Projects

Due to lack of space and climate change, the future of living might need to partly move on to water areas. In our history of conquering the water, the Dutch have a head start in some of the challenges associated with living on- and with water. Researchers and designers are therefore imagining and conceptualizing floating urban development. However, to make it a truly realistic and imaginable future scenario, there are more hurdles to overcome. To realize floating neighborhoods, we’ll need to find solutions for more than only the technical aspects, like; financing, community support, ecological aspects, affordability, politics, etc.

Overcoming these barriers will be difficult. We’re currently focusing on urgent (housing)crises and our collective belief on urban development is mainly focused on ‘family apartments on land’. This challenge revolves around creating imaginable and workable scenarios of urban development on water.

In the past decade, we have witnessed a surge of cooperatives across society. From community-led energy projects to endeavours in collective mobility and housing, citizens and companies are increasingly organizing themselves to shape their surroundings, often driven by sustainability and social goals and most of them do this in a not for profit way. Despite this rich history and the ongoing proliferation of initiatives, cooperative efforts and their benefits often remain small-scale and localized and, in most cases, accessible only to specific and select demographics.

This challenge aims to help civil society organizations in the energy domain, such as energy cooperatives, to become more mainstream. We aim to create recognition, to create an understanding of mutual interests with the key stakeholders they have to work with, and to exchange knowledge for these organizations to grow faster or repeat.

The underground is filled with infrastructure and other assets, including electricity cables, fibre optic cables, gas pipelines, heat networks, sewers, and more. Additionally, underground spaces host natural elements crucial for maintaining a healthy urban environment, such as soil essential for urban trees. Consequently, various stakeholders regularly need access to the underground, each with their own interests, creating significant pressure on the underground. Frequent excavation leads to disruptions, extensive damage, and trees that don’t age past 60 (which is very young for trees).

Improvements can be made by enhancing collaboration among stakeholders, sharing more data, and collectively planning underground activities. Understanding the interests of all involved parties is crucial to developing an action plan aimed at enhancing the quality and management of the underground.

Circular initiatives often struggle to progress beyond the pilot phase, including circular charging infrastructure. Numerous barriers hinder these circular initiatives:
• Lack of data on products and how circular/sustainable they are.
• Difficulty in implementing circularity across the entire production chain.
• Regulatory obstacles.
• Current higher costs associated with circular production, leading to more expensive products.
To overcome these barriers, adjustments to regulations are necessary to better align with circular initiatives, alongside the establishment of shared ownership within the production chain.

The True Price Lab is a project focusing on willingness to pay the true price for food and drink.

From 26 February to mid-June 2024, the restaurant and espresso bar in the Corry Tendeloo Building of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences will be dedicated to the True Price Lab. For four months, students and staff will be able to choose between paying the normal or true price for a number of products. This project is an initial exploration of consumers' willingness to pay the true price, which includes hidden environmental and social-impact costs.

True price versus consumer price

The true price can be defined as the price applicable after calculating and improving the true price of a product. The true price is based on the retail price plus the sum total of external social and environmental costs. Traditional pricing disregards these external costs, which are effectively paid for by society. For example, the retail price of a cup of coffee does not include the environmental damage of pest control or the underpayment of the farmers who grow the coffee.

The full extra amount that participants pay when they voluntarily opt for the true price will go to the non-profit organisation Solidaridad. Solidaridad wants to make the world a place where everything is made and bought in solidarity with people, the environment and future generations. Visitors to the restaurant and espresso bar can learn more about what their contributions will be used for by scanning a QR code.

