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INVESTING IN THE FUTURE.NETHERLANDS

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EXPLORE THE STORIES BEHIND EU INVESTMENT

To revive investments and growth, the European Union supports people, ideas and visions across EuropeThe European Union is all about opportunities that deliver real benefits and make a difference on a local level. Promoting growth, employment and well-being across Europe is one of its main priorities. By investing in people’s ideas and visions, the EU removes obstacles and creates favourable conditions for development and modernisation across the continent. In support of the pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit of Europeans, the EU opens doors and empowers people to pursue their own innovative projects.

Europeans have already come up with original ideas for better education, modernised healthcare and a greener transport infrastructure, to cite but a few examples, and the EU has provided the means get tailor-made projects off the ground. Where valuable projects struggle to find investors, because of perceived high risks, the EU may step in by backing loans or providing funding for high potential projects.

When a delicatessen in the south of the Netherlands needed funding to expand its business, the EU supported this initiative. With a 50,000 euro microcredit and a bank guarantee from the European Investment Bank, the small company was able to build a bigger kitchen. As a result, the number of employees rose from 6 to 16, the number of customers doubled and the turnover increased by 60 percent.

EU funding does not only offer financial support for projects. Project beneficiaries may also

benefit from hands-on coaching and expertise to ensure their projects provide real added value for the people and communities around them. Results are visible thanks to knowledge-sharing and research facilities, energy efficient buildings or smart mobility solutions, which, in turn, lead to a more sustainable future for Europe’s cities and regions.

Whether it’s helping local public transport operators develop a zero-emission bus, providing funds to help refugees integrate into Dutch society, or ensuring job security for young people who have completed their education, EU funding boosts projects that make a difference on a local level.

A number of these stories feature in this brochure. But look around you in your community and you will see that behind European investments there is a wealth of stories waiting to be discovered.

HyMove

DUTCH GAME GARDEN

REFUGEE LAUNCH PAD

TOKO BOPP

VoLTE

BRIDGE

URBAN FARMERS

3D PRINT CANAL HOUSE

health-i-care

ROTTERDAM

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Each year some 600 young people in Rotterdam have the chance to enrol in a vocational education programme supported by €4.9 million in EU funding. What’s more, they enjoy a job guarantee at the end of it.

South Rotterdam faces a mismatch between education programmes attended by young people and demand from the business community. Too many people opt for financial, administrative and legal education where only few jobs are available. At the same time, there is a high demand in the technology, healthcare and food sectors.

The BRIDGE programme was initiated to correct this imbalance between supply and demand. Backed by the European Regional Development Fund’s Urban Innovative Actions programme, BRIDGE is part of National Programme Rotterdam South (NPRZ), which invests in schools, employment and accommodation

in order to improve people’s lives in South Rotterdam.

During the first phase young people receive career advise covering everything from primary to vocational education. They obtain comprehensive information about a career in healthcare, the port of Rotterdam or technology. This way they are able to make a well-informed choice.

After completing their vocational education, they are offered a job at one of the participating employers. “This does not mean that you will have a job for life, but it does mean you will be given a successful start to your career,” says NPRZ director Marco Pastors.

And that is precisely what Manuel Brito Lima has been given. As of mid-2017, he has been working full-time as a bus driver for the Rotterdam public transport company RET. It was a logical choice since his mother still works there. “I’ve always worked since I was 18 and now I was ready to learn something new,” says Manuel, 26. “The RET together with the STC (shipping and transport) MBO college allowed me to attend a bus driver training programme and, at the same time, obtain my MBO 2 (vocational education) diploma within 10 months. This education programme was a really terrific way to start working at RET.” In one word, Manuel finds his work terrific. “It’s a great

job. It’s a lot more than just driving and selling tickets. You meet new people all the time on the bus and get to know them. Of course you also have to keep a good eye on the traffic around you. So you’re always doing a lot of different things at the same time. And that suits me to a T.”

One of BRIDGE’s objectives for 2020 is to ensure that of all vocational education students in South Rotterdam, 35 % and 15 % attend technology and healthcare training respectively. This represents some 600 people per annum.

Bridging the gap between school and work

BRIDGE

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Geleen’s Toko Bopp earns rave reviews

TOKO BOPP GELEEN

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The owners of Indonesian-style shop Toko Bopp in Geleen, in the Dutch province of Limburg, were able to renovate and enlarge their premises thanks to an EU-backed loan. As a result, turnover has increased by 60 % and the number of customers has doubled.

