News of the The Green Box - the new science, technology and enterprise campus dedicated to the development of viable and affordable clean energy solutions - has been brought to a 319 million strong global radio audience by the BBC World Service.
The Green Box in Hengelo in The Netherlands is more than merely a rural idyl where scientists can work for a greener future; it is also a place where ideas from different industries can cross-pollinate, observed BBC World Business Report presenter Philip Hampsheir.
“When different fields mingle, new ideas emerge,” he said.
The Green Box will offer its tenants access to facilities ranging from shared office space, networking areas, research laboratories, events and conference venues, as well as to services such as business mentoring and advice on legal and regulatory matters pertinent to startups.
The campus will have an incubator that will help students and entrepreneurs establish new companies that in turn will create new, green jobs. Growth will be both targeted and rapid as a result of access to people and organisations with a lot of knowledge and expertise from different fields.
“We expect to do research in a range of fields, from clean energy generation to storage, conversion, delivery, but also applications such as electric vehicles,” Anne Koolen, who is responsible for planning, implementing and marketing the campus plan, told the BBC.
Learning from each other
In addition to bringing together startups in areas such as chemistry and electronics, the campus will engage with and welcome contributions from politicians, academics and even students.
Entrepreneurial student teams will be encouraged to participate in competitions, where the winners will be offered free working space on site to develop their ideas, according to Anne Koolen.
The idea behind it all is that people will learn from each other as they work towards a shared goal of a transition to clean energy.
“You can build a battery or a charging station or an electric vehicle, but the battery must be integrated into the vehicle, it must be charged, and the vehicle must be connected to the grid,” said Anne Koolen.
“When these technologies are developed together they can be integrated and we can find synergies. Only when we work together can we realise the energy transition.”
Perfect location
Situated right in the middle of Europe’s industrial heartland, close to the University of Twente, a public technical university, The Green Box is in a perfect location, said Anne Koolen.
“We’re in the middle of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp so we’re in a central place Europe, which is really convenient,” she said.
“Also, it’s close to a university in a large location where we can still build extra buildings to expand, so it’s really a nice place to be.”
Listen to World Business Report on BBC World Service.
The Green Box report can be heard at 15:19 - 19:10.
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