Sustainable living in a compact city
C Sustainable living in a compact city City of Amsterdam Sustainability Report 2008 - 2009 Public edition
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Contents Foreword
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Living in a compact city
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Essential transitions
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• Sustainable energy
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• Sustainable mobility
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• Sustainable Economy
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• Sustainable living
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The city government itself
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Conclusion
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is doing across the broad field of sustainable development. Specifically, it describes how the city, the urban districts and their individual departments and services are helping to improve the quality of life in the Dutch capital. How are they trying to strike the right balance between the “three Ps� of sustainability: people, planet and profit? In other words, how does the city keep economic, environmental and human interests in equilibrium?
Foreword
Sustainability is about more than just the environment. It is about quality of life, now and in the future. About a city you can live, work and play in. A city of entertainment and of sport. A healthy and safe city where, whoever you are, you feel at home because the differences between people are accepted and everyone can play their full part in the community. Sustainability is Amsterdam’s genes. To take just one example, it has always been the cycling capital of the world. Today it is one of the ten most sustainable cities on earth, and in Europe one of the top four. This report has been compiled to provide the people of Amsterdam, local businesses and other interested parties with an insight into what the city government 2
It is the task of the city government to create the right conditions for progress in all these domains. But good co-operation is also essential. True sustainability can only be achieved if everyone plays their part: the local authority, the residents of Amsterdam, its business community, its knowledge sector and a whole range of social organisations. Within the municipal apparatus, too, an integrated approach is vital. Many themes and developments are closely interwoven: the environment, the economy, public space, social integration, public health, community participation, international co-operation... Although numerous and complex, the links between these topics form the basis for the joint policy vision Amsterdam: Outspokenly Sustainable, which envisages the city evolving into the beating heart of a sustainable metropolitan region by the year 2040. The annual Sustainability Report summarised here reflects the perspectives outlined in that vision. Sustainability is a dynamic concept that can be put into practice in many different ways. However, at the heart of it lies the necessity to improve the quality of life in our city and, if possible, in the rest of the world. Lodewijk Asscher acting Mayor of Amsterdam 3
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“ Situated in a wetland, Amsterdam is actually a marsh city. It has far more hidden nature than you would think at first sight. Just take a look at aerial photographs.”
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illem Ferwerda, International Union for the W Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Living in a compact city Amsterdam is a compact city. Every square metre of land is used. This has the great advantage that large sections of the city are easy to reach on foot or by bicycle. In recent years, moreover, Amsterdam has become even more compact – which makes it more important than ever to be inventive with the space available. By safeguarding valuable landscapes and green areas, for example, by cutting down noise pollution, by concentrating car parking and energy storage underground, by conserving water and by constructing sustainable buildings. All this is helping to make Amsterdam a dynamic and sustainable city for its current residents and for future generations. Each year, more and more people in Amsterdam say that they appreciate their environment. In the latest survey, 94 per cent state that they enjoy living here. Which is not to say that there are no criticisms. One of
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“ Innovation always proceeds faster than you think. Five years ago, buildings of this kind were a pipe dream. Now they are being built. It just goes to show that sustainability, architectural quality and land at a normal price really can go hand in hand.” Maarten van Poelgeest, alderman
the greatest bugbears is noise pollution: about one resident in three finds traffic noise (from cars and scooters, for instance) a problem, whilst almost a quarter are disturbed by construction and demolition noise. To tackle this issue, the city government is laying more low-noise asphalt on roads, insulating homes and encouraging the use of electric vehicles. Even more measures are proposed in the city’s 2009 Noise Action Plan. The City of Amsterdam plans to make tens of thousands of existing homes, hundreds of thousands of square metres of office space, about a thousand schools and all its own buildings climate-neutral. From 2015 all new structures in the city must also meet this criterion. What that means is that all the energy used to heat, cool, power and supply water to the building must be generated inside or close to it, without consuming fossil fuels. The investment required to achieve this is easily recouped from savings on energy bills. When approving construction projects, sustainability is now an important selection criterion. For example, the designs chosen for development on the new Buiksloterham industrial estate in AmsterdamNoord stand out for their climate-neutral construction, achieved through innovative techniques such as biofuel heating, the use of plants to provide shade from the sun, waste water recycling and the reuse of rainwater.
