Healthy Cities Programme: An Urban Health Quick Scan with five pilot cities
In 2025, Healthy Cities launched the first edition of the Healthy Cities Programme, giving cities a unique opportunity to explore how urban environments impact people’s health. Using the Urban Health Quick Scan, cities can take concrete first steps into harnessing urban development as a tool for improving wellbeing. The programme’s pilot with five cities in […]
Bus Depots of the Future: From Parking Lots to Strategic Assets
Bus depots are no longer just places to park and refuel buses. The shift to electric fleets, driver shortages, and new mobility models are transforming depots into strategic assets that enable transport operators to improve their business models and scale their fleets. In this insight, Bax Public Mobility Consultants Giel Mertens and Merlijn Zurek explore […]
Access economy: now is the time for retailers and manufacturers to care
Picture walking into a shop and asking for a drill. The salesperson replies, “Are you looking to rent or buy one?” Now imagine more than half of drill transactions being taken over by rentals. That’s a glimpse of how the access economy is set to transform the retail space. The access economy is reshaping how […]
Empowering urban action: key takeaways from the new EU Agenda for Cities
Europe’s cities are not only engines of economic growth, they are also critical frontrunners driving the green and digital transitions. In December 2025, the European Commission published their latest communication establishing an EU Agenda for Cities. This marks a welcome next step in the EU’s recognition of the central role cities play in tackling the […]
Tech-enabled homecare: a sustainable future for Europe’s ageing population
Europe’s ageing population is straining healthcare systems. David Chadima explores how tech-enabled homecare can empower professionals, support independent living, and build a more sustainable model, with lessons from the ACE project. An unprecedented demographic shift is testing the limits of European healthcare. Demand for care is growing substantially, with the proportion of people aged over […]
Implementing Digital Health solutions: why emotions matter as much as innovation
Healthcare Innovation Team Lead Núria Vàzquez Salat explores how pharmaceutical companies are approaching digital transformation and why understanding end-user emotions is essential for meaningful adoption. Reason cannot defeat emotion, an emotion can only be displaced or overcome by a stronger emotion. – Baruch Spinoza The global digital health market is expanding rapidly, and this growth […]
Sex, gender, and cardiovascular disease: empowering patients for better heart health
The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) and Vaccines Europe (VE) recently published a position paper supporting the development of a robust EU Cardiovascular Health Plan. Yet, across its 17 pages, the words “female” and “gender” appeared only once each. This highlights a broader issue: while cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause […]
Exoskeletons: Supporting Europe’s healthcare workforce by reducing injuries
Exoskeletons are emerging as a promising solution to support Europe’s healthcare workforce. Working with the EU-funded MSD-CARE project, Bax developed a sustainability roadmap and translated research results into practical outputs for healthcare teams and industry partners. These tools and insights demonstrate how wearable supports could protect staff, reduce strain and injuries, and help future-proof healthcare. […]
Why urban biowaste is the circular economy’s next big challenge
The HOOP project demonstrates how urban biowaste can drive the EU’s circular economy. Mafalda Di Palma reveals key policy and investment steps for real impact. According to the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, every EU citizen produces around 300 kilograms of biowaste each year. A substantial amount, equivalent to four average-sized washing machines. It’s one […]
Unlocking digital health: a new path for Europe’s innovators
Europe’s digital health innovators face a maze of reimbursement barriers. David Chadima explores how to turn breakthroughs into patient impact. Imagine creating a piece of technology that could help a diabetic manage their insulin, allow a stroke patient to do their physiotherapy from home, or predict a life-threatening fall in an elderly person. Now, imagine […]
AI in Healthcare: Escaping the pilot trap for true adoption
AI promises to revolutionise healthcare, but adoption often stalls at the pilot stage. Núria Vàzquez explores the promises of AI for the sector, the barriers to real-world deployment, and how to unlock its full potential. As healthcare data shifts from more structured to increasingly complex and diverse formats, AI holds genuine promise to unlock the […]
New EU Batteries Regulation explained: what producers need to know about EPR
Yesterday, on 18 August 2025, the EU’s new Batteries Regulation officially replaced the former Batteries Directive. Bax consultant Melis Kucukoglu explains what this milestone means for battery producers, the challenges of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and due diligence, and why early preparation is key to staying ahead in a circular battery economy. From directive to […]
Young Leaders: Navigating Urban Futures in a Changing Climate
