Author: Anneleen van der Kolk

Around 500 children aged between 8 and 12 years from Amsterdam Zuidoost will get to work with Minecraft right in the center of the Amsterdam Arena to completely redesign their own city district. Everything is possible, everything is allowed, there are no limitations, no referees 😉 With a DJ and surprise performance act by a famous artist. Join in and maybe your Minecraft design will become an actual building! Stichting FutureNL and the Amsterdam Arena organise this event in cooperation to prove digital skills are super fun and useful!

On Wednesday afternoon, June 20, the State of the Region will come together for the first time in Theater Amsterdam; an annual event organised by MetropoolRegioAmsterdam, Amsterdam Economic Board, and Amsterdam Marketing.

During this day, the most important stakeholders from the industry, knowledge institutions, cultural organisations, and regional authorities will come together to share their vision on, and the results from, the region and to discuss the joint challenges. The purpose of the State of the Region is multiple: informing, inspiring, involving and celebrating successes.

How do we make safe, liveable and sustainable neighbourhoods together? Who are the ones thinking, designing and developing?

What role do the government, project developers, current and new residents and entrepreneurs play in the development process?

Friday 22 June, we focus on the area development in Amsterdam, highlighting the neighbourhoods and areas that are in the middle of full-fledged urban development. Just one example is the Hamerstraat area along the North bank of the IJ River. This former industrial site is being redeveloped into an area designed for living and working. The Sloterdijk business park is another example of an area being transformed into a place where businesses, housing, bars, restaurants and recreation co-exist. What choices are involved in such a redevelopment? Who makes the decisions? And how do we maintain the right balance?

Not only the existing areas are under scrutiny. New development areas bring along their own set of challenges. Districts such as the Port of Amsterdam and Sluisbuurt, areas where over 40,000 houses will be built over the coming years. How do we make these areas sustainable, accessible, and safe?

What significance do placemaking and co-creation have in the development process? And how do physical developments relate to the infrastructural and social elements?

On Friday, experts and professionals from different backgrounds will move into the city on an expedition to more than 30 different development areas throughout the city and region such as the Zuidas, Bajeskwartier, Buiksloterham, and IJburg. After the expeditions, the experts will tackle the various challenges that each of these areas are faced with when being redeveloped.

Amsterdam City Event (ACE) is a knowledge day for civil servants of the City of Amsterdam. Around 1,100 civil servants share their knowledge and expertise through workshops, excursions, and lectures, and gain inspiration from outside their organisation. This year the ACE will focus on ‘building communities’. How do we ensure the rapid growth and development of Amsterdam contributes to a meaningful connection between the old and the new neighbourhoods, and between the new and existing communities? How do we organise public support, participation, contradictions, and involvement? And how can digitalisation and circular thinking contribute to this?

Amsterdam City event is a knowledge day for civil servants. If you have any questions please send an email to ci­ty­e­vent@am­ster­dam.nl

With 9m², it’s the smallest workspace in North Amsterdam. But don’t be fooled by its size. This tiny hub at the IJ waterfront opposite the Tolhuistuin, contains the greatest ideas. Every month, a photographer (Docker) is invited by the photography platform Docking Station to exhibit his or her work. The goal is to move the visual stories of the ‘Dockers’ forward by facilitating collaborations with experts in the field and encounters with likeminded Dutchies. During the festival, the founders of Docking Station will tell and show three of those beautiful stories live on stage, like modern-day troubadours.