We are thrilled to announce that the kick-off meeting for our ambitious ‘Groeien met Groen Staal’ Programme, held on May 22 and 23, 2024, was a resounding success! The two-day meeting set a strong foundation for what promises to be a transformative journey for the entire steel sector towards sustainability and circularity, while staying a strong international competitor. 120 representatives from all 32 academic and industry partners engaged in fruitful discussions to present their ambitions related to the 45 demonstration and knowledge development projects, and in what way they will make an impact. To be able to make the transition towards a green steel sector, the programme focusses on developing knowledge and building demonstrators in five themes: system change, production of steel, processing of steel, use of steel in consumer and industry products and recovery of steel. The programme, the five themes, and the individual projects have organised their goals and ambitions in terms of the theory of change. The Theory of Change contains the pathways along which the programme will impact and generate climate and economic profit, deliver human capital, and aid the Netherlands in achieving resource autonomy. During the first day of the kick-off meeting, each theme manager presented an overview of their plans within their theme, while acknowledging crossover dependencies with developments in other themes. The second day was fully interactive, with workshops per theme and ample time for theme members within and across themes to engage with each other and align activities. The successful kick-off meeting has energized all consortium members, and fostered collaboration and set a positive tone for the ‘Groeien met Groen Staal’ Programme. The collective energy and commitment of all partners involved are the pillars that will drive this programme towards success.
The Groeien met Groen Staal programme aims to make the Dutch steel sector more sustainable by 2030, with the ultimate goal of a circular, completely CO2-neutral and high-tech steel sector in 2050. The Netherlands is thus developing a technological lead over other countries. This means that as a country we are not only working on the climate objectives, but the steel sector is also becoming more economically competitive. The programme aims to have an impact on:
- Climate
- Economy
- Human capital
- Resource Autonomy
The eight-year programme received a grant of more than €100M from the Dutch National Growth Fund.