Authored by: Ruth Gow Mclenachan Being young in today’s world can be challenging. On one hand, we can feel hopeless when faced with the climate emergency, with three out of four people aged 16 to 25 globally agreeing that the “future is frightening” when asked about the threats of climate change in 2021. Many are […]
Renewables are the future – now is not the time to slow down
Bax Circular Industry expert Johanna Reiland shares her perspective on why now is the time to double down on the energy transition – and how circular strategies can make it more resilient, efficient, and future-proof. The transition to clean energy is not only a climate imperative – it’s a strategic and economic one. – Johanna […]
One Health in cities: what we’ve learned (and what comes next)
Written by Sofia Aivalioti for URBACT One Health is not new, but its implementation in planning and designing cities is both innovative and necessary. Most cities promote health through some often-disconnected angles: by mitigating adverse impacts of climate change, tackling biodiversity loss, or designing public space for active and healthy mobility. However, coordinated actions that […]
Bax strengthens Dutch presence with senior hire and expanded services
Bax is strengthening its Dutch operations with the appointment of Tom Meijerink, who joins the Utrecht office in April 2025. In his new role, Tom will co-lead the management of Bax Netherlands alongside Kees Joosten, while continuing his position as chairman of Branchevereniging Bodemenergie. This expansion broadens Bax Netherlands’ expertise in innovation strategy, collaborative R&D, […]
Green axes: where urban greenery meets active mobility
Written by Dennis Martínez In the face of climate change and urbanisation pressures, cities worldwide are rethinking their relationship with nature and wellbeing. However, this is no easy path, as they must tackle the complex challenge of redistributing limited public space to prioritise nature and healthy lifestyles. One urban planning instrument gaining traction is the […]
Turning Ambition into Action: Key Lessons from the EU Carbon Farming Summit
Originally published by Smart Carbon Farming “Authored by Gerard Don, Max Meijer, Caitlin Ball” Europe’s farmland holds immense potential – not just to store carbon, but to build healthier soils, more resilient farms, and a sustainable future for agriculture. At this year’s EU Carbon Farming Summit – hosted by the CREDIBLE Project – policymakers, researchers, industry leaders, and farmers came […]
The rise of the ‘sharing city’ model
Written by Nienke de Jong for the Progress Playbook Cities are at the forefront of the global sustainability challenge. Covering just 3% of the earth’s landmass, they generate 70% of global CO2 emissions and consume 75% of the world’s energy. With 84% of Europeans projected to live in cities by 2050, urban areas must rethink […]
The case for healthier cities: How urban design shapes wellbeing
Written by Amy McCready for the Progress Playbook With more than two-thirds of the global population projected to live in cities by 2050, the design of urban environments is increasingly recognised as a critical factor influencing public health. From the placement of parks to the layout of neighbourhoods, urban planning decisions have far-reaching implications for […]
Advancing Regenerative Agriculture: Insights from the EIT Food Workshop in Parma
Regenerative agriculture is more than a farming method—it’s a path toward restoring ecosystems, enhancing soil health, and building resilient food systems. As climate challenges intensify, adopting regenerative practices has become crucial for ensuring sustainable agriculture and thriving rural communities. Against this backdrop, stakeholders across Italy convened at a transformative workshop in Parma to chart a […]
Beneath our feet: why soil deserves the spotlight
Soil is more than dirt—it’s the lifeblood of ecosystems, agriculture, and climate resilience. On this World Soil Day, we explore why protecting this vital resource is essential for a sustainable future. “Soil is home to more than one-quarter of our planet’s biodiversity. Yet, we know only 1% of this universe,” (FAO). Beneath our feet lies […]
How a circular approach to wind turbine blades can make green energy truly regenerative
Wind turbines are symbols of clean energy, yet the looming issue of blade waste threatens to undermine their green reputation. Can a circular approach make wind energy truly regenerative? From waste to renewal Wind energy plays a vital role in the transition to a low-carbon future, supported by global treaties like the Paris Agreement. However, […]
Restoration for Resilience: Advancing Europe’s Ecosystem Recovery by 2050
Written by Jamie Coles Europe faces a critical environmental crisis: over 80% of its natural habitats are degraded, threatening wildlife, human well-being, economic stability, and the future of generations to come. Our societies and economies fundamentally rely on healthy ecosystems for services like clean air, water, food production, and climate regulation. The degradation of these […]
Future-proofing homecare for Europe’s ageing population
Written by David Chadima As Europe’s population continues to age, the need for innovative homecare solutions is becoming increasingly urgent. The ACE project is stepping up to meet this challenge, conducting a series of workshops in late 2023 to uncover key insights and drive meaningful change. These workshops revealed crucial factors influencing the adoption of […]
United for zero-emissions: Europe’s collaborative push in EV innovation
