The local stakeholder group for the RUMORE project of the City of Amsterdam took next steps on advancing the future topic of a circular economy. The group met at the Food Centre Amsterdam, the place where all ‘incoming’ food (from the region, the country, and the world) is distributed for Amsterdam.
During the meeting the local stakeholders learned about the exchange at the interregional RUMORE meeting in Milan which took place two weeks before. Experiences were shared stating that both cities have similar issues related to the peri-urban area. Also, the strength of the Lombardian case of organising cooperatives and partnerships very well was highlighted, which finally offers benefits in the value chain and at product level.
During the stakeholder meeting, the evaluation of the Amsterdam Circular Economy Programme was presented. The city´s responsible programme manager pointed out the relevance of the subsidy scheme for project preparations regarding sustainable initiatives: It is intended to put projects in the pipeline and could spark rural-urban initiatives within the RUMORE project.
The stakeholders discussed about the coalition agreement of the newly elected City Council which offers guidelines for the policy for the next 4 years. Food is now mentioned in the coalition agreement, at the same time there is still a lot open and unclear and will be detailed in the coming period.
As interesting network ‘Amsterdam made’ was presented. It is a community platform for local makers – involving currently 200 people, from craft (woodworking) to innovative (technological), entrepreneurs who make a physical product. The product categories include food, fashion and interior. Especially start-ups make up ‘Amsterdam made’, but also proven Amsterdam companies are members.
The stakeholders also discussed about current activities and affairs for them. This showed opportunities and difficulties of the stakeholders, and indicated potential avenues of what cooperation of the group might result in.
Finally, the RUMORE project manager informed about the interregional partner meeting that takes place in Amsterdam on 13/14 November. 2018 and called for contributions to the agenda, especially relating to company visits.