Greetings Trailblazing Visionaries,
Get ready for a seismic shift in sustainability! We're ByeBye Bed Limited, a force of innovation since 2019, experiencing a staggering 900% growth, and now we're inviting you to be part of our electrifying journey - Reborn Products.
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Dazzling Growth, Unstoppable Momentum: From a modest 6,000 sq. ft. to our current 60,000 sq. ft. facility, we've supersized our operation to revolutionise recycling on a grand scale. Brace yourself for a dedicated manufacturing facility that will catapult our capabilities into the stratosphere.
Reborn Products: Where Sustainability Meets Luxury: Our 'Reborn' products aren't just eco-friendly; they're a testament to style, comfort, and sustainability. From avant-garde mattresses to chic futon chairs and everything in between, we’re turning waste into opulence. Currently, 96% of our materials are recycled, making us the pinnacle of green innovation.
Crushing the Landfill Crisis: We're not just talking the talk; we're walking it, stomping on the UK landfill crisis that swallows almost 5,000,000 mattresses each year. We're not just recycling; we're redefining waste, turning it into a jaw-dropping spectacle of sustainability.
Financial Dynamo: Fueling the Future: Hold on tight because the next phase is a financial thunderstorm. We're not just enhancing the use of our recycled materials; we're rewriting the rules of industry, starting with furniture making. Imagine a world where our waste stream becomes the lifeblood of innovation.
Revolutionary Padding Material: Unleashing the Future: Introducing our game-changing padding material, birthed from our waste streams. It's not just 100% recyclable; it's a disruptor, challenging the status quo and reshaping the very fabric of eco-friendly living.
Invest in Tomorrow: ByeBye Bed Limited is the Future: This isn’t just a crowdfunding opportunity; it’s your ticket to invest in the future of sustainability. Join the movement, fuel the revolution, and be part of a success story that will be told for generations.
Social Impact: Building Lives, Breaking Chains: But wait, there's more! Our initiative with HMP isn’t just about recycling materials; it's about recycling lives. We're rehabilitating prisoners, re-skilling them for a triumphant return to society. And the best part? They potentially become integral members of our powerhouse workforce.
Your Invitation to Greatness: Investing in ByeBye Bed Limited and Reborn Products isn’t just about returns; it’s about being part of a seismic shift. This is your opportunity to be on the ground floor of something monumental.
Interested in More Details? Ignite the Revolution - Join Us Now: Email us for more details and become part of a future where recycling isn’t just responsible; it’s a lifestyle. Let's redefine waste, together.
Thank you for daring to dream big with ByeBye Bed Limited and Reborn Products.

Find out this comparative analysis of critical policies and infrastructures essential for advancing the urban circular transition!

This piece of work draws upon the insights garnered from the experiences of four European cities, including Amsterdam. Reflecting on pivotal levers and obstacles pivotal in catalyzing socio-ecological transformations towards alternative urban metabolisms forms the crux of this exploration. This insightful report, commissioned by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the German agency for international cooperation, has been recently unveiled within the Circular Economy Solutions Dialogue (CESD) under the auspices of the Think20 (T20) working group focused on sustainable urbanization.

As a PhD researcher, I am now embarked on another research project on circular policies and strategies. One of my fieldwork is based in Amsterdam, spanning from January to April 2024. I am enthusiastic about establishing connections and potentially collaborating during my stay in the city!

ATELIER is an EU funded project about AmsTErdam and BiLbao cItizen drivEn smaRt cities, aiming to create and replicate Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) within eight European cities. ATELIER showcases innovative solutions that integrate buildings with smart mobility and technologies to create rather than consume energy in its two Lighthouse Cities Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Bilbao (Spain). The Fellow Cities of ATELIER, Bratislava (Slovak Republic), Budapest (Hungary), Copenhagen (Denmark), Krakow (Poland), Matosinhos (Portugal), and Riga (Latvia), will replicate and adapt the successfully implemented solutions and thus serve as testbeds for future smart cities. Overall, ATELIER will thus generate an energy surplus of 1340 MWh of primary energy and save 1,7 kt of CO2 and 23 t of NOx-emissions.
To achieve successful implementations of energy saving measures, ATELIER puts citizens at the centre of all its activities: residents (<9000), local initiatives and energy communities will be included in decision-making processes and activities and will be strongly engaged in the development of the technical solutions throughout the project. Citizens will be involved in the Innovation Ateliers to create a maximum impact for the PEDs.
30 partners from 11 countries are working in 10 work packages.