As Europe drives towards a zero-emission future, the automotive industry lies at the heart of this transition. With ambitious targets set by the European Commission, manufacturers, research institutes, and policymakers are working together to develop sustainable electric vehicles (EVs) that meet stringent CO² reduction standards. This article explores how collaboration is essential to overcoming challenges […]
Urban Health: How cities influence chronic disease risk
We’re identifying and measuring the association between urban environment features and Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the HORUS project. How does the urban environment influence our health? Many factors related to our urban surroundings have an impact on our lifestyle choices, and therefore on our health. Studies show that up to 89% of our health is […]
Bax positions itself at the forefront of challenge-driven urban innovation with DUT partnership
Bax recently confirmed its commitment to progressing Europe’s sustainable urban future with the launch of a four-year collaboration with the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Partnership. The DUT Partnership is an intergovernmental research and innovation programme supporting much-needed urban transformation processes across Europe. It aims to strengthen capacities and tools to make urban change happen and […]
European Network for Urban Sharing Launches: Introducing Digital Kiosks
The Digital Kiosks Network has officially launched, promising to transform the sharing and rental economy. Led by Bax, the new European network facilitates the sustainable implementation of sharing stations by working with more than 30 public authorities, housing providers, sharing station providers, brand manufacturers, researchers and sharing economy practitioners. “The Digital Kiosks network aims to […]
Revitalising Barcelona’s industrial Besòs district through healthy urban planning
Barcelona City Council has awarded Bax the opportunity to create an urban redevelopment strategy for one of the city’s biggest industrial districts. The neighbourhood surrounding the industrial zone is one of Barcelona’s most deprived areas, with a life expectancy 12 years below more affluent parts of the city. Our strategy imagines an Innovation District that […]
Human-centric urban design and active mobility create liveable cities
Written by Jamie Coles Imagine a city. What do you see? Tower blocks, perhaps, cutting through the sky. Perhaps a grid of tarmac—streets choked with the droning of car traffic. But consider the spaces between these blocks—the parks that soak up rainwater to prevent floods, shaded paths that cool the air, mitigating urban heat islands. […]
Bax & Company becomes Bax
We’ve refreshed our name, identity and mission to focus on what Bax does best – making ideas happen. We provide changemakers all across Europe with the expertise, strategies and funding they need to advance solutions for society’s most pressing challenges. Bax & Company is now Bax. We’ve refreshed our name, identity, and mission to reflect […]
Bax opens new office in Brussels
Bax has expanded its presence in Belgium with the opening of its Brussels office. Working closely with our teams in Barcelona, Utrecht, Cambridge, and Düsseldorf, the Brussels office will serve Bax’s growing base of Belgian clients and partners with dedicated in-country support. For more than twenty years we’ve helped Belgium’s forward-thinking cities and companies to […]
Bax joins EU’s €60M TEF-Health initiative to drive AI innovations to market
To establish Europe as a frontrunner in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the European Union is investing €220m in world-class Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEFs). Bax will assist the TEF-Health team in supporting SMEs to transform their AI healthcare solutions into market-ready services. Technological advances in AI and robotics are progressing at a staggering rate, with significant […]
Supporting the Netherlands to look after its most important resource
In collaboration with Arcadis and 10 other Dutch partners, Bax is supporting the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to advise on policy and implement projects on topics ranging from water accessibility to resource efficiency. The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is responsible for much more than safe and accessible water. Its […]
Illuminating the paths to green logistics while leaving no one behind
Public authorities have been trialing solutions to decarbonise logistics and transport for years. However, the implementation thus far has often been experimental, without clear frameworks for large-scale rollout. A consequence of bolder and larger-scale policies is that many businesses will lose access to cities. The GLEAM NSR project directly addresses these challenges by supporting cities […]
Putting people at the heart of urban mobility
Active ways of getting from A to B like walking and cycling are low-cost, healthy, and sustainable. But towns and cities are not always designed to promote active travel. To find people-first solutions to the way we move around cities, Bax is supporting eight cities to pilot new solutions as part of the Active Cities […]
How can we make electric mobility more sustainable? Four circular business models for the reverse logistics of EV batteries
