The development of $500 billion mega #SmartCity NEOM in Saoudi-Arabia unveils upcoming fundamental political and cultural changes in that country. During this week papers informed us op the arrest of a number of mighty and rich people. This too might be part of an upcoming change. But for the time being read my post and - in particular - look at the video and realise what you see.
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Knowledge and Demo Day #28: Behavioural Change

Why do people, despite good intentions and awareness, continue to engage in unsustainable behaviour? And what does it really take to bring about lasting behavioural change — especially among affluent groups? These questions were central to an inspiring session by behavioural scientist Reint Jan Renes (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) at our 28th Knowledge and Demo Day.
Record-breaking heat, floods, avalanches, and prolonged droughts — alarming news stories bombard us daily. The planet is in crisis. And yet, we continue with behaviours that harm the climate and increase our ecological footprint.
Why don’t we change?
Over 75% of Dutch citizens regularly express significant concern about climate change. Yet these concerns rarely translate into real, lasting behavioural shifts. The climate is changing—so why aren’t we?
“Many people agree that ‘something’ needs to be done about climate change,” says Reint Jan Renes. “But that willingness drops sharply the moment plans become concrete.” Few are prepared to take real responsibility. This leads to a growing gap between words and actions.
Who should act? We should!
The richest 10% of the global population is responsible for roughly half of all CO₂ emissions. Meanwhile, the poorest 50% contribute just 8%. So the responsibility falls squarely on us—to address the problems we have helped create.
Yet we don’t act. We feel entitled to behaviours that heavily burden the climate: eating meat daily, regularly buying new clothes or gadgets, taking frequent flights. We know it’s harmful to the planet—and we do it anyway. Why?
Coping strategies
We’re remarkably good at justifying our actions: “What difference does one time make?” Or: “Everyone else is doing it.” “My neighbour is much worse than I am.” “I already do some good things—don’t expect me to do more.” And: “Scientists keep changing their minds. I read somewhere it’s not that bad after all.”
Sound familiar? Then you’ve likely used some of these coping strategies too.
This lack of personal ownership leads to a “steady state”—a status quo in which everyone looks to someone else to take the first step. Many believe governments should lead, since they have the authority to initiate and enforce change. But research shows that governments often take a surprisingly passive role in social transitions.
Speak up and be visible
So what does help? People are more inclined to adopt sustainable behaviour when they hear about the concrete actions others are taking. Do you eat (less) meat? Take your bike or public transport? Talk about it positively. Start conversations about climate-harmful behaviours.
Make your actions visible. This has an even greater impact when individuals and organisations regularly appear in the media. It helps correct the false belief that few people care about the climate—or that you're among a rare few making an effort.
Talking openly about climate-positive behaviour is crucial for shifting social norms. Demonstrating it in everyday life is inspiring. Both can act as powerful drivers to accelerate the transition. And that’s vital. Especially in light of another research finding: Climate-friendly behaviour makes us happier.
Urban Clean Air Roundtable

I'm reaching out to warmly invite you to join an upcoming roundtable we’re organizing on Tuesday June 17th focused on clean air in cities (Flyer is attached).
Given Amsterdam InChange's strong role in engaging professionals and communities in environmental monitoring, we believe your perspective would be highly valuable in the conversation. We also see this as a great opportunity to share your work and connect with other researchers, policy makers, and civil society actors active in the clean air space.
The content is a round table session, in which we share what is being worked on and what possible future developments are from different perspectives. The program for the day:
- 11:00 Welcome
- 11:15 Introduction
- 11:30 Presentations on current research/ policies
- 12:45 Lunch
- 13:30 Brainstorm: what-else-can-we-do-and-who-would-we-need-for-that?
- 14:45 Closing up with ten-agreements-plan
We still have a few speaking opportunities available, so if you or someone from your team would be interested in presenting your work or simply joining the discussion, we’d be delighted. Please feel free to email me or my colleague Sanne (sanne.van.breukelen@cenexgroup.nl) directly if you'd like more details or if you’d like to participate.
A Lab Open Huis. Met exposities, pitches voor een positieve toekomst, live muziek, dans en theater, workshops en meer!