Learn more about ATELIER at its public website (http://www.smartcity-atelier.eu/) or via the ATELIER Twitter and LinkedIn channels. Sign up here (link follows) for the ATELIER newsletter. Follow the project virtually and don’t miss an opportunity to come talk to its partners at events to learn more about how ATELIER will improve the life of its citizens and the liveability in its cities!

Context
At the heart of the GEMINI Project lies a commitment to fostering innovation and to accelerate the transition towards climate neutrality in mobility solutions.
Goal 11 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals advocates for access to safe, affordable, and sustainable transport systems. Nowadays, transport plays a significant role on air pollution and is one of the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions and is the only sector in the EU with increased Green House Gas (GHG) emissions compared to 1990.
The promotion of sustainable and innovative mobility solutions can help towards reducing GHG and carbon footprints, improving air quality, and achieving climate goals.

Project brief
The GEMINI Project (2023-2026 “Greening European Mobility through cascading innovation Initiatives” is a Horizon Europe funded project with 43 partners led by the Urban Electric Mobility Initiative (UEMI).

To accelerate the transition towards climate neutrality, GEMINI aims to foster widespread adoption of sustainable shared mobility solutions. To achieve this, the project will develop and test innovative business models for New Mobility Services (NMS) such as shared connected automated vehicles and shared mobility public transport through public-private partnerships. The NMS business models will be demonstrated in ten European Cities (Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Munich, Leuven, Ljubljana, Paris-Saclay, Porto and Turin).

Additionally, GEMINI will create digital tools and platforms that accommodate various mobility services, promoting collaboration and integration within the mobility sector. The project will actively engage stakeholders in the co-creation process, introducing Mobility as a Commons (MaaC) and incentivizing behavioural shifts and user acceptance of these new mobility options.

Furthermore, GEMINI will formulate policy recommendations to enable the scaling up and replication of successful mobility solutions. By aligning with Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) and urban mobility planning frameworks, the project aims to contribute to a comprehensive policy package that guides and incentivizes future mobility innovations. The GEMINI project envisions fostering sustainable, accessible, and affordable shared mobility solutions that contribute to a safer and more environmentally friendly urban mobility landscape.

Objectives

1. Develop and test sustainable business models for New Mobility Services (NMS) to increase shared mobility solutions (MaaS and MaaC) for various user groups, including enterprises, families, and tourists.
2. Create digital enablers, including collaboration platforms and multimodal MaaS solutions, to integrate and facilitate a wide range of mobility services.
3. Actively involve stakeholders in the co-creation of new mobility options and integrate Social Innovation practices to incentivize behavioural changes and user acceptance.
4. Formulate policy recommendations to support the scaling up and replicability of successful mobility solutions, contributing to the development and implementation of SUMPs and urban mobility planning frameworks.

Cenex NL key contributions
The team plays a vital role in developing policy recommendations and technology roadmaps to accelerate the deployment of innovative mobility services. Through collaboration with local authorities in twinning cities, these roadmaps will align with the fast-track deployment of shared mobility trends in the short and medium term. Additionally, Cenex NL will contribute to the development of the Handbook consolidating the project’s learnings and offering practical guidance to cities and citizens across Europe.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101103801.

Context
Africa is the fasted growing continent on the planet, measured both in GDP as in population, which historically is accompanied with a growth in energy consumption. With an eye on the Paris Agreement and COP26 it is clear the energy should be Low or even Zero Emission. However, it is important this does not stifle the economic growth allowing millions to climb out of poverty. With this in mind the EU funded the SESA project that aims at mitigating climate change while improving access to sustainable energy under affordable, reliable conditions.

