Posts
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- Hanneke & Leon, Enactus VU get in the mood to host the Circular Economy Hackathon!
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- Hanneke, president Enactus VU, presents the new Enactus initiative to convert organic waste into compost for local urban food production
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- Rowin shares his inspiration for creating solutions for our local urban food system
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- Shyaam from Circle Economy explains how to think in circular systems for sustainable solutions
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- Luana of Taste Before You Waste inspires with her passion to reduce food waste in the city
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- Enactus VU challenge guests to create circular economy solutions
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- The Hackathon Jury
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- The pitches begin!
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- Pitch by Chris & Renske with an idea to recycle waste streams for the profit of low income neighbourhoods
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- The hackathon gets underway in The Green Living Lab’s dome
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- The Hackathon teams were made up of a mix of students, the public, sustainability professionals & social entrepreneurs
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- The winning team celebrate winning with their idea for ‘The Magic Lightbulb’, a repair service connecting younger & older generations
A BIG thank you to all who took part in the Green Living Lab’s Circular Economy Hackathon, where circular economy ideas, kind to people and planet, were hatched by enthusiastic hackers in the dome!
Enactus VU hosted the event as part of our Community Compost School programme. Enactus president Hanneke van Setten told us how positive social impact & sustainability are central values for their enterprises. We heard about the new Enactus compost collection enterprise, incubated by the Green Living Lab, where students will work together to create value from organic waste in the city. Viewing waste as a resource for value creation is central to circular economy thinking.
We heard from Rowin Snijder about StadsOogst, a circular economy co-operative that he recently set up with partner Chris Mueller, The StadsOogst (City Harvest) team make potting soil from compost made in the city & from waste materials from urban food production. The resulting potting soil will be used to grow food in the city, for the city.
Luana Carretto, founder of Taste Before You Waste, shared her motivations & experience of setting up a circular economy initiative that is focused on preventing urban food waste. By creating & serving healthy, delicious vegan food from food waste, TBYW shows us how a healthy diet, a healthy local food system & a healthy local economy are connected. Taste Before You Waste is now to be found in other cities & towns & offers educational food waste workshops to inform children & their parents how to prevent food waste. Taste Before You Waste are looking for more food waste heroes to help them with their mission to prevent food waste in the city, so if you’d like to help out just get in touch!
Knowledge & Innovation Manager, Shyaam Ramkumar from Circle Economy explained what circular economy means & the importance of systems thinking in designing sustainable products & business models. Shyaam’s examples of innovative local & international circular products & business models really inspired guests – thank you Shyaam!
Then it was on to the Hackathon Challenge! Enactus VU challenged guests to work in teams to think of a circular economy idea that could be applied locally & then to pitch it to our jury. After 4 passionate pitches the judges chose the winning idea, ‘The Magic Lightbulb’, a repair service focused on connecting younger & older generations. The winning team received a Dopper water bottle each, donated by Green Office VU.
We have 2 workshops left on our Community Compost School programme – 25 November & 9th December & everyone is welcome to join us. For info & to reserve your place please get in touch at info@greenlivinglab.org
#circulareconomyhackathon #circulareconomy #circulaireconomy #rethinkbusinessmodel #systemsthinking #biomimicry #wasteisaresource #greenlivinglab #circleeconomy #enactusvu #stadsoogst #tastebeforeyouwaste
Green Student Bootcamp Challenge graduate Esti Colomer shares her experiences of learning about healthy and sustainable lifestyle choices at the Green Living Lab with fellow Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam – International Students:
“Since I moved to Amsterdam last year, I was extremely surprised by the importance of sustainability and all the green initiatives that this city offers. I decided that I wanted to become part of this sustainability movement and I joined the Green Student Bootcamp Challenge. This was a 12-week program aimed to promote healthier lifestyle choices, to help students live more sustainably and put theory into practice. The Bootcamp was organised by the Green Living Lab (GLL).”
Students! There is still time to join our new education programme, the Community Compost School. This applied learning programme explores how we can work together to turn our organic waste into compost to grow food locally, how we can prevent food waste in the city, how to make healthy vegan meals & how jobs for students could be created by turning waste into value.
Contact us today to book your place: info@greenlivinglab.org
by Esti Colomer, VU International Student