This is an extended version of the article originally published on EIT’s Mobility Innovation Marketplace. The electric mobility revolution needs its own ‘fuel’ – millions of batteries made up of tonnes of scarce raw materials. Fortunately, unlike oil, this fuel can be kept in the loop. In this article, Bax Battery Circularity Specialist Piotr Grudzień […]
Towards the harmonisation of lightweight policies at EU level
Originally published in the JEC Composites Magazine. The sustainability impact of lightweight technologies and composites is worth studying, as well as the role played by the European Lightweight Cluster Alliance (ELCA) in coordinating efforts at the EU level. How can an EU-wide policy on lightweight technologies contribute to the EU’s overarching goals, including the European […]
Developing Spain’s first cobalt-free lithium battery for electric vehicles
In a major advancement for electric mobility, our partners in COBRA have developed Spain’s first large-format cobalt-free lithium-ion battery prototype for electric vehicles. This development marks a crucial stride towards producing batteries that are not only environmentally friendlier, but ready to compete in the global market. Why cobalt-free batteries? Cobalt makes batteries work with greater durability and […]
Bax opens new office in Germany
Bax marked the beginning of 2024 by opening its newest office, in Düsseldorf, Germany. Working closely with our teams in Barcelona, Utrecht, and Cambridge, the Düsseldorf office will serve Bax’s growing number of German clients and partners with dedicated in-country support. Whether it’s the clean energy transition, future mobility, or bio-based materials, Germany is a […]
Hamburg is making public transport available everywhere within 5 minutes using autonomous mobility
The City of Hamburg wants public transport to be accessible within 5 minutes everywhere by 2030. This vision requires up to 10,000 new vehicles, which with conventional vehicles would mean 10,000 new drivers. But faced with an ongoing driver shortage, Hamburg is exploring autonomous options to fulfil its ambition for one of the highest-quality public […]
Bax & Company’s Sofia Aivalioti tours frontrunner cities as Lead Expert for Europe’s One Health transition
recently welcomed Bax & Company’s Sofia Aivalioti as the lead expert of One Health 4 Cities. This URBACT project brings together 9 European cities to put the health of people, animals, and the environment at the centre of urban improvement projects. “Following the pandemic, there has been a renewed energy to consider health and wellbeing […]
Healthy Cities team win research award at international Healthy City Design Congress
Bax’s Healthy Cities team were invited to present at the Healthy City Design International Congress, showcasing their work on healthy city planning for more than 500 urban practitioners. The team’s work on the Healthy Cities Generator was awarded Best Research Paper of the Congress. Celebrating human-centred urban design The 2023 Healthy City Design International Congress […]
Designing human habitats healthy enough to prescribe
Bax & Company’s Healthy Cities team has guided a group of expert urban practitioners to understand the power of prescribing green space and socialising for urban wellbeing. Organised by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), the workshop showed planners and health professionals how to use urban design as a first-choice treatment for mental illness […]
SCAPE: Pioneering sustainable mobility with next-gen electric vehicles
In the pursuit of a greener and more sustainable future, the European Union is backing a ground-breaking project that aims to reshape the landscape of electric vehicles (EVs). SCAPE (Switching-Cell-Array-based Power Electronics conversion for future electric vehicles) brings together a dynamic consortium of nine partners, of which Bax is proud to participate, to embark on […]
Citizen movements reclaiming space for bikes in cities
Walk around Barcelona on a Friday morning and you’ll probably come across a bunch of kids on bikes (and other wheels) who take over the city’s streets. Escorted by their parents, volunteers, and sometimes the police, they get to school in a healthier and more sustainable manner. Barcelona has a long history of citizen movements […]
How Barcelona is designing its streets for health and happiness – Ideas That Happen
We are the only animals which build habitats that harm us. Eloi Juvillà, Director of Building and Logistics at the Diputacio de Barcelona, speaking on Ideas That Happen We recently sat down with Eloi Juvillà, Director of Building and Logistics at the Diputació de Barcelona, to learn how Barcelona is rethinking city design for healthy […]
Why Europe’s towns and cities need a long-term roadmap for automated public mobility
Chronic bus driver shortages across Europe are threatening to push mobility transition goals off the road. Recent leaps in automated mobility technology could lead the way to low-marginal cost, high-frequency demand-responsive solutions. But where does this automation fit in a city’s mobility strategy and practical planning? Over the past six years, consultants of Bax spin-off […]
How we deployed autonomous vehicles across Europe in 2022
2022 was the year that Bax spin-off Pendel’s autonomous mobility service hit the road and showed public authorities and site operators what autonomous vehicles can really do. On a sunny morning in May 2022, a bus drove its passengers from the car park of the Port of Barcelona’s headquarters to the doors of the offices. It […]
Did shared mobility pilots reduce CO2 emissions and car usage in the five MOBI-MIX cities?