Laat je nieuwsgierigheid de vrije loop tijdens het <strong>A Lab Open Huis</strong>. Een creatief en innovatief festival voor alle nieuwsgierige Amsterdammers die in deze turbulente tijden waarde hechten aan kunst & cultuur, duurzaamheid en sociale innovatie.
Kom kijken hoe meer dan 350 members in onze broedplaats werken aan een positieve toekomst. Met een programma vol exposities, live muziek, kunst, pitches, theater, fotoreportages, workshops, interessante ontmoetingen en meer! Kinderen? Neem ze vooral mee, het is voor iedereen een feestje!
Ontdek nieuwe ideeën, ontmoet makers en verken het live programma. Dwaal rond en laat je verrassen door wat je tegenkomt, of volg een van de inspirerende routes die speciaal zijn samengesteld langs de thema’s waar A Lab members aan werken. Er is een (digitale) kunst & cultuurroute, een duurzaamheidsroute, een sociaal maatschappelijke innovatieroute en ga voor een mix van activiteiten in de kidsroute.
Bekijk het volledige programma met timetables komende tijd op de website, maar een sneak peek is natuurlijk altijd leuk. Laat je meevoeren door livemuziek – van opkomend raptalent tot jazzy klanken – en ontdek unieke ervaringen zoals een levende algenexpo, verticale dans op de binnentuinmuur en interactieve datavisualisatie. Luister naar korte, inspirerende talks over een zelfredzame toekomst, stap in een Kanta vol verhalen over Amsterdam Noord, of scoor iets moois in de A Lab pop-up store. Geniet van wereldse smaken van de restaurants van het nieuwe Maritim Hotel, bewonder kunst van o.a. jonge makers, draai aan een meteorologisch rad of ga zelf aan de slag in een escape room of met je eigen digitale kunst. En voor filmliefhebbers: struin door Izzy’s Videotheek voor verborgen parels die je nergens kunt streamen.
Het event is gratis, maar reserveer wel je gratis ticket via deze link.
Hi Luc, thanks for your comment. When I read the news about NEOM, by far the most important message was the intended cultural changes in Saoudi-Arabia. Only one day afterwards, I learned that political changes were on their way too.
Now your questions. I'm rather sceptical about the vibrancy of greenfield cities in general.. In all known cases it took many years before these cities began functioning as a city, not to speak about the development of a vibrant life-style. But one thing is certain, in order to become liveable (and possibly vibrant after years), greenfield cities need free, and entrepreneurial settlers. The upcoming changes in Saoudi-Arabia might create the right condition, although much is uncertain. And yes, the extreme choice of words of the crown-prince, bur also the scenes in the video surprised me. too, especially the implicit acceptance of unveiled women.
The reference at the absence of low-skilled work has to be seen in context. These days virtually no Arabs do unskilled work. In stead, guest workers from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are in charge. I can imagine that the crown prince dislikes the immanent inequality that is associated with this division and therefore prefers the robotisation of this work in his dreamed new town. Quite utopian and unrealistic, I think.
In one way I disagree with you. China has created many greenfield cities, which nearly all are populated densely by rural immigrants and people moving out of existing cities. Yes, it often took years before all buildings were populated. Because of its centralised policy, many schools, universities and companies are located in these cities and many thousands of employees had to move too. You do not hear me speak of vibrancy, but these cities are everything except ghost cities. The press often refers at the existence of many ghost towns, but invariably one is always mentioned and photographed, namely Ordos, far away in Mongolia. It took a while, but at this time about 150.000 people seem to live in Ordos, although many of them still work in old Ordos in a distance of about 40 km. The Chinese policy has always been, creating homes before people come and in this way they have prevented the development of shanty towns (slums) unlike many other big global cities. Whether this massive urbanisation is something that makes one happy, has to be doubted. Within one or two weeks I hoop to post an essay about urbanisation in India and its (in)famous plan to create 100 smart cities.
Hi Herman,
I am curious about your take on certain aspects of this urban living transformation. 1. Do you think that this cultural change can really result in a vibrant city? As Mohammed bin Salman mentioned that especially the younger Saudis can make this change happen and if they don't, it will lead to the destruction of the country. Slightly extreme isn't it? 2. There seems no space for low-skill-labour in the city; inclusivity is mostly emphasized on women empowerment. Perhaps a radical idea in the GCC. How do you envision a city where low skilled labour is automated? 3. Some (if not most) Chinese attempts to greenfield development resulted in ghost towns. Why would NEOM succeed in realizing a 'world-class city' where Chinese megaprojects failed?