Quiet and green Both in the city itself and its immediate vicinity, Amsterdam boasts a wide variety of public green space. Parks, sports grounds, allotments, public gardens and even open countryside can all be reached by bicycle from most parts of the city within 15 minutes. These areas play an important part in maintaining air quality and controlling the local climate, but above all they provide essential recreational
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facilities for the people of Amsterdam. For many residents, the amount of green space available nearby and what it is used for are key factors in choosing where to make their home. That gives this provision a significant economic value, too.
Amsterdam’s parks now attract twice as many visitors as they did a decade ago. Traditionally a place to meet and relax, today they are increasingly being used as an alternative workplace.
Keeping the city and the region green enhances Amsterdam’s appeal as a place to live. These areas also have a role to play in nature conservancy and in environmental education and information, as well as a social utility in terms of the contribution they make to public health, community participation, education in general and the local economy. Despite being so compact, Amsterdam and its environs still have many quiet public areas. Since such oases of calm can significantly enhance the quality of life for city dwellers, those within walking distance of densely populated residential districts have recently been surveyed for
the report Quiet Areas in the City, with a view to their preservation and possible expansion. Meanwhile, a wealth of information about local opportunities for outdoor recreation can be found on the newly upgraded website www.groeninamsterdam.nl.
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E Waterways The waterways in and around Amsterdam are also being used more intensively than ever before. Approximately 15,000 pleasure craft are now based here, compared with some 7,000 ten years ago. Then there are the 150 sightseeing boats which cruise the canals, giving 2 million visitors a year the chance to discover the city from the water. Although all these vessels collectively account for only 1 per cent of all atmospheric emissions in Amsterdam, at certain points – especially around canal junctions in the city centre – they are responsible for a significant amount of air pollution. To tackle this problem, in 2009 the city government decided to impose stricter emission limits for boats with effect from 2015. Commercial operators will qualify for grants if they replace their old engines with new, less polluting ones. And waterside charging points are to be installed for electric pleasure craft.
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Amsterdam’s parks now attract twice as many visitors as they did a decade ago. Traditionally a place to meet and relax, today they are increasingly being used as an alternative workplace.
“ Sustainable doesn’t mean less, but it does mean different. And often better. It’s not simply about consuming in a different way – it’s about adopting a truly different attitude to life”
Essential transitions Amsterdam has laid the foundations for its own sustainable future development, but the process will be a long one. And the longer it lasts, the greater the uncertainties surrounding it will be. Because of that, to some extent the city’s sustainability policy is a quest. A quest guided by knowledge and by a sense of responsibility for “later and elsewhere”. One thing which is certain is that it will require transitions: fundamental long-term changes. Changes in how we source and use energy, how we move about, how we consume natural resources and materials, how we organise our economy... In fact, changes in our entire thinking and way of life. Fortunately, Amsterdam has the people, the know-how, the creativity and the economic strength needed to achieve that.
Aart van Veller, ‘Wij zijn koel’ consultancy for a sustainable economy 9
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Sustainable energy
The transition to a truly clean and sustainable energy supply will take time. A lot of time. To reach our target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 75 per cent in 2040, we need to start acting now. Roughly a third of that reduction can be achieved in housing, a third in the commercial sector and a third in transport. And about 5 per cent can come from the city government itself. Due to population growth and an increase in economic activity, Amsterdam’s carbon dioxide emissions were higher in 2007 and 2008 than they were in 2006. In 2008 they were almost 15 per cent up on the 1990 figure. In this respect, the city was not alone; nationally, too, emissions rose despite measures designed to counter them. Reversing this situation will require greater efforts to cut down overall consumption, but also the generation of a lot more sustainable energy at the local level – from the sun, the wind, biomass and hydrogen, for example – and the more efficient use of fossil fuels. As well as reducing costs, of course, such moves should also create jobs and encourage new economic activity. At present, 5.8 per cent of the energy consumed in Amsterdam is derived from sustainable sources. That is 3 per cent more the national average. This relatively high figure is accounted for by the wind farm in the western port district and by the heat and More and more “green” power is being used in Amsterdam. All the city’s trams and metro trains now run on it, as do the street lighting, two-thirds of council services and enterprises and City Hall.