The Interreg 2Seas project, MOBI-MIX, has shown in the past three and a half years that shared mobility can bring numerous advantages if cities nurture collaboration with private mobility providers and together seek to continuously improve services. Partner cities have experimented with various solutions, such as Mobility as a Service (Antwerp), mobility hubs (Norfolk, Valenciennes), shared cars […]
The Open Source Starter Kit for Public Service Delivery
To help public service providers harness digital solutions to do more with less, Bax & Company has produced the Open Source Starter Kit for Public Service Delivery. The Kit contains three documents to help providers make sense of the value that cost-effective open source solutions can offer their service delivery. The Municipality of Dordrecht developed […]
5 Lessons from European Cities Using Open Source Software to Improve Public Services
Digital innovation is key to improving public services, and relies heavily on supporting softwares… Cities and governments have a responsibility to exploit digital innovation as it represents a key opportunity for meeting citizens’ expectations of next generation public services and helps cities in solving societal challenges. Open collaboration around software development and data sharing can […]
Exploiting the Potential of Open Source Software for Better, Cheaper, Faster Public Services
The world is changing. Transformations of mobility patterns, pressing air quality issues, and growing flood risks present new challenges for European cities. Now, however, thanks to data and digitalisation, cities can tackle these challenges together. Rather than reinventing the wheel or going down the traditional software vendor route with its associated issues, cities can improve local […]
Connectivity, Mobility, and Healthy Cities
The Healthy Cities Network aims to deepen the relationship between health and the urban environment, following a holistic approach by focusing on three overarching topics: greening and landscaping, mobility and connectivity, and lifestyle and sports. To gather expert advice for urban planners on improving health outcomes in cities, we are creating a series of three […]
Halfway Through Healthy Cities: Reflections and Revisions
The Healthy Cities Network has passed its halfway point in the project. To evaluate all we’ve done and look ahead at what’s to come, we’re taking this opportunity to reflect on our progress with the Mid-Term Reflection (MTR) process. by Lead Expert Dr. Sebastiaan van Herk Originally published: URBACT Healthy Cities Though the pandemic slowed […]
Crowd data can improve city services, efficiency, and quality of life. Ghent’s Justine Ottevaere explains why.
Crowd monitoring in cities gained considerable attention with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The City of Ghent, however, was a step ahead, as they were already working with crowd data well before the start of the pandemic in 2020. To understand how and why cities should strategically look at crowd data, we interviewed Justine […]
Share and Share Alike: Replicable Open-Source Solutions for Improved Public Service Delivery
Originally published in IoT For All by Amber De La Haye, Camilla Sandberg, Juliette Tenart and Sebastiaan van Herk Our world is changing. Transformations to mobility patterns, pressing air quality issues and growing flood risks present new challenges for European cities. Now, however, thanks to digitization and data, cities can tackle these challenges together. Rather than reinventing […]
Reclaiming the Public Space for People and Nature
Originally published in ‘Mark and Focus: Building a Smart, Resilient, Nature-Based Future’, by Bax & Company’s Sofia Aivalioti. Cities are fascinating. They are the places where most of us live, work and grow. If cities are not designed for their people, then we are doing something wrong. What makes a city thrive? What makes a city […]
Gender Equal Cities are Healthy Cities
By Sofia Aivalioti, Amber De La Haye, Sebastiaan van Herk, and Marta Rofin Serra. What makes a city a healthy place to live, work, and socialise? And do planning needs differ depending on gender? For International Women’s Day this year we are exploring some key ideas of how urban planning can be used to foster […]
HEALTHY CITIES: Bridging Urban Planning and Health
By Sofia Aivalioti, Sebastiaan van Herk, Marta Rofin Serra and Amber De La Haye. Almost all urban planning policies and actions have an impact on human health. Think busy, polluting roads, unwalkable streets, or access to shops selling fresh fruit and vegetables. By baking health factors into every stage of the planning process, the HEALTHY […]
Improving public-private collaboration in cities
As people develop new ways to navigate their urban environments, Shared Mobility and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) are becoming increasingly popular. Today, many options for these services are available such as carsharing, bike sharing, scooter sharing, autonomous vehicles, ride-hailing, and Mobility as a Service (MaaS). These applications allow users to access and pay for a […]
Making cities healthier, faster
The COVID-19 pandemic that has sent the world into lockdown has also affected, but not derailed, progress towards building healthier cities. In fact, it’s only under confinement that many people truly took stock of their living environment – their homes, streets and neighbourhoods – and appreciated the value of accessible green spaces. It was also […]
