This can be used, for example, on the municipal website to offer the option of first offering goods for sale or for giving via existing online platforms before they are registered as bulky waste.

• Indirectly, it is worth noting that the municipality wants to make the use of ICT more sustainable by purchasing less equipment (for example through 'hardware as a service'), extending the lifespan of equipment and reducing its energy consumption.

Value chain built environment

This value chain was also chosen because the municipality has an important voice in what and where is built and in the development of the public space. The municipality itself is also a major user of buildings.

In terms of the built environment, circular construction can be achieved through large-scale reuse of construction waste. By ensuring that buildings can be used for more purposes, their demolition can be slowed down. Sustainable materials can also be used in the design of public spaces – from roads and bridges to playgrounds. In addition, consideration could be given to the  climate-adaptive design of the city, resulting in cleaner air and dealing with increasing heat and rainfall.

The ambitions are: (G1): We do circular development together; (G2) The municipality sets a good example and uses circular criteria; (G3) We deal circularly with the existing city.

Examples of digital tools

• Introduction of large-scale application of material passports to have the most complete information possible on material use in all phases of the life cycle of buildings. This is linked to national plans, among other things by providing all materials with an OR code.

• Research into the possibilities of a (national) online materials marketplace. Such a marketplace will influence (local) material hubs, such as the Amstel III construction hub and the creation of circular business cases.

• Providing insight into the supply (demolition, renovation) and demand (new construction, renovation) of circular building materials and thus of circular material flows.

• Creating a digital twin of the public space and the subsurface to be able to furnish and maintain it functionally and circularly.

• Research in digital production due to the rapid development of digital production techniques and their applications, such as robots and 3D printing.

• Research into making the construction, equipment and water and energy consumption of data centers more sustainable.

• Research into which data about residents and users of buildings can be made public and which data should remain private.

The municipality could further simplify the process of permit applications by digitizing everything, enabling applicants to upload the necessary municipal data and construction drawings and calculating the BREAAM score. This applies to both new and renovated buildings.

Overarching theme: Data platform and monitor circular economy

On the road to a circular economy, a lot of data will become available and just as much data is needed to help citizens, companies, and institutions to make sustainable choices and to determine whether the goal of 100% circularity by 2050 is within reach. That is why a data platform and monitor is being developed. This numerically maps all material, recycle, residual and waste flows that enter, leave, and go around the city. This also makes it possible to calculate the impact on CO2 emissions. The data from the material passports and the materials marketplace are also integrated herein, if possible. The monitor also includes social aspects such as health, education, and equality. Relevant data will be open and accessible, so that it can be used for the development of new innovations and applications by the municipality and third parties, also to connect with other urban transitions.

The monitor connects to the four lenses of the city donut of Amsterdam and will collect the data that is currently missing to provide full quantitative insight. This also concerns the environmental impact of all materials that Amsterdam imports for its own consumption. Where the city donut is currently only a partially quantified, the monitor will continuously provide insight into whether the municipality is staying within the ecological preconditions or where it falls short with regard to the minimum social requirements.

Amsterdam's circular strategy and the resulting action agenda is ambitious and will inspire many other cities. Because many projects are small- and medium scaled, it is not yet possible to assess to what extent the strategy and action agenda help to achieve the targets (50% circularity in 2030 and 100% in 2050). Commitment to the development of the monitor is therefore crucial and the municipality will also have to keep an open eye on the parallel actions that citizens, the business community, the port and other institutions must take to achieve their share. After all, becoming circular encompasses much more than food and organic waste, consumption, and construction.

To document the process of the City of Amsterdam's adaptation of circular policy and the contribution of Kate Raworth, I have put together a brief dossier. This includes references to (copies of) all relevant reports and an indication of their content. This file can be downloaded by following the link below.:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lntf8izqz7ghvqp/Dossier%20circularity.docx?dl=0