Toko Bopp in Geleen’s Annastraat is very well known to the public. The sambal sauces which founder Kees Bopp started making in the 1960s are highly regarded by people of Indonesian origin in the Netherlands. When Frieda Bol took over the business in 2005, she knew what she had to do: walk in the steps of a legend. And she has been extremely successful at it.

Kees Bopp taught Frieda all the tricks of the trade and, under her guidance, Toko Bopp’s reputation kept growing in Geleen and further out. The toko (Indonesian for shop) actually increased in popularity. Customers from across the Netherlands now travel to Limburg to visit the shop as the business continues to grow.

“We had to invest because our turnover had increased so much,” says Frieda. “We wanted to grow further. But, unfortunately, we weren’t able to get a loan from a regular bank.”

But then, Frieda’s accountant told her about EU microcredits. These are special loans intended to stimulate growth among small firms. Toko Bopp was able to renovate and expand thanks to a €50 000 loan from Qredits Microfinanciering Nederland, guaranteed by the European Investment Bank. A larger kitchen was installed and six new staff members were hired, bringing the total to 16.

Turnover subsequently increased by 60 %, the number of customers doubled from 60 to 120 per day, and the shop keeps receiving more positive reviews.

“We’re always busy and that’s a good sign. We score highly on rating websites. These are not just numbers. Every single rating is from a satisfied customer,” say Frieda and her husband Pieter, who also works at Toko Bopp. “We have a glass showcase with a huge assortment of Indonesian dishes. All of these are made fresh every day. We have regular customers who always choose the same delicacy and other customers who prefer to be surprised with something new.”

But Frieda, 59, is not one to rest on her laurels.

2017 was a terrific year, and she hopes 2018 will be even better. She wants to open a second shop in Roermond and is working with Qredits to see whether she can get a further loan to achieve this ambition.

GELDERLAND, APELDOORN

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Emitting no harmful substances, fuel cell buses are among the cleanest forms of public transport. An EU-backed project in the Dutch province of Gelderland is looking into deploying them more widely.

As of the summer of 2016 a new kind of bus has been driving around Apeldoorn in Gelderland. It runs on hydrogen and emits nothing but water. Gelderland-based fuel cell builder HyMove, public transport company Syntus and the province of Gelderland received €50 000 to develop the bus from the European Regional Development Fund, one of whose priorities is to support the transition towards a low-carbon economy. Manufactured by Polish firm Solbus, the bus is fitted with a HyMove fuel cell system that converts hydrogen into electricity. The vehicle is 12 metres long, holds 72 passengers and has an operating range of 400 kilometres.

Syntus and the province of Gelderland use this

pilot project to gain valuable experience with zero-emission transport as all new buses have to be emission free by 2025. “We regard it as our social responsibility to contribute to the introduction of zero-emission bus transport,” says Syntus’ managing director Cees Anker. “Much useful experience has been gained with fuel cell buses in this region over the past years. Public transport tenders have included fuel cell buses as an option, but that has not yet taken off. This is why we decided with HyMove and the province to start a pilot with the fuel cell bus.”

As Jan Jacob van Dijk of the province of Gelderland explains, “HyMove’s fuel cell system has brought together many companies working with hydrogen technology in and around the provincial capital of Arnhem. Should they succeed in bringing the concept to the market on a large scale, it will give the labour market a hefty boost in the region and will further reinforce our position in the energy and environmental sectors.” In fact, the introduction of hydrogen technology to Gelderland’s bus transport network is expected to create 600 jobs in the region over 10 years.

And the benefits don’t stop there. “The buses are fitted with electrical wheel-hub motors. The only rotating parts are the four wheels. That means this bus is extremely energy efficient

and requires only minimum maintenance. It is also practically noiseless,” says HyMove founder and co-owner Jan van Beckhoven.

Driver Ferry van Ark is pleased with the bus. “It is really easy to operate and a delight to drive. It is really quiet and I am satisfied with it, but the most important thing is that it does no harm to the environment,” he says.

Syntus now plans to expand the project further by introducing four fuel cell buses in Gelderland’s Veluwe district in the summer of 2018.

Emission-free buses in Gelderland

HyMove

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Cross-border cooperation to guard against infectionsThe Health-i-care project brings together Dutch and German experts from the healthcare, science and business communities in order to develop innovative products and technologies to protect against infections. The project has been made possible through an EU funding programme aimed at cross-border regional cooperation.

Dutch and German business, science and healthcare experts have joined forces on the Health-i-care project to develop innovative products and technologies protecting the population against infections and combating antibiotic resistance. These include invisible gloves, game-based learning tools and a speaking digital assistant reminding healthcare staff about important hygiene requirements.

