Updates

Gulia El, Human Being , posted

Bicycle, not dinosaur

Amsterdam's views are overwhelmed with parking places full of bicycles.
1. To diminish space taken up by parked bicycles , collapsible bycicles should start being promoted.
2. Also, bycicles can be parked facing each other, where front wheels overlap. That saves space by 50%.
3. In areas that allow it ( park, grassy areas), ground surface should be turned into an underground–like covered parking for bycicles. That means lifting walkable part of a surface through building plaza or alley over it (of whatever material ) but tall enough so under this cover bycicles can be parked. With time areas of the city do get raised anyhow because of cultural layer. If we create raised areas artificially, we have then empty space under them to use as bicycle parking. Besides utilitarian solution, it can also hide the multitude of bycicles from the eye. Those raised areas can be arcitecturally stractured so smartly, that they remind mostly of a curved landscape, modern architectural elements rather than invisible parking lot. :)

Gulia El's picture News
Susana MAURE PEREZ, maketing officer , posted

Intelligent solutions for Smart Cities

There are already circular economy and smart city solutions being implemented all around, check out how Stimergy that recycles the heat generated by data centers will help the city of Paris to reduce their carbon footprint by 45 tons a year and save 250MWh of energy

Susana MAURE PEREZ's picture #Energy
Anonymous posted

Accept the linear environment you are in, but think circular

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Circular Economy is a buzzword. Many people use it whenever they feel like it. People claim to be working towards a totally circular economy, but do not really know what it means. Vague definitions need to become more specific. Do not get me wrong; it is a tough ambition to achieve.

Two weeks ago Jan Jonker and his fellow scientists connected to the Radboud University of Nijmegen, presented his research on the ‘circular status of the Netherlands’. You can see a preview of his book in the link of this post.

Circular Economy is a buzzword. Many people use it whenever they feel like it. People claim to be working towards a totally circular economy, but do not really know what it means. Vague definitions need to become more specific. Do not get me wrong; it is a tough ambition to achieve.

Two weeks ago Jan Jonker and his fellow scientists connected to the Radboud University of Nijmegen, presented his research on the ‘circular status of the Netherlands’. You can see a preview of his book in this link:

http://www.duurzame-producten-diensten.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Een-zwaluw-voorspelt-veel-goeds_Preview.pdf

We were there and would like to share our insights and the results of the research.

The starting point of the Circular Economy is the organization of chains of resources, materials, parts or products. Collaboration of different parties is always key. The goal of closing these chains is value creation.

Many companies are not there yet, and this research gives a couple of reasons:

  • Closing chains it is a difficult organizational task for companies
  • Companies struggle with designing a strategy to become circular
  • Traditional revenue models and the traditional linear economy are strongly founded and therefore difficult to concur
  • Value creation is often limited to recycling, energy efficiency and resource reduction
  • Companies often look inside their organization to become more circular. Outside collaboration is not as common as it should be
  • Circular Economy is buzzing, but it lacks of practical implementation. We know a lot about the subject in theory, but it unfortunately ends there

Companies that are seriously working on circular economy call the following three points that impede realization:

  • Conflicting regulations
  • Not every stakeholder in the value chain is ready for this change
  • Lack of financial resources

But let’s not focus on the negative. What can we do to accelerate the Circular Economy? There is unfortunately not an easy, generic answer to this question.

What we do know is that it all starts with the acknowledgement of chain dependency, no matter what kind of industry you are in. Circular organizing is not a marketing tool; you cannot do it in a day and you really need to organize in a different manner. Some situations ask for a slightly different way of working, other situations require a totally new business model.

Accept the linear environment you are in, but think circular.

Have a clear business model. It can be out of the box, but it must be understandable.

I know it sounds like a difficult task, but there are some great examples of how it can work. Let’s take a look at Roof2Roof.

Roof2Roof organizes and facilitates the recycling of bitumen roofing material. Goal is to do this as sustainable as possible, from Roof to Roof or Roof to Asphalt. Their method is unique in the world – they use new technology and integrated chain collaboration. The recycled bitumen is used to replace fossil raw materials in the production of new roofing rolls and asphalt. The management of the total recycling process is done by Roof2Roof. This ensures the quality from roof inspection to the finished product. Roof2Roof has developed a professional platform and specialist network, consisting of roofing companies and slope contractors. An infrastructure has been set up for the collection and recycling of bitumen roof waste.

Recycling of bitumen roofs has been converted into action using a clear business model. As you can see, the Circular Economy can be implemented and is not impossible. It just takes some creative thinking and collaboration. Look around you. Who or what do you need to close your chain?