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power generated by the Amsterdam Waste and Energy Company (AEB). In 2009 the AEB transformed 1.3 million tonnes of combustible waste into 780,000 MWh of electricity. It also supplies district heating to some 6500 households and businesses in the Westpoort, Nieuw-West and Noord areas of the city, plus another 40,000 homes scattered throughout the rest of Amsterdam. There are still plenty of opportunities available to increase the production of sustainable energy throughout the city. The urban district of Amsterdam-Noord has awarded a start-up grant to a group of local residents who have founded a co-operative under the name “Our Energy”. Their wind-power project hopes to meet the electricity needs of some 8000 families, 20 per cent of house holds in Amsterdam-Noord. Residents pay €50 to join the co-operative, which is supplying them with “green” power and gas at a competitive tariff until its wind turbines are up and running. With 70 per cent of all energy consumed in Amsterdam going to heat and power buildings, achieving savings in homes remains a stumbling block. For this reason, making existing buildings more sustainable is now a major policy priority. The city government has taken the lead in this respect, but success requires much wider co-operation: from housing corporations, homeowners and, indeed, everybody living in Amsterdam. Although the local authority has been in talks on this issue with the housing corporations – by far the biggest owners of residential property in the city – for some years now, actual savings have proven difficult to achieve. The main problem is that the investment costs are borne by the corporations themselves, whilst in the first instance it is their tenants who benefit. In 2009, however, the first low-energy, low-emissions model home was completed. In 2008 and 2009, the energy advice project Step-
2Save cut the carbon-dioxide emissions of participating households by an average of 200 kg each, as well as reducing their annual energy bill by €70. Across eleven urban districts, some 8000 homes in the social rented sector were visited by previously unemployed young people who had been retrained as energy consultants. As well as giving tips on how to make savings, they handed out a so-called “energy box” containing lowenergy bulbs and low-flow attachments for taps and showers. Also in 2009, residents of the urban district of Oud-Zuid could borrow a “Wattcher”. Designed by Marcel Wanders, this trendy-looking device can identify opportunities to save energy. Founded in 2008, the Amsterdam Climate Bureau has been charged with encouraging people to seize opportunities of this kind, whilst at the same time sharply reducing carbon-dioxide emissions in the capital. Operating under the banner “New Amsterdam Climate”, for the past couple of years it has been working with local residents, companies and institutions to achieve the ambitious targets the city has set itself in its Amsterdam Climate Programme. The bureau is supported in its work by the Amsterdam Climate Council, a group of nineteen so-called climate ambassadors drawn from the city’s business community, academic institutions and social organisations.
“ Step2Save helps poor families, is good for the environment and provides the young unemployed with jobs.” Freek Ossel, alderman. 11
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Sustainable mobility
The second essential transition required in Amsterdam is a shift to sustainable forms of mobility, such as the bicycle and public transport, coupled with a reduction in vehicle emissions. World bicycle city The people of Amsterdam do not sit still. On an average day, 350,000 local residents use their bicycles. That makes cycling the most common mode of transport in the city, accounting for 38 per cent of all journeys in the capital as a whole and no fewer than 57 per cent of those in the city centre. By contrast, the number of car journeys actually fell during the period covered by this report.
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In fact, Amsterdam is the most bicycle-friendly city in the world. It has 400 kilometres of dedicated cycle paths, whilst about 90 per cent of the road network is deemed safe and suitable for cycling. Three times a year, 400 residents are asked to rate local policy and facilities for cyclists. In 2009, as in the two previous years, they gave the city an overall score of 7.2 out of ten on these points.
Healthier air To gain a good overall impression of outdoor air quality here, the Amsterdam Public Health Service (GGD) has twelve permanent monitoring stations scattered throughout the city. Road traffic is by far the biggest source of both particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution. At present, the city complies with the European standards for PM10 but not with those for NO2.
