SPRINGTIJ 2014 - 2018THE SUSTAINABILITY

LEGACY

2 3

SPRINGTIJ 2014 - 2018THE SUSTAINABILITY LEGACYVISION, MISSION AND STRATEGY FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS

with the Club of Rome and its 50th anniversary

(1968-2018)

New Green FrontiersCompass for a Green

Voyage and the World’s Heritage

Mienskip and the Global Commons

The Other Island at the Centre of the World

4 5

1. The Dutch word Springtij translates as Springtide: approximately twice a month, around new moon and full moon, the Sun, Moon and Earth align. The tide’s range is then at its maximum; this is called the spring tide. It is not named after the season, but, like that word, derives from the meaning “jump, burst forth, rise”, as in a natural spring.2. Springtij Forum is an annual four-day event for the 350 sustainable top of the Netherlands, started in 2010, located at the island of Terschelling. From the start on it has been a great success, combining content, encounters, festivities, experience and nature. It is now more than Dutch, attract-ing participants from all over the world.3. LWD2018 is the acronym for Leeuwarden 2018, the elected European Cultural Capital for that year. However, the programme is not to be limited to the City of Leeuwarden, but entails the whole of the Frisian domain, culturally, economically and in spatial concepts. The vast Wadden Estuary is to play a central role.

INTRODUCTIONThis document sets out the mission, vision, strategy and approach for the Springtij Forum in the coming years and gives a programming framework for the forthcoming Springtij1 events from 2014 till 20182.

This year, Springtij celebrates its 5th anniversary. We want to use this year as a next significant step towards the creation of a coalition of partner organisations (a Springtij Alliance) as a platform for agenda setting and action to accelerate the transitions in society towards sustainability. It is our ambition to align with major sister organisations such as the Club of Rome, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the other partners in the Alliance.

For 2018 our ambition is to organise the Springtij Forum on a large scale and to give it an international dimension. In 2018 Leeuwarden will be the cultural capital of Europe, which offers a window of opportunity to upscale the Springtij Forum and its influence and impact. In the coming period we will explore to what extent Springtij can be developed, aligned and embedded in the LWD2018 festivities3.

The Springtij mission

What society needs is a substantially accelerated and large-scale implementation of sustainable systems. But there are obstacles and there is lack of leadership. We at Springtij want to fill this space, deliver scenarios and solutions, and develop new business opportunities.

Springtij aims to integrate independent state-of-the-art thought leadership for policy, strategy and product development, at a global and local level.

6 7

VISION, OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGY

Springtij Foundation wants to contribute to the acceleration of the transition to a sustainable society. Over the coming five years we want to increase the influence we have on agenda setting for sustainability and develop roadmaps for concrete action. We want to do this by building and activating a large network of stakeholders under the umbrella of the Springtij Alliance. The Springtij Foundation will continue to organise the annual Springtij Forum. The objective is to develop this as an international green “Davos”. In this context our profiling aim is to be recognised in the Netherlands and Europe as a key event on the sustainability calendar.

Springtij wants to (continue to) distinguish itself by: • Being more than a convention: a combination of a forum and festival • The island feeling: a special experience on an island• Attracting attention to the Wadden Estuary, this breath-taking Unesco Heritage, and the venue of our activities, together with LWD2018.

Programming approachThe Springtij programme 2014-2018 is about the sustainable economy, energy, climate, food, finance, biodiversity and leadership. These are treated in plenaries, workshops and master classes. The activities are supported by research, surveys and reporting.

Springtij 2014-2018 is about the world’s great transition. We all know that the future will no longer be what it was expected to become. We are running against the wall, in spite of great successes in the rebound of hunger, and increased wealth in parts of the world where recent despair has been replaced by hope and perspectives.

Yet, the limits are there, and the most pressing issues within those limits, such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, the energy transition and resources depletion demand that we consider, study, share and create, all within the frame of the future Carbon Budget World Economy. Because that is where we are heading for.

