Sustainable buildings Eindhoven – contract signed!

Wednesday 26 October 2016: With immense satisfaction Marlies and I witnessed the signing of the contract between the city of Eindhoven and the ‘!MPULS’ consortium, an agreement for the next 15 years of sustainable renovation and management of the municipal buildings in the city center. A great step towards becoming an energy neutral city. Having been involved in this project for the past 3,5 years, helping the core team develop a new way of working, based on the principles of long term value creation, a systemic approach and -most importantly – cooperation, it is with joy that we can see that the resulting collaboration carries forward those values with enthusiasm, conviction and a lot of energy. The celebratory atmosphere and energy during the signing were a wonderful proof-point: building teams based on trust and shared values brings not only success but also happiness and continued inspiration.

Many thanks to Garry Whitrick, John-Pierre van de Kerkhof, Jaap Strating, Joyce Vercoelen and of course Mary-Ann Schreurs of the gemeente Eindhoven, who were so courageous to ask a bunch of ‘design thinking’ co-creatives to help them break free from the usual patterns – and who dared to think and do things differently. Thank you Marlies and Rikjan for all the creative flow, dedication, inspiration and various kinds of ‘life support’. It has been a wonderful journey. And the signing of the contract opens a new journey, we can start sharing what we learned throughout the process!