Do you want to know what kind of opportunities are out there for your organization? Please feel free to contact me!

http://www.duurzame-producten-diensten.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Een-zwaluw-voorspelt-veel-goeds_Preview.pdf

#CircularCity
Anonymous posted

Pitch & Win €1.000 - Calling for ideas and concepts in sustainable energy or energy saving

Together with Amsterdam &Co and OBA Amsterdam we are organising Het Ideeenlab#5: Energy. A pitch contest for Amsterdam residents and entrepreneurs with briliant ideas or innovations concerning sustainable energy or energy saving.

Sign up, pitch your idea and win €1.000,-
You can apply till June 12. via this link.
http://www.degezondestad.org/nieuws/nieuws/pitch-en-win-e1000-het-ideeenlab-5-energie_235/

Het Ideeenlab #5: Energy takes place at June 29 at OBA Amsterdam.

#Energy
Anonymous posted

Energy transition Amsterdam

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Finding out how students can be used to inform the citizens of Amsterdam about the energy transition.

#Energy
Anonymous posted

Pitch & Win €1.000 - Calling for ideas and concepts in sustainable energy or energy saving

Together with Amsterdam &Co and OBA Amsterdam we are organising Het Ideeenlab#5: Energy. A pitch contest for Amsterdam residents and entrepreneurs with briliant ideas or innovations concerning sustainable energy or energy saving.

Sign up, pitch your idea and win €1.000,-
You can apply till June 12. via this link.

Het Ideeenlab #5: Energy takes place at June 29 at OBA Amsterdam.

#Energy
Susana MAURE PEREZ, maketing officer , posted

The Business Booster

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TBB, The Business Booster by InnoEnergy

TBB. is a two-day international event connecting leading industries and bright minds
from business start-ups and SME’s. Showcasing over 60 innovative technologies in sustainable energy, TBB features also inspiring speakers on the latest trends in the energy sector.

This year the event topic will be "Accelerating Clean Energy Innovations". At the end of 2016, the European Commission released the Clean Energy for All Europeans package, a set of measures to boost the clean energy transition by providing a strong market pull for new technologies, setting the right conditions for investors, empowering consumers, making energy markets work better and helping us meet our climate targets.

One of the main key factors pinpointed by the Commission as an enabler of the change to a low-carbon economy, is the acceleration of clean energy innovations.

Strongly aligning with our mission at InnoEnergy to be key enablers of this acceleration, we have chosen this as the topic for the 2017 edition of The Business Booster – 25-26 October, RAI Amsterdam.

Susana MAURE PEREZ's picture Event from Oct 25th to Oct 26th
Audrie van Veen, Director Strategic Partnerships at Amsterdam Economic Board, posted

Europe on the Move: EC launches new mobility & transport package

Today the European Commission has unveiled a package of proposals designed to modernise European mobility and transport. The aim is to help the sector to remain competitive in a socially fair transition towards clean energy and digitalisation. 'Europe on the Move' is a wide-ranging set of initiatives that will make traffic safer; encourage fairer road charging; reduce CO2 emissions, air pollution and congestion; cut red-tape for businesses; fight illicit employment and ensure proper conditions and rest times for workers. The long-term benefits of these measures will extend far beyond the transport sector by promoting jobs, growth and investment, strengthening social fairness, widening consumers' choices and firmly putting Europe on the path towards low emissions.

Audrie van Veen's picture #Mobility
Egbert van Keulen, Community Manager at Smart City Hub, posted

5G Internet: the connectivity of the future

5G promises data speeds in the tens of megabits per second. No more buffering, no more slow connections, no more lagging teleconferencing. It will provide data transmission as fast as the best hard-wired connections. That sounds impossible, but it’s not. And it’s something we need. Brussels might become the first European city with a 5G network. Belgian Telecomregulator BIPT lengthened the license of operator Broadband Belgium with five years until 2024.

* Incredibly fast Internet
* Huge amounts of data
* Necessary to connect the IoT
* The challenge: an entirely new infrastructure

Egbert van Keulen's picture #DigitalCity
Joshua Serrão, Innovation Officer at City of Amsterdam: Digitalization & Innovation, posted

OMC Amsterdam Innovation Arena on the news and radio!

Het is je vast niet ontgaan dat afgelopen weekend het Arenagebied volstroomde met >100k bezoekers voor de concerten van Anouk, Eddie Vedder en de (4) Toppers.

Het OMC verzorgde als mobiliteitscentrum samen met haar partners de operationele veiligheid, gastvrijheid, social response en dienstverlening in het gebied middels de inzet van de Mobility Portal en LiveCrowd.