The big question is about the time lapse: is it 2025, 2040 or 2060 when CO2 emissions from fossil fuels will be zero?Springtij 2014-2018 is about those questions. Seen from the angle of technology, innovation, policy, economics, leadership, communication and decision-making.

A clearly structured approachThe greater subjects of the global predicament are being handled in all-year research and reporting. At the Springtij Forum they are clustered in the island’s five colours. Lead

Springtij 2014-2018 is about the world’s great transition

by professionals, we want to cover the quadrants of the colourful island’s flag. It provides a structure for the thematic focus of Springtij in the coming years. Each colour is connected to a theme. The flagpole is about leadership: for every theme deals with the question of how to deal with the consequences of the journey we are facing.

Energy & Climate

Water, materials & resources

Food & agriculture

Nature & biodiversity

Economy, business & finance

Lead

ersh

ip

Annex 3 provides a systemic overview of the main issues that we are dealing with and will be covering within the context of the above-mentioned themes in the coming years.

The following process dimensions will serve as perspectives in approaching each theme:• Social innovation & new business models• Local, national & international policy• Institutional & financial barriers, transparency• Communication & behavioural change• Citizens’ expectations, ethics & leadership

8 9

Science &

knowledge

centres

Dialogue and sharingSociety’s destination is largely determined by the Great Six: citizens/consumers, government, enterprise, financial institutions, science and NGOs. They are the Springtij participants. In all sessions, their views and expectations are the leading format.

Springtij participants

represent the key

forces that shape

society’s destination

Goverment

& regulation

politics

Financial

institutions

Citizens

Corporations NGO’s

In the events to come, starting in 2014, there will be interim reporting on the state of the art, in 2018 to peak in a summit, the Springtijde-LWD2018 Global Green Community Forum, then hosting 1000-1500 of the world’s top decision makers from business, finance, science, NGOs and others.

Discussion between young and old Without youth no future, no future without sustainability. Young people are crucial for Springtij. Their energy and inspiration are essential to the community. They are also one of the main ingredients of the generation debate that Springtij

has a central role for. Planning is under way for a series of all-year master classes “The Young meet the Elders”.

Global and localThe Springtij events have two layers. Global, yes indeed, but with a strong emphasis on local as well. At the local level throughout the region, a wide spectre of change and transition is actually being explored. We mirror the global story against these local developments. Hence, we talk about “the other island at the centre of the world”, being Terschelling, or Skylge in Frisian.

The historian Russell Shorto is the author of The Island at the Center of the World, a fascinating view on the role of New Amsterdam and Manhattan in the 17th century, where the roots of today’s USA were planted. Culturally, mentally, economically.

The other island is the place where we want to plant the trees of hope and vision. Our other island Terschelling lies between the vast Wadden Estuary, which stretches up to the Danish coast, since 2009 a Unesco World Heritage, and the North Sea.

ACT LOCAL, THINK GLOBAL

At Springtij, we are on the (other) island at the centre of

the world. We are all global thinkers and travellers. Also,

we are local citizens. Globalisation is key to world peace,

understanding and information. But locally, we all react and act

at the nearby tangible level. The essence of social change is in

the replacement of hierarchy by the horizontal.

Take the example of energy. Since times immemorial, the Fire

of the Economy has been directly connected to political power.

The word Holy Fire is derived from the city’s temple where this

fire was kept burning, guarded by an elite of priest-warriors.

Without this fire there was no armoury, no food processing, no

social rest and no political power.

In the near future, this history is bound to come to an end.

Energy generation will become an all-citizens’ property with

the old power industry in retreat. Much of current political

turmoil on energy can be traced back to this transition, which

is not merely a technical revolution but a revolution of the

people as well.

Springtij 2014 – 2018, programme outline (preview)In 2014 Springtij celebrates its fifth anniversary. For 2018 our ambition is to organise the Springtij Forum for once on a large scale and to give it an extra international dimension. In 2018 Leeuwarden will be the cultural capital of Europe, offering a window of opportunity to upscale the Springtij Forum and its influence and impact.