Project brief
SESA is a four-year (2021-2025) EU H2020 funded R&D project designed to combine innovative energy access solutions for a range of applications in both urbanised and rural contexts in Africa. These solutions will include decentralised renewables (solar photovoltaics), innovative energy storage systems (including second life batteries), waste-to-energy systems (biomass to biogas), smart microgrids, (micro) mobility solutions, climate-proofing, resilience and adaptation, and rural internet access.
SESA focusses on testing, validating and replicating those energy innovations through co-developed demonstration actions in 9 sites across the continent (1 Living Lab for testing, 4 for validation and 4 for replication).
The collaborative project is the result of a strong partnership between leading European and African universities, research centres, industry actors, local governments, knowledge and implementation organizations and networks.

Objectives
The main goal of SESA is to support a diversity of affordable solutions that help provide access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy services for all, creating new business opportunities and developing concepts that can directly contribute to a low-carbon development. It further provides policy makers with recommendations aiming at creating a favourable regulatory environment to ensure long-term impacts of the solutions developed. In addition, a key deliverable for the project is the SESA Toolbox, which will contain materials relating to the following main building blocks:

• Impact assessment
• Capacity building
• Business plans and models
• Innovations tested in demonstration actions
• Design, operations and management for different solutions
• Financing & funding options
• Policy support

Cenex NL’s key contributions
Cenex NL leads the work package responsible for the development of the key repository of the project, the so called “SESA Toolbox”, and the evaluation of the project results available in the toolbox. Our team will be involved in three tasks:

1. Build a scalable and harmonised toolbox for advanced implementation, management and operation strategies of efficient sustainable energy solutions.
2. Develop an evaluation framework based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to quantify and compare the environmental impacts of the proposed solutions.
3. Assess the impact of the solutions developed in at least five the demonstration and validation projects using the framework developed in the previous task.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation progamme under grant agreement No 101037141

City Managers Association in Romania (AAPRO) was founded in 2010, as a follow-up of a pilot project called “Public Administrator – a success factor for an efficient management at local level” carry out by the Central Unit for the Public Administration Reform (a structure within the Romanian Ministry of Administration and Interior Affairs).

AAPRO is commited to form a national, relevant, elite and professional Body of City Managers, who must have a clear image on the background of this career and become responsible for their professional conduct and self-improvement.

The initiative to introduce the City manager position at each local level in Romania targets an higher lever of professionalism at counties, municipalities, cities and communes staff.

The romanian equivalent of the city manager can be hired upon the Mayor’s proposal or the one of the local council (wich must give the final aproval anyway), after a transparent selection process. His main responsibilities are to coordinate some of the public administration affairs and services (on an agreed agenda) and to do other specific tasks delegated by the Mayor / President of County Council, all of these concluded in a management contract, based on clear management objectives and performance criteria.

The City Manager is one common thing among the efficient and successful local governments
all over the world. Adopting him in the romanian administration was a step from public adminsitration to public management, focusing on delivery good qaulity services for the citizens. The Public Administrator, as we call it here, is not another birocrat, but a strategist, a visonary, balancing day-to-day (organizational) problem solving with planning and shaping the future, acording to the adopted local strategy and the community aspirations.

At the local level, the elected body and the technical staff, coordinated by the Mayor or the President of County Council and the Public Administrator, must first find aut and understand what people want, need and hope, then come up with a strategy, an action plan, seek for solutions, means and resources, involve the local actors such as bussines community and civil society, and communicate at any moment what has been done so far, and what is is comming.

In this picture, the City manager has a leading role, he is an communicator, technology facilitator, and can be, if the Mayor delegates him, even budget chief authorizing officer. Currently, in Romania activate more than 700 Public Administrators (the number varies from month to monyh), as follows :

• Out of 41 counties, 34 ocupied positions and 7 vacancies
• Out of 103 municipies, 56 ocupied positions and 37 vacancies
• Out of 216 cities, 60 ocupied positions and 65 vacancies
• Out of 2850 communes, 550 ocupied positions and 350 vacancies

Those above figures makes 459 vacancies in total, with the observation that, in many cases, we are talking about small comunes with scarce Romanian City Managers Association (AAPRO) conducted a survey among its members that identified the needs for training, building local capacities on climate protection, urban regeneration, structural changes and energy policies, concept of smart city and creatively intelligent communities.

