Newsletter MSc & PhD Education NL
August 2015
It's August, one of the most beloved months of the year as most of the people are enjoying their
summer holidays. We hope that you are taking time for a well deserved vacation, or otherwise enjoying
your free time.
July and August are our busiest months as The Journey takes place. The Journey 1 (Master students)
and The Journey 6 (PhD students) kicked off in the Netherlands and we were very excited that both
groups started their Climate-KIC annual summer school here.
In this newsletter you can find updates of The Journey 2015, a few blogs of The Journey, an internship
opportunity a Dilbert cartoon and an interview.
Don't get sunburned!
The Dutch Education Team
Agenda August 2015:
* The Journey 6 (PhD): 26 July-29 August 2015
The Journey 2015
Journey 1 and Journey 6
As you know the summer school of Climate-KIC takes
our students on a journey across three countries and
some of Europe’s best universities and business
together with a growing group of climate innovators.
We teach our students the fundamentals about
climate change science and start-ups in only five
weeks. Two coaches accompany the students in this
exciting trip!
We had the pleasure of having two Journeys starting in the Netherlands:
The Journey of July (Master students) took place in Delft from 5 to 18 July, continued to Berlin
(Germany) and finished in Wroclaw (Poland) on 8 August.
The ideas that were presented to a Dutch jury in Journey 1 includes the following: leasing furniture
from big corporations to start-ups, using urine to produce electricity, transform feces in sustainable
fertilizers, developing a dome as a climate regulator, smart circular greenhouse, industrial symbiosis
for waste, combining street art and urban management and developing a low-tech modular energy and
water system.
The Journey of August (PhD students) took place in Utrecht from 25 July to 8 August, currently
continues in Budapest (Hungary) and will finish in Warwick (UK) on 29 August.
The ideas that were presented to a Dutch jury in Journey 6 includes the following: making waste into
construction, developing photovoltaic energy, smart office devices with sensors, vertical farms,
supplying info on renewable energy via TV, floating gardens and personalized soil irrigation
measurement.
Our students had the opportunity to make site visits to inspiring locations such as De Ceuvel
(Amsterdam), the Algae Park (Wageningen), the Maasvlakte2 (Rotterdam) and the Sands engine
(Kijkduin) among others. There were also many interesting lectures and team exercises to create
business ideas related to climate change adaptation. We even had a Late Night show session which was
a huge success (31 July)!
Photos of The Journey can be viewed here or by clicking on the following link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/131036486@N02/sets/
The Journey 1 (Master): blog
Daniel Ssekatawa from Uganda (MSc Environmental Management
and Policy, Lund University)
“I am really impressed with The Journey. We are meeting so many
different people, start-ups, businesses and entrepreneurs. I like
very much the fact that we are learning practical know-how about
entrepreneurship like how to use the business model canvas. This is so cool!”.
"One of my ambitions is to improve the lighting system in communities in my home country. I would like
to develop this idea in a safe and user friendly way".
“The interactions within the group are great. We have very dedicated coaches and I like the
combination of having a younger and an older coach. The most interesting lectures until has been the
one about urban planning in Utrecht because it highlights the past-present-future of the project and it
involves many stakeholders. The other part of the programme I enjoyed has been the site visit to the
Ceuvel in Amsterdam. What I also appreciate very much is that I am stimulated to get out of my
comfort zone. I am learning every day so much!".
The Journey 1 (Master): blog
Student Eva Ros Mangrinan from Spain (MSc Biomass and
Agriculture, University of Limerick)
“I am learning so much more than I thought I would be. The
Journey is such an interesting and complete programme. It is
also very well organized and the atmosphere between the
international students is very good. All of us are very close and
we work well together”.
“At the end of The Journey I would have liked to have learned the latest technology related to climate
change and also as much as possible about entrepreneurship. Hopefully we have some new and
innovative ideas to create a start-up”.
The Journey 6 (PhD): blog
Student Abdelhadi El Yazidi from Morocco (PhD Regional
Greenhouse Gases, LSCE Paris)
“I am very satisfied with the experience and I learnt a lot of
things that I didn’t know before. I am focused on technology and
here I have found a more entrepreneurial attitude where I can
have an impact on climate. I love the location here in the Netherlands, specially the Seats-to-Meet is a
great place to share ideas and to network”.