In the coming five years we want to give special emphasis on one of the five main themes listed below. The themes from the flag will be addressed each year in the light of the main theme of the Forum.

2014 Introducing and establishing the Springtij Alliance In 2014 we catalyse the network. Together with companies, authorities, science and NGOs we compose the thematic outline of the programme.

2015 Friesland, water and the World HeritageThe Province of Friesland is a waterscape rather than a landscape. This uniqueness is spatial, cultural and economic, in a setting unlike anything else in the world. It is bordered by the Unesco Wadden Estuary. The flows of waters are what Springtij and LWD2018 intend to follow closely.

2016European dimension (EU Presidency)In the first half of 2016 the Netherlands will hold the Presidency of the European Union. A chance to put the emphasis on Europe during the Springtij Forum of 2016,

inviting environmental ministers from all over Europe. A grand closing session hosted by the Frisian Province.

2017 CultureLWD2018 is the acronym for the grand ambition of the capital of Leeuwarden and the Province of Friesland to place the region on the world map with sustainability as a main chapter. Here is where Springtij and LWD2018 can match, though all of it starting in 2014.

2018 International dimension: Club of Rome Revisited and LWD2018A major international event with 1,000 or more participants. The ultimate fusion of nature, culture and content.The Club of Rome will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2018. Established in 1968 in Rome by initiative of Aurelio Peccei, together with the American Academy of Science and the Sovjet Academy, OECD and three major companies (Nestlé, Volkswagen and Fiat), the Club of Rome report on the Limits to Growth got published not until 1972. Historic is the role of the Netherlands, where in 1971 the early launch of Limits caused the worldwide avalanche of media and public turmoil. Still today, Limits is a solid scientific baseline for the total of the sustainability legacy.

SPRINGTIJ 2014, PLANS AND DATES

• Springtij 2014 will take place September 25-26-27(-28).

• We aim for 350 participants.

• Subscription will open mid April.

• The languages are Dutch and English.

• The venues are the old shipyard, churches, barns, the

Maritime Institute, the dunes, the beach and the forest.

Without youth no future, no future without sustainability

10 11

Supervisory BoardMarianne Berendse, PresidentKarel Noordzij, former Chairman of the Board of PGGMEric-Jan Tuininga, Club of Rome NetherlandsHans van der Vlist, former Secretary-General of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment)Tjerk Wagenaar, Director Natuur & Milieu

Board of DirectorsWouter van Dieren, ChairmanPiet Noordenbos, Assistant DirectorMariska Weijer, Assistant Director

Advisors to the Board of DirectorsDien de Boer, Management Associate IMSA AmsterdamMarcello Palazzi, IMSA Associate and Chairman of the Progressio FoundationMax van der Sleen, Executive Director IMSA Amsterdam

Ambassadors01 Arjan Berkhuysen, Director Wadden Association02 Steven de Bie, professor Biodiversity, University of

Wageningen03 Leendert Bikker, Director Bikker Company Kees den Blanken, Director COGEN05 Dien de Boer, Chair Greenpeace Netherlands06 Jan Willem van den Braak, ex VNO-NCW07 Jacqueline Cramer, Professor, University of Utrecht,

former Minister08 Rudi Daelmans, Director Desso09 Hans Eenhoorn, World Connectors, former Senior Vice

President Unilever10 Volkert Engelsman, Director Eosta11 Willem Ferwerda, Director Ecosystem Return

Foundation12 Allard Friedrich, Process Engineer BIOMASS

Gasification, Shell13 Johan van de Gronden, CEO, WWF Netherlands14 Karen Jonkers, facilitator of sustainability processes

15 Betty de Keizer, green business coach16 Stef Kranendijk, Chairman of the Board, Desso17 Willem Lageweg, Director, MVO Netherlands18 Merijn Landman, Triodos Bank,19 Sietze Montijn, Consultant20 Herman Mulder, Banker, Chairman Tällberg

Finance atelier21 Femke Rotteveel, Postcode Lottery22 Marcel Schuttelaar, Director Schuttelaar & Partners23 Bouwe Taverne, Banker24 Mike Venekamp, Manager, Atlantic Trading25 Gail Whiteman, Professor, Erasmus University26 Michiel de Wilde, Executive Director, Erasmus Centre

for Strategic Philanthropy27 Lynn Zebeda, Younc Club of Rome

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE

A SPRINGTIJ AMBASSADOR?