To overcome this shortcoming, implementation of the measures described in the 2006 Air Quality Action Plan remains crucial. A number of steps have been taken in recent years. • The establishment of an environmental protection zone, covering the entire area within the A10 ring road. Commercial vehicles entering the zone must meet strict environmental standards. Some 95 per cent of those checked now do so. • A local supplementary car scrappage scheme, now ended. This offered an additional bonus, over and above that available under the national scheme, for disposing of “dirty” vehicles. • The creation of an additional 126 car-sharing locations in 2009, plus a large increase in the number of “park and ride” places in the city suburbs. • The introduction of shore-based power feeds to ships docked in the Port of Amsterdam, as an alternative to highly polluting onboard generators. • The introduction of special commuter bus services to improve public transport connections to business parks, as well the launch of bus route 60 connecting Sloterdijk railway station with the Westerpark district. • A free three-month public transport season ticket or car sharing membership for drivers who surrender their resident’s parking permit.
batteries free of charge. Grants are available to businesses to buy electric vehicles and, of course, more and more of the council’s own fleet is electrically powered. The people of Amsterdam have responded positively to the plans. It is expected that some 10,000 electric vehicles will make 5 per cent of all mileage covered in the city in 2015 completely emissions-free. By 2040 that figure should be nearing 100 per cent.
Smart cycles The AEB incinerates slurry produced by Waternet’s sewage treatment plant, using the biogas released by that process to generate sustainable electricity that then powers the sewage plant: a closed cycle. New uses have been found for demolition waste from Amsterdam, too: concrete has gone to the A2 motorway, the new town centre in Almere and the fifth runway at Schiphol Airport; aluminium window frames are sent to Africa; wood is recycled; paving stones and domestic refuse containers are reused; and old masonry is incorporated into the foundations of roads. Following the recent demolition of obsolete housing blocks in Amsterdam-Zuidoost, almost 95 per cent of the waste material was reused.
Implementation of the action plan is coordinated by the Air Quality Programme Bureau. The bulk of measures taken are designed to encourage sustainable mobility: the use of bicycles, public transport and electric vehicles. Amsterdam is investing €10 million in electric transport. Initiatives include rolling out a network of on-street charging points at which the owners of electric cars and scooters can park and top up their
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Sustainable economy
“ A real change of direction is needed: a new industrial revolution. A market transition to a circular economy. A sustainable business model is the only business model” 14
André Venema, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at paint and chemicals manufacturer Akzo Nobel.
The transition to a sustainable city is both a cue to innovation and the driving force behind it. Amsterdam already plays host to a wide variety of sustainable business activities rooted in the strengths of the local economy: energy, ICT, trade, logistics, finance and tourism. For a rapidly growing number of companies, sustainability is the main force fuelling their innovation. Amsterdam has a diverse economy and a varied, relatively young workforce – perfect nutrients for the sectors of the future. Despite the global economic crisis, the Dutch capital remains an attractive place to do business, especially for companies active in creative and knowledgeintensive industries. It is because of this that Amsterdam has now succeeded in returning to the top five European business locations, with 310 international companies opening new operations in the region between 2007 and 2010. Developments such as the increasing need for a healthy indoor climate and for affordable energy have created new business opportunities in such areas as research into ways to save energy. Meanwhile, even established companies have been rolling out new, more sustainable activities. To support such initiatives, the Port of Amsterdam has set up a Sustainability and Innovation Fund. Over a four-year period, it is distributing grants worth 2 million annually. And from mid-2010, qualifying small and medium-sized enterprises – some 80 per cent of businesses in the city – can apply to the
“ This voluntary partnership between the local authority and local businesses epitomises the city’s approach to the climate issue. It proves that, with the right incentives from government, companies are prepared to take the plunge into a sustainable future.” Kees Verhoeven, Director of MKB Amsterdam, the association of small and medium-sized enterprises in the city.
A trial with so-called “smart air curtains” and automatic shop doors achieved a saving 43 per cent on energy costs and reduced levels of noise and exhaust fumes inside the stores, without adversely affecting customer numbers.
local Climate Fund for financial support to implement energy-saving measures.