Establishing appropriate training structures for the now and future City Managers is essential for supporting the development of the cities and climate strategies (it aims to encourage cities and municipalities to take concrete actions for climate protection in Romania), urban regeneration and structural changes, concept of smart city and creatively intelligent communities.

This project focuses on the competences that the city managers must have in order to achieve a multiplication effect through their contribution. The nationwide implementation of a systematic local energy management using the City Managers can thus make an important step to tapp existing saving potentials in different regions and to establish a sustainable portfolio management.

We hope that, with your support, that the outcomes of this important project, can be forwarded on an extended scale to the local institutions (schools, hospitals, etc) and communities, as good practices, improving the energy efficiency status and reducing the energy poverty, urban regeneration and structural changes, concept of smart city and creatively intelligent communities.

The pilot group will be composed of 50 to 80 city managers upon their self enrollment and applying few clear selection parameters : level of municipality, experience, english language, etc. The target group will be afterward authorized to further train other city managers and employees of the local municipalities. This core team is expected to disseminate the information and to act as an experts group in our Association.

As Romania has (at this moment) a deficit of at least 250 city managers, the learning and workshops center will be powerful tool, a public management academy and a testing facility for the ones applying for this position.

Our idea: The Supportclub, let’s look after someone, as a team
The Supportclub makes volunteering for another person fun and easy to do. Our app carefully designs teams around a person in need, based on skills and fields of interests. Our network partners invites people that need a little help or company, informal care to make a profile as a supportee. Our campaign recruits people that want to help somebody, the supporters. They also make a profile.

The Supportclub app matches supporters based on their interests and skills. The app creates (temporary) teams around a supportee, e.g. Annie → Support team Annie. The Supportclub facilitates the teams to work together for Annie providing handy features like notification, a calendar, chat and monthly meet-up for the team.
 
The Supportclub proposition for supporters:

• look after a person that needs some help (18+)
• in a carefully designed team
• for a fixed period of time
• with social team activities
• facilitated by an app

Join the Supportclub!
 
The Support club proposition for supportees:

• Do you need some help or company?
• Register yourself at The Support Club and get a team. Three to five people that are willing to look after you. They do it together and make new friends while doing it.
• You let us know what your needs are and we do the rest.

Join the Supportclub!  

In large and diverse public organizations like the Gemeente Haarlemmermeer, communication can sometimes be hindered by silos. Different departments or teams in the organization may work independently leading to a lack of information sharing and coordination. With so many channels and platforms available, it can be difficult to filter out the information that is relevant and important to employees. This can lead to information overload and make it difficult for employees to stay updated on important updates.

Thus, the trainee team from the Digital Transformation Traineeship Programme at Digital Society School embarked on a challenge on how Gemeente Haarlemmermeer can be facilitated to become a smarter, more connected, transparent and digitally inclusive organisation.

Read more about the project on the website of Digital Society School!

Pientere Tuinen is een 3-jarig project dat begin april 2023 is gestart. Tot eind 2023 kunnen nieuwe deelnemers aansluiten bij het grootste participatieproject in Nederland. Pientere Tuinen is een samenwerking van 7 publieke en private partijen.

De aanpak in Pientere Tuinen draait om drie samenhangende onderdelen.
 
1. Data verzamelen met een slimme sensor en een interactief/educatief dashboard van de eigen tuin voor de individuele inwoner,
2. Kwantitatief (data-analyse) en kwalitatief (interviews/surveys) onderzoek naar strategieën voor een gezonde leefomgeving en duurzame gedragsverandering,
3. Advies op maat aan bewoners over de inrichting en het beheer van de tuin

Het doel van Pientere Tuinen is een groenere, gezondere leefomgeving te creëren door het bewustzijn en de motivatie bij tuinbezitters te vergroten. Dat doen we door data te verzamelen, onderzoek uit te voeren en meer maatwerk te bieden in de advisering en voorlichting aan bewoners.
 