• They support the Springtij organisation.

• They are Ambassador in a personal capacity.

• They are committed to Springtij in (one of) the following

ways:

- by giving advice on the actual content of the programme

- by using their network for sponsorship

- by promoting Springtij in their network

• They meet 2-3 times per year. Springtij facilitates these

meetings.

• They are Ambassadors voluntarily and do not receive any

remuneration or discount.

• They are listed on the Springtij website.

ANNEX 1: ORGANISATION SPRINGTIJSpringtij is a foundation by Dutch law. It has a supervisory board, an executive board of directors, ambassadors and an island council. A large group of sponsors, partners and others support and shape the overall Springtij Alliance.

Island Council 01 Marije Bijlsma-Breeuwsma, Chair, owner Fri!

Terschelling, training & coaching02. Arjan Berkhuysen, Director Wadden Association03 Kees van Biert, owner, JBR Consulting04 Amarins Geveke, Director Folkshegeskoalle

Schylgeralân05 Remi Hoeve, Councillor at City Council of Terschelling06 Henk Keizer, Cultural Developer07 Hessel van der Kooij, folk singer 08 Gerrit van Leunen, Director, Maritime Institute

“Willem Barentsz”09 Paul Melles, Director Doeksen Shipping10 Joop Mulder, Creative Director Oerol Festival11 Willemijn Steentjes, Chef School Flang12 Melis de Vries, Manager/owner Tjermelan13 Albert Wiegman, Manager Stayokay 14 Ronald van Zandwijk, Chairman Sustainable

Landscape15 Neeke van Zwol, organic farmer

WHAT DOES OUR ISLAND COUNCIL DO?

• Increase the commitment of the island to the forum

• “Use” the forum for the purpose of the island

• Adjust content and organisation of the forum to the island

• Make use of the network of Board members for the purpose

of the forum

This involves an advisory capacity.

These tasks can be “translated” into two key questions:

• What can the Council contribute to the forum?

• What can the forum contribute to the island?

Springtij AllianceThe following organisations are invited to join the Springtij Alliance: • CE Delft, NL• Centre for Agriculture and Environment CLM, NL• Circle Economy, NL• City of Leeuwarden, NL• Club of Rome, CH• De Baak, NL• De Gemeynt, NL• De Groene Zaak, NL• Deltares, NL• Development Alternatives Group, India• Ecofys, NL• Ecorys, NL• Ellen McArthur Foundation, UK • Eneco, NL• EnergieDialoog Nederland, NL• Energy Valley, NL• EPEA, Hamburg, D• European Climate Foundation• Evoke/EPEA Nederland, NL• Ex’tax,NL• Financial institutions (ASN Bank, Triodos, SNS, ABN-

Amro, ING, Rabobank), NL• Forum for the Future, UK• Greenpeace, NL• Imares, NL• INSID, NL• JBR• MBDC, D, USA• Ministries of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure and

Environment, NL• Municipality of Terschelling, NL• MVO, NL• NAM/Shell, NL• Nationale Postcodeloterij• Natuur & Milieu• Netl, sustainable fibers, NL

12 13

• OASE Foundation, NL• Öko-Institute • Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving , NL • Plastic Soup Foundation, NL• Province of Fryslân, NL• Rebelgroup• Rockgroup• Schuttelaar & Partners, NL• Search Engineering, NL• SustainAbility, UK• Tendris Holding, NL• Terschellinger Ondernemers Vereniging, NL• True Welfare Foundation, NL• Urgenda, NL• Volans (John Elkington), UK• Waddenacademie, NL• Wetterskip Fryslân, NL• World Academy of Art and Science, USA• World Business Council for Sustainable Development, CH• World Wildlife Fund• Worldwatch Institute and Rocky Mountain Institute• Wuppertal Institute for Energy, Climate and Environment