Sustainable tourism Since the Amsterdam Sustainable Hotels Covenant was agreed towards the end of 2008, the city has been well on the way to having Europe’s most sustainable visitor accommodation sector. Twenty hotels signed the covenant, by which they undertook to obtain the international Green Key quality mark. This requires compliance with a number of environmental standards, covering such matters as gas, water and energy savings and the separation of waste flows. A hotel awarded the
mark must have cut its energy and water consumption by 10-20 per cent and has to provide its management, staff and guests with clear information about how they can make an active contribution to greater ustainability. Currently, 47 hotels in Amsterdam either hold Green Key certification or are in the process of obtaining it. They account for more than 35 per cent of the city’s beds.
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rarely or never feel discriminated against due to their ethnic origin. Overall, people in Amsterdam have developed a more positive attitude towards members of other ethnic communities over the past two years.
Sustainable living
As of 1 October 2009, Amsterdam had 767,333 residents. They are people who love their city and are proud of it. Even those who have lived here for only a short time remain attached to Amsterdam forever. Highly diverse and supranational as it is, this is a city that provides identity. Ask random passersby what the “Amsterdam feeling” means to them and, amongst the great variety of answers, you will find that they have one key sentiment in common: a passionate desire to look after their city. A sentiment that 16
So-called “child ribbons” have been established at various points throughout the city. These are safe routes that children can use to reach local facilities such as playgrounds and schools, protected from traffic and with good social control. The ribbons are fun to use, cleaner than going by car and good for social cohesion.
Better marks
provides a firm basis for sustainable development. In Amsterdam, people make their city. But the city also makes its people. The residents of Amsterdam are reasonably healthy, and surveys in recent years show that they are generally satisfied with their living environment. Not only did public safety improve between 2005 and April 2009 when measured objectively, but people here also feel safer. None the less, Amsterdam remains rather less safe than the other major Dutch cities. At the end of 2009, 50 per cent of the local population had an immigrant background, in the sense that at least one of their parents was born outside the Netherlands. However, three-quarters of city residents say that they
Amsterdam has about 200 primary schools and 28 special schools attended by a total of approximately 60,000 pupils. But it is estimated that 160 of these facilities do not meet the recommended standards for a healthy indoor climate. To tackle this problem, in January 2008 a pilot project was launched to improve both their energy consumption and the air quality inside them. As part of the project, three schools were given an overhaul during the 2009 holidays, with new ventilation systems installed to bring fresh air in the classrooms, low-emissivity glazing and low-energy lighting fitted and the heating settings adjusted. The results have already become apparent: • Less pupil and teacher illness. • Improved pupil performance. • Carbon dioxide emissions reduced by 30-40 per cent. • A permanent reduction in energy costs. • Better quality school buildings.
A healthy climate in schools cuts pupil and teacher sickness rates and improves pupil performance.
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In a joint effort by the national government, the local authority and governing bodies, work on the rest of the 160 schools requiring improvement began in 2010.
Proeftuin Amsterdam
“ It’s about awareness: sustainable is exciting, sexy and innovative.”
Primary schoolchildren are able to grow vegetables and flowers in school gardens under supervision. Thirteen of these gardens are spread all over the city. There are also twenty children’s farms to introduce children to sheep, goats, chickens and rabbits. Just outside the city, farms provide nature and environmental education for children. The project Proeftuin Amsterdam stimulates farmers around Amsterdam to produce sustainable food and sell their products in the city. Several regional markets were organized in different districts of the city, a number of schools visited farms, and the city started a program for healthy lunches at primary schools. This gives the area a more direct economic significance, the city has access to healthy local products, and number of transport movements are reduced..
Diane Potters, proprietor of 21Sustainable and co-initiator of Ecofabs.
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The city government itself Co-operation between Amsterdam’s city government and its many stakeholders has intensified considerably in the past two years. As well as working with a range of partners on “big” themes like the climate and air quality, the city has also been strengthening relevant national and international ties. In 2009 we organised the third climate-neutral Sustainable Amsterdam event, a showcase for ourselves, the business community, the education sector, housing corporations and utility companies to present the latest developments in
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sustainability. This trendy, innovative and forward-looking festival attracted 5000 visitors, more than in 2008. Moreover, increasing numbers of partners are happy to attach their names to the event.