4 recommendations for successful blue and green infrastructure in cities
Our climate action project BEGIN (Blue Green Infrastructures through Social Innovation) just published its policy brief, which sets out four recommendations for local governments that aim to construct Blue and Green Infrastructure (BGI) in their cities. Co-authored by Dr. Jannes Willems (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Prof. Richard Ashley (IHE-Delft), Dr. William Veerbeek (IHE-Delft), Ellen Kelder (City of Dordrecht), and our […]
Social innovation: building blue and green infrastructure in cities
In this edition of Beyond Bax, we discuss social innovation as a tool for the implementation of blue and green infrastructure (BGI) with Jannes Willems, assistant professor in urban planning at the University of Amsterdam and former postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Public Administration and Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam. What is social innovation? JW. […]
Wind energy: addressing the challenges of tomorrow, today
In this edition of our Beyond Bax interview series, we return to the topic of wind energy. Speaking to Philippe Spring, structural design engineer at TPI Composites — the largest US-based independent manufacturer of composite wind blades — we cover the main challenges regarding the wind industry’s waste, and ways to address them using available […]
Preparing for a crisis and building healthier cities
Modern medicine has managed to either wipe out or control the infectious diseases that plagued humankind for so long. But when a new strain appears, such as COVID-19, it becomes clear that we are not always prepared to fully comprehend the threat level and respond accordingly. How can we better prepare our cities and people […]
Innovative Procurement: insights from Glasgow City Council
Innovative procurement is a much more flexible and open process compared to traditional procurement. Instead of buying a specific product or service the local authority is given an opportunity to discover new approaches. It’s allowing them to have a greater influence on products and find solutions that are catered to solving particular challenges, but will […]
Green public spaces for health and well-being
by Sebastiaan van Herk, Sofia Aivalioti, Karlien Sambell, Gregor Giannella & Kees Joosten Cities are starting to apply more nature-based solutions (NBS), aiming to enhance health, well-being, climate resilience and biodiversity. Urban planners and researchers are advancing in designing and valuing NBS, but with limited understanding of the actual positive impacts. NBS can mean much […]
How can design-thinking connect European research to business?
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]On 25 January 2018, Bax & Company welcomed guests, from across Europe, to take part in the workshop Future of Online Knowledge Marketplace to improve University and Industry interaction in very tangible ways. To address the ‘pains and gains’ faced by online tech-transfer and brokerage platforms such as Innoget – an online platform, designed to […]
City2City Learning: The Climate Resilience Accelerator
Cities around the world are facing unprecedented challenges as they deal with climate change, rapid urbanisation, increasing disaster risks, volatile economies and environmental pressures; now climate resilience is a global priority. In order to accelerate progress towards climate resilience, collaboration, cooperation and coordination between cities is vital. To do so, Bax & Company partner Dr. […]
How can we facilitate coordination and coherence to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience?
A UN Environment report, published on 25 January 2018, highlights the need for “unprecedented levels of coordination and coherence” in order to face twenty-first century challenges of global warming, increased carbon emissions and weather-related disasters. The report sums up the views of experts who met in Bonn, Germany, and explains the need for an integrated […]
Codeveloping the first large-scale peer-to-peer energy trading market in the Netherlands
We are involved in the creation of the first ever large-scale peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading market in the Netherlands. This sustainable, customer-centric concept, is based on novel blockchain technology, which enables prosumers to not only produce their own energy, but to trade it with others. It is one of the first operational examples for Europe’s […]
UN Climate Summit COP23 – Shining the Spotlight on Climate Adaptation
Presided over by the government of Fiji, the UN Climate Summit and Twenty-third Conference of the Parties (COP 23) was held in Bonn, Germany, this year. Bax & Company’s managing partner and director of the Climate & Environment cluster, Sebastiaan van Herk, travelled to Bonn, with a team of consultants, to launch the Global Centre […]
Bax & Company present at the Smart City Expo World Congress
On Tuesday 14 November, over 700 cities from 120 countries gathered in Barcelona for The Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) to exchange knowledge on how they can make their cities smarter and more efficient. Bax & Company consultant, Claus Mullie, presented at the SCEWC, demonstrating how we help cities learn how to manage data-driven […]
COP23 official side event: What is excellence in climate adaptation?