ANNEX 2: LWD2018

Springtij and LWD2018. ImaginationThe ambition is to integrate Springtij with LWD2018 and to place it all on the global map:• the unique characteristics of Friesland• the linkages to water, estuary, nature• the role of sustainability in planning and organisation• the linkage to the Oerol theatre festival• the connection to the Oerol/LWD2018

project Sense of Place

In 2013, the island’s theatre festival Oerol kicked off the Sense of Place project. Landscape art, to better make the public aware of the natural beauty around themOerol, Sense of Place, LWD2018 and Springtij intend to closely join hands, by combining the business and academia of Springtij with images of art, by means of the creation of a very large natural artefact in the estuary. It will become the ICON of these partners’ ambition.The intended Club of Rome report will be positioned with this icon as its label:• the art of Mondriaan• the Unesco Estuary• the cultural impact of the region• the other island at the centre of the world…

The 2018 Summit The summit in 2018 will be the major sustainability chapter of LWD2018, with the emphasis on the combination between content, global key stakeholders, the influential Springtij Alliance and the Fryske Mienskip.All this deep into the heart of World Heritage Wadden Sea, the focus of LWD2018 and since 2010 the stage or podium of Springtij.

Projects or productsWe want to pave the road to the Springtij 2018 summit in the context of LWD2018 by setting up task forces drawn from the Springtij Alliance partners for research and the production of excellent reports on:• Resource efficiency. The update on Factor 10, Cradle to Cradle and Circle Economy• Energy transition. Not only the switch to renewables but also the change in society’s power structure: centralised versus decentral energy generation • Biodiversity, the losses and the recovery.• Finance, the barriers and incentives to another green financial system• Food, the prospects and the battle• Carbon budget. The message of Do The Math• Social innovation: how the new society is revolving by means of citizens’ participation.

These reports will become part of the Carbon Budget World Economy, the coming Club of Rome report of 2018.

By structuring an estuary bank in the shape of this Mondriaan painting, we demonstrate that the powers of nature can be understood, and harmoniously aligned with man’s creativity.

14 15

ANNEX 3: WHERE DO WE COME FROM, WHAT WE ARE HEADING FORWhat society needs is a substantially accelerated and large-scale implementation of sustainable systems. But there are obstacles and lack of leadership. We at Springtij want to fill this space, deliver scenarios and solutions and develop new business opportunities.

In 2009, the Annual Global Summit of the Club of Rome took place in Amsterdam, with 800 participants and the best speakers of the world. The issues of the summit are still on the top-priority list of the Club of Rome and partnerships. Climate, energy, resource scarcity, sustainable economic recovery, oceans and agriculture, reforestation and biodiversity are all key and urgent topics within the context of – the development towards – a sustainable future society.

Change is slow and cumbersome. Although sustainable development is advocated by a large majority of intellectuals, leaders and specialists, the opposing forces are huge. These originate from many of the main players in government, business and finance who have based their revenue models on so-called ‘stranded assets’: products, models and technologies of the past.

We at Springtij aim to structurally integrate independent state-of-the-art thought leadership for policy, strategy and product development on these topics, from the leading global region on democratic policy and technology development in government and business strategies. European companies have generally been creative in sustainable product and process development, as have governments been in their ambition to embrace sustainable goals.

We at Springtij challenge current premises, we coordinate debate and research, and subsequently develop thought leadership and roadmaps, based on and closely linked to the background and experience of leading European institutes and corporate entities. Creating change in this region is generally difficult, due to the existing asset and regulatory infrastructure and vested interests of all stakeholders involved. However, it is a region with political stability, developed in the context of education, wealth and the common market, and it has the highest level of creativity and acknowledged acceptance of required change.

is based on scientific research that indicates that since the Industrial Revolution, human actions have gradually become the main driver of global environmental change. The scientists assert that once human activity has passed certain thresholds or tipping points, defined as “planetary boundaries”, there is a risk of “irreversible and abrupt environmental change”. The scientists identified nine Earth system processes, which have boundaries that, to the extent that they are not crossed, mark the safe zone for the planet. However, because of human activities some of these dangerous boundaries have already been crossed, while others are in imminent danger of being crossed.