Super toffe en innovatieve vorm van samenwerken door te doen en data te delen. Diverse media deed verslaglegging, oa op locatie. Check hier het nieuwsitems bij de NOS en BNR radio met Hidde Salverda (directeur evenementen Amsterdam Arena).

NOS 20.00 uur journaal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFMj9cAKZ-4&t=6s

BNR: https://www.bnr.nl/player/audio/10061716/10323763

Joshua Serrão's picture #DigitalCity
Gerard Duineveld, 5G Mobility & Telecom, High speed Fiber networking, IP netwerken , posted

Contact with ICT managers, big data transport Amsterdam

A-Fiber levert hoogwaardige Dark Fiber en WDM verbindingen op basis van het eigen aangelegde glasvezelnetwerk in Amsterdam en omgeving. (Inmiddels tussen ca 37 Datacentra.) A-fiber zoekt geïnteresseerde ICT managers van bedrijven, gemeente en/of overheidsinstellingen in de regio Amsterdam die gebruik willen maken van dit darkfiber en/of high speed datanetwerk voor transport van hun data. (>Gbps-Tbps).
Geïnteresseerden IT managers kunnen mailen met A-fiber via:
(gerard.duineveld@a-fiber.net)

Gerard Duineveld's picture #DigitalCity
Michaela Miklusak, Summit Manager , posted

SmartCity360° Summit

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The 3rd annual Smart City 360˚Summit is the first Nordic Smart Cities event that will address multidisciplinary scientific collaboration to solve complex societal, technological and economic problems of Smart Cities, regions and large infrastructures.

This first event will create a lasting platform for an exchange of experiences and best practices between international Smart City innovation programs – development strategies and initiatives with the participation of the global research community. Its aim is to identify areas of common interests for future implementations and partnerships.

Event from Nov 29th to Dec 1st
Dillion Asher, Geoscience, Drone Photogrammetry , posted

Feedback on the Energy Atlas Project

I would like to interview individuals who worked on the Energy Atlas project, as part of a graduate comparative research study on sustainable urban energy use. I am a visiting student from the University of Pittsburgh, here to explore the topic of Sustainable Cities until June 13. I want to learn more about how the public and private partners involved in the Energy Atlas collaborated to develop the final product, what value they have derived from it, and what insights they might share about the process in retrospect. I hope to share the knowledge and lessons acquired from launching the Energy Atlas in a policy journal publication, and communicate that information to Pittsburgh's municipal government, private utilities, and sustainability advocates who might benefit from similar initiatives. Feel free to respond here (or you may reach me at dillion.asher@pitt.edu), hope to hear from you!

Dillion Asher's picture Request
Anonymous posted

Calling entrepreneurs working with plants or flowers

The call for Let it Grow’s second Incubation Programme is now open and is accepting applications until 10 September 2017. Let it Grow believes in the value of plants and flowers to ensure happier and healthier city living. Let it Grow’s Incubation Programme is a five-month programme based in Amsterdam and is designed to accelerate entrepreneurial teams that work with flowers and plants in new ways. Successful applicants will receive €10,000 (no equity will be asked in return), a dedicated mentor, workshops/trainings and access to their extensive network of professionals. The first programme had a Net Promoter Score of +90. Apply now at letitgrow.org/apply

Request
Anonymous posted

Calling entrepreneurs working with plants or flowers

Let it Grow is calling all entrepreneurial teams that use flowers and plants to turn cities into happier and healthier places, to apply for its second five -month Incubation Programme. You will receive €10,000 (no equity is asked in return), a dedicated mentor, training and access to an extensive network of professionals. You can apply until 10 September 2017 at letitgrow.org/apply

News
Audrie van Veen, Director Strategic Partnerships at Amsterdam Economic Board, posted

Helsinki opens Climate Street (and learns from Amsterdam Smart City!)

Helsinki's goal of being carbon neutral by 2050 is challenging the city to turn its historic centre into a smart, energy efficient district. Climate Street is playing its part by involving residents and businesses in turning ideas into practical and replicable actions. To become carbon neutral and climate resilient as rapidly as demanded by its climate roadmap, Helsinki had to develop innovative solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy use. While awareness of environmental issues was high, motivating organisations and people to act remained an issue. To address this, the city recognised the needed to take a cooperative approach, open the conversation up, mobilise all stakeholders, and encourage climate-friendly choices.

Learning from climate-smart initiatives in Amsterdam and Cologne, which proved the value of piloting small-scale solutions in specially chosen streets, the municipality developed its own Climate Street project. Brought about by the city of Helsinki with the Vantaa and Helsinki Environment Centres, the Green Building Council, Helsinki Region Environmental Services, and Aalto University, the project
received €820,000 in funding from the ERDF and €100,000 from the Helsinki City Innovation Fund.