Since introducing our Sustainable Procurement Guidelines in 2007, as well as bottom-line price our tendering procedures also consider such factors as the use of materials, modes of transport and working conditions. The guidelines have been applied to all citywide contracts awarded in the past couple of years – in 2009 they covered such products as electricity, telephony and beverage vending machines – and are
also being adopted more frequently by individual council services and the urban districts. Many of the premises occupied by the City of Amsterdam are amongst the most energy-efficient buildings in the world. They include the new urban district council offices of Zuideramstel and OostWatergraafsmeer, both of which opened in 2009. The Oost-Watergraafsmeer site also incorporates a “grand café” employing people with learning difficulties. Ten new electric vehicles were added to the council fleet in 2009, as were numerous hybrid cars and electric scooters. There were also a number of trials involving electric vans and street-cleaning vehicles. A new charging point installed at the district depot in OostWatergraafsmeer draws its power directly from a wind turbine on the roof of the building.
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The average annual electricity consumption of a city employee is 3640 KWh. The computer servers at City Hall are cooled using water from the River Amstel. Two-thirds of council services and enterprises now use “green” power and a third have joined the city’s energy monitoring programme. Most municipal buildings are still heated by gas, however, average consumption of which is 278 m3 per city employee per year. Average water consumption is some 10,000 litres, whilst the amount of waste generated is approximately 750 kg. Unfortunately, though, the City of Amsterdam still consumes paper on an almost industrial scale. The urban districts excluded, the organisation used 60 million A4 sheets alone in 2009: 200,000 packs, or the equivalent of a pile 10 kilometres high. At only half of council services is double-sided printing standard practice, and only four have introduced e-readers as
“ Put your ideas into practice. Don’t fly to the other side of the world – Skype instead.”
Frans Berkhout, Director of the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at VU University Amsterdam.
Conclusion
an alternative. The entire organisation’s energy costs are roughly estimated at €10.8 million, with its fuel bills alone exceeding €4.5 million.
The transitions needed to make Amsterdam an even more sustainable city have been set in motion. The knowledge and techniques required are available to us. The people of Amsterdam recognise the need to adopt a different lifestyle. Co-operation between the local authorities, residents and the business community has become a permanent process. The market has begun adopting sustainability initiatives, such as the voluntary use of electric vehicles by businesses. To an increasing extent, best practices are being extended or expanded. And the citywide vision of sustainability provides a firm basis for an integrated approach.
to bring about a rapid transition to electric transport on a large scale. We have to be realistic: to achieve all this will require better collaboration and an even more decisive approach. In this endeavour, we can do worse than allow ourselves to be guided by Amsterdam’s historic motto: “Valiant, Determined, Compassionate”. Translated to the challenges we have now set ourselves, that means having the courage to move in new directions, showing the determination to stick to our chosen path and providing support to those who need it along the way. And always looking to the future.
But the ultimate objectives are ambitious. Huge efforts are still required to make the city government organisation entirely climate-neutral, to save more energy in existing buildings, to make sustainable construction and procurement standard practice and
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Colophon Project leaders Eveline Jonkhoff en Nic Frederiks (City of Amsterdam Environment and Building Department)
About this publication The Amsterdam Sustainability Report 2009 and this brochure have been produced by the City of Amsterdam Environment and Building Department for the Mayor and Aldermen. The full report – in Dutch only – can be found at www.amsterdam.nl/duurzaam. Much of the information provided here is based upon contributions from the urban districts and from city government departments and enterprises, or upon reports previously published by them.
Text Taaldokter.nl Editor Barbara Verhallen (City of Amsterdam Environment and Building Department) Design dsgn.frm Illustrations unless otherwise stated, the photographs in this booklet come from the City of Amsterdam Image Bank or were supplied by city departments, enterprises or urban districts. Translation UvA Talen With gratitude to everybody who participated in this edition
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