We aim to explore and focus on the broader context of breakthroughs, in order to make next steps successful. If indeed we know why current world development is a dead end, then sure there must be ways out.

The so-called tipping points in the planet’s predicament are known through the recent work of Jørgen Randers (“2052: A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years”, 2012) and Johan Rockström (“The quadruple squeeze: Defining the

Existing revenue and business models within the competitive environment and their asset base provide a limited scope for change for governments, regulatory bodies, utilities and corporate entities. At the other end of the spectrum we see start-ups and local initiatives engaged in small-scale innovations and sustainable projects. Their outreach is limited, bounded by regulatory issues, bankability and affordability and, last but not least, vulnerable in the scope of changing and volatile legal settings. Society needs to facilitate the path towards a substantially accelerated and large-scale implementation of sustainable systems, but needs to consider and deal with obstacles and show leadership in defining roadmaps towards change.

In the past decade, we have seen numerous successful initiatives regarding the sustainability of the economy and the planet. Germany has realised major steps in renewable energy. In the Middle East, the experimental city of Masdar in Abu Dhabi is to become an icon of sustainability. Regarding biodiversity, losses are still substantial, but examples of creative recovery are illuminating, as is shown by the ecosystems repair work of John Liu in Southern China and the rebirth of the tropical forest of Las Gaviotas, Colombia.

Major systemic issues

Planetary boundaries and tipping points Planetary boundaries is the central concept in an Earth system framework proposed by a group of Earth system and environmental scientists led by Johan Rockström from the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Will Steffen from the Australian National University. In 2009, the group proposed a framework of “planetary boundaries” designed to define a “safe operating space for humanity” for the international community, including governments at all levels, international organizations, civil society, the scientific community and the private sector, as a precondition for sustainable development. This framework

safe operating space for freshwater use to achieve a triply green revolution in the Anthropocene”, 2010). They relate to work that most Springtij partners currently have on their agenda. At the core is climate change.

In plenaries, workshops and also informally, the many motivated participants exchange a bounty of information. Science, experience and facts about the physical state of the world, nature, species, climate and water dominate the agenda setting. Brainstorms on causes and solutions make it clear that at this level the good ideas and proven successes are a more difficult chapter. Many wheels keep being reinvented.

We know, for instance, that the GDP is a limited indicator, as explained in the Club of Rome report on the green GDP, called “Taking nature into account”. We know also that current business models do exhaust the planet rather than conserving it. We know that the science on climate is being challenged by powers with a different agenda. And we know that the financial crisis is the heart of a wrong global compass and the result of short-term value maximisation and cost externalisation. Books are being published, reports written, policies are being lobbied. The question is: what are we missing?

How do we create breakthroughs in order to develop a sustainable economy? This means that a technological application or product breakthrough needs to fit into the whole system in such a way that externalized costs to other subsystems are limited or non- existent. Also, breakthroughs need to be embedded in the public discourse, which includes stakeholder involvement, communication and publicity. Articles, reports, blogs and conferences all need to have an aligned and appreciated concept of framing. Policy lobby on future targets, roadmaps, regulation, (fiscal) legislation, treaties and technologies are part of the breakthrough process.

Springtij aims to integrate independent state-of-the-art thought leadership for policy, strategy and product development, at global and local level

16 17

With climate change at the centre, we do not intend to double the myriad of climate projects in the world. We want to focus on two essential turning points: the removal or alteration of fossil fuel subsidies, including the necessary pricing of CO2 and other externalized costs, and the organisation of an orchestrated framework to accelerate the roll-out of new sustainable technologies at substantially lower costs. Both items will form a countervailing power against the distortion of climate change information.