Enkele voordelen van uw deelname aan Pientere Tuinen op een rijtje
- Tuinbezitters krijgen een bodemsensor die drie jaar lang hitte, bodemkwaliteit en het vochtgehalte meet, waarvan resultaten zichtbaar zijn op een dashboard
- Tuinbezitters krijgen (mede op basis van de data) specifieke voorlichting voor het vergroenen van de tuin door middel van tuintips, stappenplan en mogelijke (wijk)workshops
- Deelnemende organisaties zijn onderdeel van het grootste participatieproject van Nederland met ca. 5.000 deelnemers en meetpunten door heel Nederland
- Deelnemende organisaties worden betrokken bij twee langdurige, landelijke onderzoeksprogramma’s naar motivatie voor vergroening en gedragseffecten van verschillende interventiestrategieën, en data-analyses van milieu- en gezondheidsaspecten
- Als organisatie bent je zelf als partner zichtbaar in een landelijke PR- en communicatiecampagne rondom het project.
- Je leert zelf binnen de community over structurele, duurzame vergroening met uw inwoners onder andere van de onderzoeksprogramma’s en andere projectpartners

The climate is changing and Amsterdam is getting busier and busier. We are faced with the task of keeping the city, including Southeast, liveable, safe and accessible at the same time.Various events, concerts, sports competitions attract millions of visitors to Southeast every year. To bring all these visitors to the city in a more sustainable way, the municipality of Amsterdam, Johan Cruijff ArenA, Ajax, NS, GVB, Transdev, Transport Region Amsterdam and Amsterdam Smart City have joined forces. Their ambition is to make CO2 neutral travelling to and from large events the norm by the end of 2023.

Alternating travelbehaviour requires a diverse coalition
The car is currently still the most widely used means of transport in Southeast. The transition to sustainable mobility requires cooperation between (semi)public and private parties and the strengthening of sustainable alternatives to the private car. While reducing car- and parking accessibility, and placing bycicle parking options lays within the power of the municipality, the public transport providers posess all travel data and have the power to expand their transportcapacity. Moreover, to convince the supporters and fans to change their behaviour, you need the direct communication power from Ajax (Football Club) and the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Hence, you could say the challenge within the challenge is to find new forms of collaboration, data sharing, and fine-tuning the alignment of measures.

Short and long-term measures
The coalition of partners have developed an action plan and analysed crowd-and travel behaviour. During 2023, these findings initiated the shaping of first measures to influence the mobility choices of visitors. During the first pilot event at the end of May, bike parking facilities will be expanded and group transportation will be aranged for those living in so called 'public transport desserts'.

When speaking of long(er)-term measures, one could think of time-adjusted public transport supply, personal (digital) travel advice, and campaigns through Ajax and its supportersbase to raise awareness and appreciation of car-alternatives.

Hoe slim is de ideale leefomgeving wat jou betreft, nu en in de toekomst? Wat betekent dat voor o.a. je strategie, diensten en technologie?
Vanuit phbm voegen we graag een gereedschap toe aan jouw Toolbox voor Smart City-vraagstukken. Eén waarbij we het voorstellings- en inlevingsvermogen activeren en welzijn centraal staat: het BewustwordingsModel. Dit model maakt de positie en wensen van jou en de ander expliciet en voorkomt dat er ruis ontstaat over het niveau van ‘slimheid’ in de leefomgeving. Door de toelichting van de passende organisatie, samenwerking, strategie e.d. bij de niveaus ontstaat een scherp beeld van wat het gekozen niveau betekent voor het individu, de organisatie of zelfs de samenleving als geheel. Eén van de centrale vragen bij het model is: hoe ‘smart’ wil je zijn en waar zit de optimale balans tussen mens en technologie?

