Amsterdam visit EU Commission DG Environment

Caroline Nevejan Christiaan Norde

On the 8th and 9th of June 2022 the Deputy Director General Environment Patrick Child of the European Commision visited Amsterdam together with Rasa Catillon. Mr. Child was invited by Amsterdam's Chief Science Officer, prof.dr. Caroline Nevejan. The goal was to understand how European Union regulations affect Amsterdam's ecological development and what rules and regulations cities need for being able to adapt to climate change.

The visit was sorted in three session, each with a different host and theme. In this collection you can watch the presentations and slides given by different professors, advisors and policymakers from different organizations. Each highlighting another aspect and challenge of becomming a climate neutral city,

In 'Section 1 Water' you can watch back the visit that was hosted by Waternet at the Rioolwaterzuivering (RWZI) Hostermeer. They are one of the waste water treatment plants of the Netherlands and are specialized in micropolutants. In 'Section 2' you will find the presentations on how to make a neighborhood climate neutral and the challenges that arise. This part of the visit was hosted by the Green Hub (Groene Hub). In 'Section 3' you can learn more about which concepts to use for biodiversity in the city. This session was hosted by the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) from the University of Amsterdam.

The visit made four major issues surface. To local climate adaptation social and economic structures are core, new ways of working between different stakeholders have to be invented and law needs to start functioning as a service to inspire new dynamics.

Notes in bulletpoints by Caroline Nevejan give an impression of significant moments in the dialogues which participants will take away to their own specific practices. An important result is the Amsterdam Waternet effort to write an address to DG ENVI Patrick Child explaining how current and future European Law can locally make a difference for complete circular water waste treatment.

The discussion in the Green Hub on 'yellow roads' to circumvent current rules and regulations for being able to innovate, and the fact that the European Commission can not facilitate those for one moment even, yet is interested how cities make things possible, has triggered collaboration and imagination.
As result of this visit and the fact that Amsterdam is one of the 100 Climate cities, the Institute for Advanced Study will inspire a new research program that is being prepared between the social, the natural science and the las faculty of the University of Amsterdam to which other universities will be invited to participate.