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NL Waterway Cleanup 2021 kicks off

Every year, 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in our oceans. 80 percent of it is carried via rivers and waterways to the sea, where it is eventually taken by currents to gyres in the world's five oceans. A lot of the plastics become suspended in a plastic soup in what has become known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch for example, but every ocean has its own Great Garbage Patch. Gradually, the plastics break up into tiny microplastics. They drop to the ocean bed or are washed up on the shores. Some are consumed by wildlife and become part of our food chain, others enter our water sources and even the air we breathe.

NL Energy Compact document

The NL Energy Compact was drafted in September 2021 after the United Nations asked the Netherlands as Global Champion for the 2021 High Level Dialogue on Energy, to show its leadership on accelerating SDG7 action.

Smart City Magazine

As our cities become more densely populated, pressure on public spaces are on the increase. At the same time, citizens want to see more greenery, experience less traffic congestion and breathe in cleaner air. Add the consequences of climate change and the pandemic to the mix. And you have quite a challenge on your hands.

Women entrepreneurs in LSH: tips and tricks for two experienced professionals

The past five years have seen a 29% increase in the number of female entrepreneurs in the Netherlands. However, only 36% of all entrepreneurs in the Netherlands are women. With initiatives popping up across the country, female empowerment is slowly but surely getting stronger. The next TOPC Summit will take place on 22-23 September in Oss, after a succesful and inspirational event in 2021 in Leiden. The TOPX Summit is a great example of bringing ambitious women together to enrich innovation within the Dutch Life Sciences & Health (LSH) sector with their spark.

How technology can help clean water for resilient cities

How can we tackle the challenges of too much, too little and too dirty water. Many water challenges are man-made and can only be tackled collectively. This is why we want to take action on World Cleanup Day 18 September, with our NL Waterway Cleanup which we are organising with embassies worldwide.

With over half of fresh water too dirty to drink ─ who’s cleaning up?

Rapid urbanisation and development are putting water resources in cities under extreme pressure. The challenges of tackling too little, too much and too dirty water are huge. Not least because only 2.5 percent of the world’s water is fresh water and less than 1% is portable. In other words, most fresh water is now too contaminated to drink. So who's is cleaning up?

Unique lease scheme tackles too little water in fast-growing urban areas

Rapid urbanisation in developing countries is exasperating the problem of too little water. Providing clean and reliable water supplies in fast-growing urban areas in these countries is a major challenge, as water utility companies are reluctant to invest in the necessary infrastructure. Dutch organisation Aqua for all is part of the international iW+ Partnership, which breaks the cycle holding back investment in infrastructure, thus bringing down costs and facilitating a reliable water supply.