Iso Roobertinkatu (Iso Roba), one of Helsinki's central shopping streets, was chosen as a testbed. The Climate Street team set about working with residents, property owners, housing associations, businesses, and NGOs to co-create and share knowledge of smart and clean solutions and implementation.'

Iso Roba was a wise choice for several reasons. Its mix of traditional jewellery and florist shops and 'hip' restaurants and boutiques provide opportunities for diverse practical applications. It is also home to a growing community of climate-aware professionals keen to make a difference. The street was about to be renovated, which meant Climate Street could access some of the €1.3 million allocated for
improvements. Solutions co-created with the community for future implementation include planting climate-resilient trees, creating underground rainwater retention tanks and installing LED lighting.

The piloting programme at the heart of Climate Street adds great value by enabling experimentation with prototypes in real-life conditions with real users. The municipality runs open competitions for proposals and acts as a matchmaker, bringing together local people, specialists, startups, and SMEs to turn ideas into reality. Ideas such as a new kind of restaurant terrace with eco-friendly lighting for dark evenings. Simple, straightforward guidelines are produced for each pilot project to make it as easy as possible for other streets and cities to replicate them.

The issue of food waste prompted four pilots, as well as crowd-sourced solutions. For example, ‘From Waste to Taste’ uses ingredients that would otherwise be wasted to create the snacks it offers from its solarpowered rickshaw. A local NGO has partnered with a supermarket on Iso Roba to reduce food waste through a specially designed website, which alerts users of unused produce available for collection. Climate Street has encouraged residents to look at how their homes
could contribute to its goals, through workshops and events. 'Happy Houses' workshops, run by environmental organisation Dodo, have brought together several housing associations and numerous residents to share their thoughts and worries and explore opportunities. Many have signed up for energy audits, others for advice on reducing their carbon footprint, and to understand their home's solar energy potential.

The solar power campaign has been one of the most successful to date. Not only have many residents received detailed practical guidance on installing solar panels on their roofs, the city now has its first apartment building solar power plant in the historic downtown area. This was built in close collaboration with Climate Street, which provided technical, practical, and personal support to residents. A similar process has been used to transform the inner courtyards of
housing association properties into attractive climate-adapted green urban spaces.

At its halfway point, Climate Street already met many of its initial targets. Its impact owes much to the co-creative nature of the project, seeking views from all stakeholders from the beginning, and building trust and engagement up gradually. The project has also set itself up for the future - residents are educated and engaged and the strong business community to emerge from the networking boot camps will go on sharing and partnering for progress.

Climate Street has been sharing its experience nationally, through the active climate network of Finland's six largest cities, and across Europe via ClimateKIC, the Covenant of Mayors and the Smart Cities Network. Cities in neighbouring Nordic countries and Italy have already shown interest in Helsinki's ideas-to-action model, which is transferable to any urban environment irrespective of infrastructure and building age.

 Source: Eurocities

Audrie van Veen's picture #Citizens&Living
Audrie van Veen, Director Strategic Partnerships at Amsterdam Economic Board, posted

Consumers at the centre of the circular economy

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‘Consumers at the centre of the circular economy and the upcoming plastics strategy’.
This event will take place on Wednesday 31 May at the Silken Berlaymont Hotel in Brussels and will be kindly co-hosted by the European Retail Round Table, EuroCommerce and the European Commission.

Greening the retail sector and all the associated jobs can be a powerful driver of the transition to a Circular Economy. To achieve this Europe also needs to empower its consumers, giving them the opportunity to lead the transformation in their choices. A particular attention should also be set on rethinking how we use plastics in relation to design, reuse and recycling. Progressive retailers’ direct relationship with consumers, along with their innovative efforts in contributing to the establishment of a Circular Economy and a new plastics strategy are therefore key drivers in this process.
Join this high-level event gathering experts from business, civil society, the EU institutions and Retailers’ Environmental Action Programme (REAP) signatories to discuss further how best to engage consumers in the circular economy and the better management of the plastic value chain.