Health-i-care has been made possible by a €3.5 million contribution from INTERREG, an EU funding programme intended to strengthen European cohesion by supporting cross-border cooperation between different regions.

The project is based solely on the wishes and practical needs of German and Dutch users of the services it supplies, while the products and technologies are developed by SMEs on both

sides of the border. These companies are guided by project leader Professor Alex Friedrich of the University Medical Centre at Groningen, in the Netherlands, and supported by Dutch and German partners from the business and healthcare sectors and scientific institutions. “This guarantees us that the innovations will eventually reach two business and healthcare markets, on both sides of the border,” says Friedrich.

Various care centres in the Dutch-German border area act as a living lab where prototypes of the innovations are tested and improved. Doing so, Health-i-care ensures that the new products and technologies are in line with the requirements of the healthcare market. This is vital given the rapid developments in the area of hygiene and infection prevention in the sector.

GRONINGENhealth-i-care3D PRINT CANAL HOUSE AMSTERDAM

A printed canal housePrinting an entire canal house using only sustainable materials might sound like a fantasy, but it has become a reality in Amsterdam. This unique project was made possible by EU funding.

In 2011, DUS Architects asked themselves this question: “What if we could use 3D printing for construction?” Inspired by the boom in 3D printing technology to make relatively small products, the company soon came to the conclusion that it must be possible to construct buildings using 3D-printed materials. And so the 3D Print Canal House project was born.

The project was made possible through a €300 000 grant from the EU’s European Regional Development Fund as part of its efforts to stimulate innovation and research. An international team from the high-tech, design, culture, construction and software development sectors got together to develop the technologies required to construct a 3D-printed canal house.

So why a canal house? “A canal house is the symbol of Amsterdam. Constructing it using only 3D printing allows us to demonstrate how traditional local values may be combined with

innovative ideas,” say DUS Architects. “80 % of the printed material is based on linseed oil. You can melt down the construction elements and reuse them for new printing. The material was analysed to ascertain its sustainability, stability and capacity to be melted and recycled.”

The 3D printer, called the KamerMaker - or ‘room maker’ in Dutch – was set up in an old container and is able to print construction elements as large as 2×2×3.5 metres in size and in shapes that were previously impossible to create by the construction industry. All of the 3D-printed components of the canal house have been put on display for public viewing. In addition the 3D printing community provides online answers to questions from the project team, so new knowledge is created and shared.

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VoLTE NATION WIDE

24/7 access to fast broadband wherever you areThe EU considers that fast broadband access is crucial for its citizens. This is why the European Investment Bank provides a significan loan to support the expansion of 4G networks for mobile phones and the Internet.

Making calls from mobile devices is rarely a problem in the Netherlands. But occasionally there is no network coverage or the sound quality is poor. Telecom companies are continually working on strengthening mobile networks to improve call quality and to handle the enormous and continuous growth in the volumes of data streamed via the mobile Internet.

The latest network currently available is 4G. In order to access it, a smartphone must be fitted with Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE) technology. This technology is available on an increasing number of devices and is similar to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), a technology enabling the use of internet voice communication services such as Skype.

4G has many advantages for consumers: the call sound quality is much clearer, calls are connected much more quickly, internet connections are always very fast even when

made during a phone call and the network coverage is better.

The European Commission has put fast broadband accessibility for EU citizens high on its agenda and considers that 4G networks should be easily available in the entire EU. For this reason the European Investment Bank has provided a €125 million loan to help fund the expansion of 4G networks in the Netherlands and Sweden under the Tele2 VoLTE project. In 2018 coverage in the Netherlands is expected to reach almost 100 %, giving users constant access to the network.

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DUTCH GAME GARDENSerious support for video game developersVideo games are becoming serious business in the Netherlands. EU funding helps the incubator Dutch Game Garden to support game development companies by providing them with office space and training programmes aimed at the skills needeed to succeed.

With several hundred small businesses, the Dutch video game sector is booming. Dutch Game Garden assists start-ups and established companies by providing office space in its business centre in Utrecht. To support its work, it has received €1.6 million in financing from the EU’s European Regional Development Fund.

Dutch Game Garden also helps young entrepreneurs find their way in the business world. “Many game developers are people with a creative background,” says operations manager Christel van Grinsven. “Business skills are rarely a part of creative programmes. So we offer training sessions in different disciplines, including financing and marketing. We also increase the visibility of the game sector by presenting our partners’ most interesting games during game events.”

