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                                                 Description







          De Ceuvel is an award-winning, sustainable planned workplace for creative and social enterprises on
          a former shipyard on the Johan van Hasselt kanaal off the river IJ in Amsterdam North. In 2012, the land
          was secured for a 10-year lease from the Municipality of Amsterdam after a group of architects won
          a tender to turn the site into a regenerative urban oasis.The former industrial plot is home to a thriving
          community of entrepreneurs and artists, where all involved have lent a hand to build Amsterdam’s first
          circular office park. The plot hosts creative workspaces, a cultural venue, a sustainable café, spaces to
          rent, and a floating bed & breakfast.


          On the former shipyard we have realized one of the most unique urban experiments in Europe. Old
          houseboats have been placed on heavily polluted soil, the workspaces have been fitted with clean
          technologies and it has all been connected by a winding jetty. Around the houseboats
          phyto-remediating plants work to clean the soil. De Ceuvel is not only a “forbidden garden” which will
          leave behind cleaner soil, but also a playground for sustainable technologies. Through experimentation,
          we are as energy self-sufficient as possible and process our own waste in new, innovative ways.


          The Ceuvel is cooperatively built and managed by a non-profit association of tenants. They herefore
          work with an elected and voluntary board. The board of Association de Ceuvel manages the site, the
          contacts with the various tenants and the external contacts with the municipality, partners and others.




                                        Major achievements








          De Ceuvel is a cultural urban hub on the cutting edge of technology, sustainability and art. The founders
          want to be the vanguard and a symbol of the social transition to a contemporary circular lifestyle. With
          their cultural programme they try to inspire and involve like-minded individuals into a growing
          movement of innovation and transition to a more sustainable city, country and world. The transition to
          a circular economy and society is not only a technical transition, it is also a cultural transition: people
          have to learn new modes of thought and how to apply new techniques and technologies. The mission
          of the cultural programme of De Ceuvel is to plant seeds in the hearts and minds of our visitors that will
          grow into more involvement with sustainability, innovation and the role of culture and art in that
          movement.  Concretely, this vision results into sustainable workshops and lectures, but also arthouse
          films, music evenings and art exhibitions that are not necessarily related to sustainability. Besides
          a cultural centre for the green innovation community, they also want to be a place where citizens from
          the neighborhood can come together and enjoy art and culture in a circular urban hub.


          Topic: Rural design, Transformation of this polluted zone into a  sustainable residential area,
          Energy and nutrients flows, Aquaponic agriculture, Circular economy, Cultural Urban hub.
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