Draft Programme
Consumers at the centre of the Circular Economy and the upcoming plastics strategy
Registration (10:00 – 10:30)
Opening (10:30 – 10:35)
· Susanne Czech, Director-General, European Retail Round Table (ERRT)
Keynote speeches (10:35 – 11:00)
· Adina-Ioana Vălean MEP, Environment Committee Chair, European Parliament
· Adela Torres Calatayud, Environment Committee Chair, EuroCommerce
Understanding the consumers role in the Circular Economy (11:00 – 12.15)
Introduction: Erik Hedén, Founder of Sustainability Index
· Mieke Vercaeren, Advisor Public Affairs, Colruyt
· Sylvia Maurer, Director Sustainability and Safety Department, BEUC
· An De Schryver, European Commission, Environmental Footprint (PEF/OEF)
· Sylvie Ludain, European Commission, EU Ecolabel
Moderator: Richard Wilson, European Regional Sustainability Manager, IKEA Group; Retail Forum Co-Chair
Networking Lunch (12:15 - 13:00)
Status on implementation of Retailers’ Commitment to the Circular Economy (13:00 – 13:15)
· Sébastien Paquot, European Commission
Innovation and adaptation to the Circular Economy with specific focus on plastics (13:15 – 14.30)
Introduction: Dr. Michiel De Smet, Ellen Macarthur Foundation
· Retail Representative
· Fernando Ventura, Head of Efficiency & Innovation Environmental Projects, Jerónimo Martins
· Werner Bosmans, European Commission, Plastic Strategy
· Christine Levêque, Director of Business Innovation BU Benelux and Germany, Suez
- Moderator: Kestutis Sadauskas, Director of Green Economy, European Commission; Retail Forum Co-Chair
Summary of the day (14:30 – 14:40)
· Richard Wilson, European Regional Sustainability Manager, IKEA Group; Retail Forum Co-Chair
· Kestutis Sadauskas, Director of Green Economy, European Commission; Retail Forum Co-Chair
Closing keynote speech and discussion (14:40 – 15:00)
· Vice President Jyrki Katainen, European Commission

Audrie van Veen's picture Event on May 31st
Audrie van Veen, Director Strategic Partnerships at Amsterdam Economic Board, posted

How to scale up innovation projects to create societal transitions? Amsterdam Metropolitan Area Brussels Event

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PROGRAMME
14:00-15:00 // coffee, tea & networking
15:00-17:15 // presentations & discussion:
Amsterdam Metropolitan Area presents its policy and examples of projects within the themes digital connectivity and circular economy
everything you want to know about upscaling of innovation projects with stakeholders such as business, government, knowledge institutes and citizens based on scientific research
examples of projects & policy to demonstrate our findings
plenty of innovative interaction and discussion
With, among others:
Mayors & Alderpersons from the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area
Willem van Winden, Professor Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, will present key research results on upscaling and business models
Pitches from innovative stakeholders from our region (private and public)
Discussion with EC, EU City Networks and other EU-regions on innovation in practice and innovation in policy
17:15-18:30 // drinks, bites & networking
(a more elaborate programme will follow at the end of August)

Amsterdam Metropolitan Area Stats
2017 | 33 municipalities in 1 Metropolitan area | Working on 5 Metropolitan Challenges | 2,4 million citizens | 180 nationalities | 19% NL GDP | 1,4 million jobs | 200.000 companies | 20+ knowledge institutes | EU Innovation Capital (iCapital) 2016-17 | #2 Digital City | AMS-IX among world’s largest internet exchanges| leading in circular economy transition |

Background: how to realise change by upscaling public-private innovation projects? ***make societal transitions happen ***
How can European and local government policy accelerate transitions such as the energy transition, aiming for a circular economy and more? Most transitions require collaboration in innovation projects with different stakeholders such as industry, government, knowledge institutes and citizens. Local and regional governments are playing a key role in both upscaling and reaching out to the European citizens. Nowadays in the EU we have learned how to roll-out technological solutions in demonstrations or living labs. Technology is no longer the main issue to address, we have to create real change. Change that will cause the transitions needed for our societal challenges. To do this, we have to scale up successful pilots from European cities and regions.
But how?
In our event on 18 October 2017, we aspire to lift more than a corner of the veil covering upscaling. We will present you scientific insights in upscaling of public-private cooperation based on research the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences did on 12 projects in the Amsterdam region. For example: would it be a good idea to know more about the upscaling that you aim for before starting a pilot project? What will increase the success of upscaling, and what will prevent it?

We will illustrate the scientific insights with examples from our metropolitan region, within two of the Metropolitan Challenges our region is working on: Digital Connectivity and Circular Economy. We will explain the role of local and regional governments to sustain the development of business models and upscaling. The EU addresses upscaling of projects in various ways, such as the European Urban Agenda and innovation programmes. How can we make the best of local and EU actions that aim to stimulate upscaling and new business models? On this afternoon, we will discuss the insights with a panel of experts from EU and other European innovative regions. And with you!*
* We want the event to be as interactive as possible. From the moment of your registration until the drinks & bites after the event, please don’t hesitate to let us hear your ideas!

Audrie van Veen's picture Event on Oct 18th