When thinking about games, people are often

quick to imagine youngsters shooting their way past a series of opponents. First person shooter games are indeed a significant part of the games market. However, games are increasingly used for purposes other than just entertainment. There is even a name for such games: ‘serious’ or ‘applied’ games.

Established in the Dutch Game Garden building, Active Cues developed Tovertafel, or ‘magic table’, a game for old people in the final stages of dementia, now used by more than a thousand care homes in the Netherlands and abroad. “Care staff aim to get the old people moving,” says Christel. “Each type of movement counts in keeping patients active. Tovertafel consists of a light projector box that is suspended above tables in care homes. For example, it projects well-known song lyrics onto the table for people to complete and thus generates short moments of happiness.”

UTRECHT

REFUGEE LAUNCH PAD UTRECHT

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Integrating refugees from day oneWith support from the European Social Fund, the Utrecht district of Overvecht has initiated a social project which is unique in the Netherlands. Asylum seekers and young Dutch people live together, attend courses and organise activities for the neighbourhood.

Asylum seekers and young local people live together at the Plan Einstein housing complex in Utrecht’s Overvecht district. They attend courses on subjects such as business English, bookkeeping and writing business plans, and they organise activities that directly involve people in the neighbourhood. The project is known as the Refugee Launch Pad and does exactly what its name suggests. It launches refugees into society.

“The Refugee Launch Pad is an inclusive method, intended to facilitate integration from day one,” says Utrecht deputy mayor Kees Diepeveen. “The residents develop skills that empower them to become self-sufficient.”

The Refugee Launch Pad is backed by the European Social Fund, one of the EU’s main instruments to support job creation, to help people find work and to improve employment

prospects for all European citizens.

Although Ghazi, from Syria, no longer lives at Plan Einstein, each Sunday he still visits the group of asylum seekers and local people with whom he spent time together. He explains that they were all really proud when they received their business English certificates, adding: “I’ve also learned that, working together with others, you can move mountains provided you are open to the available opportunities. My father taught me to always trust other people because that is the only way to open new doors for yourself.”

Ghazi says that he met a lot of people in Overvecht with huge problems. “They were unemployed, had debts and felt extremely lonely. I believe that these people and the newcomers, refugees like myself, can really learn to understand each other.” And that is good news as mutual understanding is an important first step for anyone to integrate successfully.

URBAN FARMERS THE HAGUE

Vegetables and fish farmed at a great heightA sustainable method of growing vegetables and farming fish is being put into practice on the roof of an old office building in The Hague, where one of Europe’s largest commercial urban farms is located. It has received support from EU funding.

UrbanFarmers grows vegetables and farms fish on the roof of an old office building in The Hague. “Instead of having farmers in faraway countries growing your vegetables and flying in frozen fish from abroad, it seems much more logical, healthy, fresh and sustainable to grow our own food where people live, in cities,” says the company’s Paul Driest. “We want to encourage people to learn more about what they eat and to make food production a part of daily life once more.”

The European Regional Development Fund – which focuses on the labour market and SMEs – provided €1.7 million to support the farm, one of the largest of its kind in Europe. It comprises 1 500 m2 of greenhouses and a 400 m2 fish farm.

UrbanFarmers produces food using aquaponics, an ancient and sustainable production method. “The waste products from the fish are converted

into fertiliser for the crops, so we don’t need anything extra,” says Driest. “Plants filter the water that we use to farm the fish. This working method allows us to make optimal use of the power of nature. And it’s a success. The use of aquaponics saves up to 90 % on water consumption versus other production methods.”

According to Driest, city farms are the answer to meeting food demand in an increasingly urbanised world. “We believe in a future where 20 % of our food is produced in our own cities ” , he concludes.

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Printed by the Publications Office in Luxembourg

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018

© European Union, 2018Reuse is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.The reuse policy of European Commission documents is regulated by Decision 2011/833/EU (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39).

For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the EU copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders.

Print ISBN 978-92-79-72368-1 doi: 10.2775/838104 NA-04-17-790-EN-CPDF ISBN 978-92-79-72365-0 doi: 10.2775/707886 NA-04-17-790-EN-N

WHERE TO FIND MORE INFORMATION:

General information about the Investment Plan for Europe: ec.europa.eu/invest-eu

Representation of the European Commission in the Netherlands:Korte Vijverberg 5-62513 AB The Hague NETHERLANDS

Tel. +31 (0) 70 313 53 00 E-mail: comm-nl-den-haag@ec.europa.euInternet: ec.europa.eu/netherlands

Find a Europe Direct centre near you for information:europa.eu/european-union/contact_en