Flexibility, creativity and teamwork in Alkmaar's strategy
Alkmaar's Location Manager Martijn de Vries of New Energy Coalition reflects on the Dutch city's first year as a pilot city for POCITYF. Time flies... even in Alkmaar: another year has passed in the POCITYF project, so it's time to look back.
The first year was all about getting started, getting acquainted with the international and national partners, and establishing the project (management) team. Equally important was gaining and providing the partners with insight into the working structures, such as Energy Transition Tracks, Work Packages, and Integrated Solutions. It's easy to get lost in the complexity of the Horizon 2020 project.
Sustainability Alkmaar
In Alkmaar, we focused primarily on preparing for the demonstrations of the innovation components at the De Meent, Woonwaard Hoogbouw, Bloemwijk, and GasFreeWorks locations during the first few months. It's fascinating to see and experience how each location brings its own dynamics and challenges in terms of planning, technical preconditions, citizen involvement, and procedures. It's also striking that new insights at some demonstration sites have already required adjustments to the plans. An example of this is the planned construction of the heating network to Woonwaard Highrise and Bloemwijk, which proved unfeasible for technical and financial reasons, but has been replaced by an apartment complex on Dillenburgstraat. This demonstrates that with a flexible approach, creativity, and teamwork, we are succeeding in continuing to fulfill POCITYF's project goals.
Impact of COVID-19
The COVID-19 situation has also led to adjustments in working methods and project implementation during the sustainability transition in Alkmaar. Due to reduced commitment from many partners and the necessity to work from home, some planned activities have been delayed. Nevertheless, progress has been and is being made: the Bloemwijk demonstration site has been tendered, preparations for the installation of a solar/wind energy generation system at Woonwaard Highrise are well underway, and at the De Meent sports complex, work is already underway on the construction of a covered parking lot with solar panels. Speaking of De Meent, did you know that the ice rink at De Meent has been used as a drive-through COVID-19 testing center for several months now? The sports complex is therefore important to Alkmaar from a social perspective in several ways.
The future
And so we're already entering the second year of the project. In the coming year, we'll still be busy preparing and realizing the demonstration sites. But we'll also be collaborating with our partners in Alkmaar and beyond on data collection and energy monitoring, developing concepts around citizen engagement, and sharing experiences in sustainability and energy positivity with other cities in the Netherlands and Europe. In short, we're already well-stocked for next year. We're excited!