Excellence in Climate Adaptation Many governments, NGO’s, businesses, financial organisations, knowledge institutes, and international organisations are engaged in climate adaptation projects. They face similar challenges but fail to connect adequately to each other to share knowledge and best practices. To become more effective in climate adaptation, we need to create a common understanding of what […]
Collaborative Contributions to Reducing Carbon Emissions
At Bax & Company, we’re passionate about collaborating with cities, OEMs, research institutes, universities and SMEs on high impact, Energy Efficiency projects across Europe. We’ve contributed to the reduction of Europe’s CO2 emissions, by facilitating the lightweighting of vehicles, green property renovations, recovering peatlands and developing innovative energy solutions for cars, homes and cities. Some […]
European Automotive OEMs challenge innovators to improve efficiency
Six leading European carmakers (Daimler, Volvo, Opel, Toyota, Volkswagen and Centro Ricerche FCA), four suppliers (Thyssenkrupp, Novelis, Batz, Benteler) and eight knowledge partners (Swerea, Inspire, Fraunhofer LBF, RWTH-IKA, KIT-IPEK, University of Florence, Bax & Company, Ricardo) have joined forces to form the ALLIANCE project, aimed at addressing the need for more efficient vehicles. They have […]
Can sustainability be included into property valuations?
In real estate transactions, valuers play a key role; especially, in providing independent opinions on the value of properties, providing confidence to buyers, sellers or lenders. In fact, any person or business that owns, develops or occupies a property relies on a valuer’s expertise in order to make informed decisions. A valuer can provide formal […]
Lightweight ALLIANCE at global automotive event
Bax & Company attended the Aachen Body Engineering Days 2017 to represent the ALLIANCE Project. Bax & Company joined some of the world’s most notable OEMs, including BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls Royce, Porsche, Mazda and Opel, for the Aachen Body Engineering Days; to promote the ALLIANCE Lightweight Open Innovation Challenge, ahead of its launch […]
Developing Collaborative Circular Solutions for Peatland CO2 Emissions
Globally, peatlands are responsible for almost double the amount of Carbon Dioxide emissions than aviation, according to a recent Wetlands International report. Covering 3% of the earth’s surface, estimates are that global peatlands store more than 1.4 trillion tons of carbon. Following Indonesia, the EU is the world’s second largest source of carbon dioxide emissions […]
Can Micro Energy Trading create future markets and save energy and money?
What is Micro Energy Trading? Micro Energy Trading is the buying and selling of electricity on a very local level. By combining a smart grid with renewable energy generation, landlords, householders and businesses are able to become prosumers and take ownership of their energy production and distribution. Some families with solar panels are generating more electricity […]
Over 180 Cleantech SMEs Connect to Large Corporations in One Year
Over the past year, SCALE-UP Meet the Buyer events have given innovative SMEs the opportunity to present their cleantech solutions to large corporate buyers such as Siemens, Skanska, Anglian Water and the British Antarctic Survey. SCALE-UP partners have organised 10 Meet the Buyer events in the UK, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. These events have […]
Sustainability, an important factor in real estate valuation assessments?
RICS, the world’s leading professional body for valuers, has released an update of global standards, the so-called Red Book. The RICS standards are used by investors, mortgage lenders, portfolio managers and the public sector across the world to make valuations consistent. The new version of the Red Book, now available for public consultation, highlights the increasing […]
Low Carbon land use practices connect Europe
One third of CO2 emissions worldwide are caused by agriculture, which when put into perspective is greater than all land, air, and sea transport combined. Therefore reducing agriculture’s carbon footprint is essential to countering climate change. New land use practices such as rewetting drained peatland at specific sites across Europe will transform high emitting lands […]
Are you following Open Innovation Best Practices?
