News

Creating multiple value for the challenges of the future

WiCE 'Water in de Circular City' Roadshow

Multiple value creation is probably not yet a familiar expression for everybody. But it certainly is for the participants of the WiCE ‘Water in the Circular City’ Roadshow’, who came together on 26 November in Helmond to discuss the development of sustainable districts. The roadshow is a component of the collective ‘Water in the Circular Economy’ (WiCE) research programme, an initiative of the Dutch and Flemish water utilities and KWR. WiCE’s objective is contribute to meeting the societal challenges regarding the circular economy, climate adaptation and the sustainable energy transition.

During the roadshow, Diederik van Duuren of WML demonstrated, with the help of a toilet and a washing machine, how a housing corporation, a water utility, a Water Authority and the town of Kerkrade create multiple value in the SUPERLOCAL project. How one can do this at a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was something Joeri Naus from the UvA talked about in his presentation on Amsterdam’s Koppelkansen project. Ruud van Nieuwenhuijze from Brabant Water and Maarten Nederlof from the Aa and Maas Water Authority closed the morning session with a dialogue on the subject of the smartest district in the world in Brainport Smart District Helmond.

The challenges in sustainable district development

After lunch, it was the participants’ turn. In four sub-sessions they turned to the challenges in the cases. How do you organise the subsurface under Amsterdam’s ‘9 straatjes’ (Nine Little Streets)? How can you ensure that the systems in SUPERLOCAL can be scaled up? How can we link the Brainport Smart District’s ‘water machine’ with other sectors, such as energy and mobility? And what tools do professionals and managers working on value creation need? For KWR researcher Henk-Jan van Alphen, ‘these are of course difficult questions that can’t be answered in an afternoon. But they do help make multiple value creation the new normal.’

See a few reactions from the roadshow’s participants in the video.

 

share