Climate change and renewable energySeveral breakthroughs for climate, renewable energy and the euro crisis have not fully included sustainable roadmaps. Needed is a strategy to achieve a greater transparency on subsidies, incentives, externalised costs and economic development.

Since some twenty years (1990-today) the issue of climate change has become the no. 1 topic of the global sustainability debate. It seems that the major powers in the world have accepted that climate change is there, that it is accelerating and that it is dangerous. However, policy development is (almost) non-existent and the undermining activities of the, heavily sponsored, “Merchants of Doubt” (Naomi Oreskes, 2009) gain territory and success.

Funds from these sources mount to many millions of euros (and more) annually, the purpose of it being to prevent climate legislation, treaties, other measures, and to defend vested interests. “Framing” climate scepticism has created public majorities, or close to that, following the doubt, and to denial in political programmes and ceased government interventions.

Obviously, the risks of this framing are substantial. Risks are not limited to the environment, employment, economic renewal and innovation; they will also affect wealth and wellness of the global population.

The task ahead is to facilitate an accelerated rollout of innovative renewable solutions, while better embedding this in a sustainable policy framework, which includes themes around security of supply and government income. Sponsoring climate scepticism stands query to all this. In the words of a green banker: “We will lose the battle, not because we are wrong or not rightful, but because we are unarmed”.

Several breakthroughs for climate, renewable energy and the euro crisis have been designed and are being advocated, but many of these have not included sustainable roadmaps in which most interests are being considered, and are therefore sabotaged by the lobbies mentioned. A greater transparency on subsidies, incentives, externalised costs and economic development will enable a better base for industrial policy and the required public support, but an all-encompassing strategy to achieve this has not yet been developed.Examples are the use of so-called solar assets of the Mediterranean countries, to be used for their budget deficits, or the absence of level playing fields between renewable and “old” energy.

Resource efficiency, Factor 10, Cradle to Cradle, Circle EconomyThe current economy can save large costs if it squeezes the materials and energy used per any kind of services. The approach of the Factor 10 principles combines economic recovery, an end to the crisis and large gains in the field of climate.

Current resource use in the world economy is not economic, not efficient, not wise, not prudent. We do not overstate if we say that squander is the rule. In 1990-2000 the concept of resource efficiency gained momentum through the genius work at the Wuppertal Institute for Energy, Climate and Environment and its Vice-president Friedrich Schmidt-Bleek, the originator of Factor 10, Material Input per Unit Service or MIPS. In 2002, he and

the Wuppertal Chair Ernst von Weizsäcker got the Takeda Prize for their work, the Japanese Nobel prize.

A MIPS can be reduced by any factor, be it 4, 5 or 10. The relevant global think-tank was called the Factor 10 Group, and two Club of Rome reports, Factor 4 (1995) and Factor 5 (2010) got published. Excellent examples of Factor 10 applications have been realised, such as the Design Academy in Hällefors, Sweden, a large building which indeed requires a factor 10 less energy and other resources in its construction and daily management.

In the beginning of 2012, the British Ellen MacArthur Foundation published the report ‘Towards the Circular Economy’, about how products are being produced in our economy. The crux of the report lies in the hard evidence that a circular economy would create more value than the business-as-usual approach: McKinsey calculated that European industries and governments could realise up to 600 billion euro in cost savings by adopting circular business models.

The importance of this is not only in the large potential material savings, but also in economics. Evidence is there to state that the current economy can save large costs if it squeezes the materials and energy used per any kind of services. A unit transport from A to B can be organised to the extent that a fraction of materials and hence costs are being spent. This also applies to a unit housing or unit food production. Take a razor blade, cut the weeds of squander and the economy will save billions. Overspending is a function of poor cost-benefit analyses, poor engineering, poor design and ignorance. As long as materials are too cheap and climate costs not integrated, these poor practices will continue.

Ever since the start of environmental thinking and practices, the principles of resource returns (such as recycling) have been considered and developed. The

latest in these developments are the concepts of Cradle to Cradle and the Circle Economy. They are related. Essential to it is the need to create cycles of resources and materials, by design and by technological practice. To return materials to the cycle of production, usage and re-use is the key. It needs a very different approach to current practices in the production of consumer goods.