“Everyone has different knowledge and a diverse background. We come from different parts of the
world, have different cultures and all together we come up with new ideas. All students have the
common goal to develop a new business idea and create a positive impact".
"My expectation after being 5 weeks in The Journey is to work on a project that is an efficient solution
to climate change".
The Journey 6 (PhD): blog
Coach Judit Osika from Hungary
“I have a Master in Operations and Supply Chain Management
(University of Groningen) and I also like technology very much.
Combining both with the human factor is what makes it very
dynamic from my point of view. I have studied Life Coaching
(Finland) and became a trainer. So on one hand I have a business background, but also a people’s point
of view”.
“The experience of being a coach on The Journey is very interesting. If I would make an analogy with
cooking, the goal is to create a meal. And we are now in the phase in which we are testing and mixing
the ingredients. I really enjoy this very much”.
“As a coach I want to stimulate the students to use their specific talent in order to develop a business
idea and to enrich their PhD. We need their solutions as today’s youth are tomorrow’s leader. They
need some practice and we can only learn by doing. With confidence and self determination all will fall
in place. I am really happy that I can be here and be part of The Journey. Learning is a process that has
many steps and it stimulates me a lot to hear the innovative ideas of the students. This environment is
very stimulating. I am very curious to see what will happen at the end of August!”.
Internship opportunity
GrowUp Urban Farms
GrowUp Urban Farms is a start-up based in Beckton (London, UK)
that produces sustainable fresh fish, salads and herbs in cities using a
combination of aquaponic and vertical growing technologies. They
are looking for an intern responsible for social media and marketing.
For more information have a look at our vacancies website:
http://www.climate-kic.nl/
Dilbert cartoon on
holidays
Interview with Sybren Bosch
MSc of Science, Sustainable Development (Utrecht
University). Working at EVOLV
Can you give us a small introduction about yourself?
After a Master program in sustainable development, I find
myself working in the circular economy field. A challenging
area, as the circular economy concept is increasingly used in
practice, but its meaning is not well defined yet.
What does EVOLV stand for and why did you join? EVOLV is the Dutch partner of the Arizona State
University (which has over 400 professors and scientists working on sustainability issues) and is a
research and consultancy partner for businesses and local governments on how they can incorporate
the circular economy in their daily practices. They work at the edge of businesses and science, and it is
Climate-KIC that created my enthusiasm about that field. There is lots of academic knowledge out
there, which is not yet being applied by businesses to accelerate and to create a lasting positive
impact.
What do you exactly do for EVOLV? At present, I am working on the ‘regional circular society’ in
Haarlemmermeer. We are in the process of defining that concept, and thereby defining a local meaning
of the circular economy. We do this through co-creation with a wide variety of stakeholders in the
municipality. These co-creation sessions both add value in developing a common vision for the area,
but also in new cross-connections between individuals to accelerate the circular developments.
The students of The Journey 1 participated in your tour of Park2020. Can you tell us more? Park
20|20 is the first cradle-to-cradle office park around the world, co-created by Bill MacDonough (author
of the book Cradle-to-Cradle) and real estate developer Coert Zachariasse. The development of the
first six buildings does however not mean that the park is finished. The students have been ideating
around two questions that are central in the park’s development, and have come up with sound
business ideas of which some can relatively easily be applied!
Last year you participated in The Journey and this year you are a guest speaker. How do you look
back at The Journey 2014 and this last year? The Journey 2014 has been one of my best experiences
yet. There have been so many new impressions by the places we visited, by the excellent speakers and
trainers that we have spoken to. The group of over 40 individuals as a whole provided one of the most
fantastic working atmospheres I have ever experienced.
And as a last question, do you have any special advice for the students of this year’s Journey?
Special advice always seem personal, but often come down to one simple thing. Follow your feeling
and listen to your heart. When you feel comfortable with a certain direction, just go. When you feel
that others strengthen you, work with them. And when you feel you will be able to do something, you
are.