Open Innovation best practices can inspire you, make you re-think your work, and ultimately improve your business. Innovation challenges the ‘business as usual’ mindset and it is under these circumstances when best practices are essential. However, best practices are not easy to find. This is why in Science2Society we are making sure that everyone can […]
The emerging complexity of climate adaptation governance in a globalizing world
The International Scientific Workshop “The emerging complexity of climate adaptation governance in a globalizing world”, organized by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is going on this week in Stockholm. The aim of this event is to explore governance of climate adaptation beyond the national level. Participants will discuss new forms of adaptation governance, its consequences […]
City to City learning to cater city needs to climate adaptation
Today, Prof. Chris Zevenbergen (UNESCO-IHE) will be at the Dresden Nexus Conference to present results of a preliminary study on City to City learning conducted together with Bax & Company partner Dr. Sebastiaan van Herk and Wolfgang Haupt (Gran Sasso Science Institute, L’Aquila). The full abstract is available here. During the Dresden Nexus Conference, policy- […]
Global Centre of Excellence on Climate Adaptation: accelerating climate adaptation and resilience
In the build-up to COP23 November this year, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) organises the ‘Bonn Climate Change Conference‘ from 8 to 18 May 2017 in Bonn, Germany. The conference focuses on the Paris Agreement work programme, in particular on measures and progress on climate mitigation and adaptation. Next Monday 15th […]
Major milestone reached in automotive lightweighting research
September 2016 marked a major milestone in automotive lightweighting research in Europe, with the completion of the 4-year R&D work of the EU-funded ALIVE and ENLIGHT projects (FP7 programme). At the same moment, in October, the new large-scale H2020 project “ALLIANCE” launched which will carry on the advancement of innovation in this field for the […]
City-to-city learning on disaster risk reduction; call for proposals.
On 30 November the European Commission, UNISDR and UN Habitat launched a call for proposals via the Resilience City Connect market place (RCC). FYI, below the communication from Making Cities Resilient Campaign. The city-to-city learning exchange approach and service were developed and tested by UNESCO-IHE and Bax & Company (see brochure here) and we have been involved in […]
Create Blue-Green Cities through Social Innovation and International Collaboration
Blue and Green Infrastructures (BGI) comprises an approach to climate resilience for cities that mimics nature’s potential to deal with flooding. BGI supports existing grey infrastructure to cope with extreme weather events (reducing flood risk by 30%) and improves urban liveability. Research (TEEB, 2015) shows that BGI benefits outweigh costs by a factor of 2 […]
Innovation session on Smart Cities through data re-use
Bax & Company organised an open innovation event in the inspiring DataLab Amsterdam, dedicated at facilitating peer-learning among 9 large and mid-sized cities in Northern Europe on Smart City concepts (e.g. Smart Mobility, Smart Parking etc.) to improve cities’ public service delivery. The cities had two constructive days to actively share ideas, learn from each other, […]
Lenders and investors start to value energy efficiency in housing – perhaps more so than owners and tenants do
As part of the REVALUE project, Maastricht University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology brought together lenders, investors and researchers to discuss policies and trends in investments in green housing. A picture emerged of careful investors paying more attention to energy quality of their stock than the actual tenants do. While practitioners confirm energy efficient […]
Creating a Global Center of Excellence on Adaptation; preparing COP22 and Climate summit
As requested by UNEP and on behalf of the Dutch government, Bax is supporting the creation of a Global Center of Excellence on Adaptation. State of the Art knowledge is to be deployed effectively to help the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through Creation Action (upstream) and Managing Direction (downstream), developing and financing climate […]
The impact of 3D printing
3D printing is a transversal technology that presents new possibilities, constitutes a potential enabler for new business and productive models and has the potential to change and often disrupt the status quo in many different industries. 3D printing is flexible, versatile, has the potential to transform logistics and enables mass-customisation of products – but companies […]
How can Europe take the global lead in automotive composites: a vision by Suschem’s stakeholders?
The market for global automotive composite materials is forecast to reach €3.72 billion by 2017. This represents a real opportunity for the European chemical and composites industry. The automotive industry faces a new challenge aligning material properties, product design and production or assembly processes – especially in larger volume production series vehicles – but could […]
A new model for innovation through Open Data in cities
Over the last decade, recognising the innovation potential, we have established a strong track record in various Smart sectors such as energy efficiency, city resilience and industry. Innovation within these themes has pushed them closer to become mainstream. In the last three years, authorities at all levels realise that data is a key asset and […]
RIS3 communities: a big opportunity for R&D in Catalonia
RIS3CAT strategy: context Last March 2014, the Catalan government presented in Brussels the RIS3CAT: the Research and Innovation Strategy for the Smart Specialisation of Catalonia. This document aims at identifying top priority areas of economic activity for the region, a prerequisite set by the European Commission to the regions for receiving the ERDF funds (assessed […]