All composing materials of a product should be nature-proven and re-use fit.The Circle Economy, Cradle to Cradle and Factor 10 demand a new phase in the design of the economy, unheard of until recently. Yet, in companies such as Philips, Rank Xerox, BMW, Desso, Interface, others, these new principles are being implemented, step by step. The lessons learned, and the technology ahead, it all needs fundamental rethinking.

Eat local, share and nourish! Food production has been a private enterprise since long, with accelerating public regulation, a complete 50/50 between the individual producer and the common good. With, at the same time, a rapidly grown global processing and distribution industry. Another hierarchy; food power at a universal scale.Here too, the dawn of change is visible. Local food markets, identity, slow food, organic, the responsible consumer, and even city-horticulture. Whether this will be a breakthrough we do not know yet.

With climate change at the centre, we want to focus on two essential turning points: the removal or alteration of fossil fuel subsidies, and the organisation of an orchestrated framework to accelerate the roll-out of new sustainable technologies at substantially lower costs

18 19

ANNEX 4: SPONSORS PER YEAR 2010 - 2013

2010 2011

20 21

2012 2013

22 23

New Green Frontiers In 19th century America, the overall social dynamics was dominated by the drive to go West. There, in the unknown distance, the pioneers imagined the Promised Land, unspoilt resources and unlimited opportunities. The partners of the new United States kept moving to where the sun did set, and thousands followed the tracks. In 1820 the most western frontier was in Missouri, where in todays’ St. Louis a grant Arc marks the gateway to the West, the starting line of the famous expedition by Lewis and Clark, who indeed reached the pacific coast in Oregon between 1804 in 1806.

Frontiers are about adventure, innovation, courage and the unknownTo achieve a sustainable world, that is what we face now. Where do we find a new West? Not in the sense of another place to exploit, but a new reality, a new view, a new commons. New Green Frontiers.Beyond the known horizon is the unknown Promised Land. In Die Zauberflöte the high priest Sarastro sings about Das Bessere Land. In the languages along the Silk route from Constantinople to the coast of China, the word Horaisan stands for the land of hope, destination and transcendence. Hence the word ‘horizon’.The frontiers of our world are to be explored, as there we expect the new, the better and the promise. At the same time, frontiers also mark the limits. Beyond the limits we cannot see. Springtij Forum 2014 is about these limits, as always, and about the frontiers, which can open new worlds of imagination and exploration.

Dates and time Springtij Forum 2014 will start on Thursday, September 25th at 3PM in the departure hall of the ferry in Harlingen and ends on Saturday, September 27th, after the closing dinner on Terschelling. On Sunday, September 28th there is an informal programme. Sign up for Springtij 2014 via the website.

SPRINGTIJ FORUM 2014

Springtij Forum 2014 will be the fifth edition of this succesfull business adventure on the island of Terschelling. This years theme is New Green Frontiers.

Contact For questions about the organisation, sponsorship and about the programme, please call 020 5787 600 or send an email to info@springtij.nu.

For questions about communication, press, website and social media, please contact Jannemieke van Dieren: 06 41 48 02 70 or jannemieke@springtij.nu.

www.springtij.nu

Twitter: @SpringtijFestiv and #Springtij2014 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/springtijfestival

Amsterdam, April 2014 Stichting Springtij Festival TerschellingPrins Hendriklaan 15 1075 AX Amsterdam info@springtij.nu

Frontiers are about adventure,

innovation, courage and the unknown

Springtij Ambassador Volkert Engelsman (Eosta):

“Springtij provides the space to navigate on the lights of the stars and not only on those of passing ships. This forum is meant for those who want to be present at the tipping points of change and who have the guts to act.Join this prestigious leadership forum and share its inspiring sunsets and dawns. Enjoy the magic of human encounter, prototype the future, where there is a will there is a D-Tour.”