Eerste gepubliceerde versie is tot stand gekomen samen met partners in de City Deal (‘Een slimme stad, zo doe je dat’). Het laat op vijf niveaus zien in welke mate een organisatie of bedrijf slim is. Eén van de doelen hiervan is om te bepalen of opdrachtgever en opdrachtnemer dezelfde taal spreken. Vanuit phbm zijn we doorgegaan op het model en hebben onder andere ethiek en mobiliteit als pijlers toegevoegd.

Het model is openbaar inzichtelijk, phbm begeleidt graag in het proces om samenwerkingspartners gezamenlijk bewuster te maken op welk niveau ze staan (gebruikmakend van het model) en met welke ontwikkelingen je rekening kan houden in het vraagstuk wat op tafel ligt (op vlak van organisatie, diensten of ethiek bijvoorbeeld).

Does your organisation work with vulnerable target groups in Amsterdam, or are you a tech company with great ideas for digital solutions for this group? Create tech applications together for the challenges of vulnerable communities during the European CommuniCity project.

From 28 February to 31 March, you can submit your proposal for one of the challenges to CommuniCity for a chance to win a €12,500 grant to test your idea in practice.

How does it work?

• Companies or organisations submit their proposal via the CommuniCity website;
• The submissions are assessed against the set criteria and thus the winners are selected;
• The winning entries receive a grant of 12,500 euros to develop and test their solution together with the target group in Amsterdam.

For more information about the project, the challenges for Amsterdam and application conditions check the website below!

My name is Joe Calodich and I work as a researcher at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the research group Vital Cities and Citizens. I am currently looking for members of the city administrations in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Prague, Tallinn, Vienna, Zurich, Brussels, or Munich who are interested in participating in a research interview.

The study which I am asking your participation for focuses on how large European cities have undertaken the digitalisation process of the public administration and how this process has affected the workings and the policies. I would also like to learn about some concrete examples on the use of big data related to this digitalisation process.

I hope to complete the interviews by the end of February 2023. Each interview will last between one hour and fifteen minutes and one hour and a half. The interview will be recorded and the content will be exclusively used for academic purposes (analysis, scientific publications, presentations, reports) and within the boundaries of the study’s goals. The gathered information will be treated by complying with anonymity and confidentiality criteria as defined in the social sciences regarding the use of personal information.

If you, or a colleague, is interested in participating, please send me an email at: 627583jc@eur.nl.

I look forward to hearing from some of you soon!

Rising petrol and electricity prices; increasing digitalisation and declining public transport supply, among other things, are causing more and more people to have problems getting around. Sustainability and shared mobility do not seem to be for everyone, and measures to encourage them may even exacerbate the problem. This increases the risk of social exclusion.

The province of North Holland and DRIFT are concerned about mobility poverty and wonder what we can do about it to keep everyone in our society mobile. However, little is still known about the extent of the problem, the exact target groups and what instruments work (and what, above all, do not). We are therefore keen to engage with partners to reach a shared understanding and an aligned approach.

Since mid 2022, we have been working on this challenge with network partners in various working group sessions. Would you like to think along and be part of the solution? Contact me at pelle@amsterdamsmartcity.com.

The climate crisis and current energy prices are stimulating a rapid shift from gas to electricity. This shift is happening quicker than expected and therefore has caused grid congestion.

Optimization of local energy usage, production, and exchange is important for tackling grid congestion. It can also stimulate the usage of sustainable energy resources and lower the costs of energy. However, optimization requires intensive collaboration between local stakeholders. It also requires them to take the common good into account instead of their self-interest.

Properly organizing these types of collaboration on the local level is therefore very challenging. There is a need to create a (as far as possible) standard approach with best practices and collaboration between the government, grid operators and the local communities. This challenge aims to create a collaboration between people working with Lokal Energy Systems (LES), to help them share their knowledge and learnings, and to empower people who want to create a LES of their own.