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Join us at Utrecht City Hall on 8 February 2024

Ineke Malsch • 2 januari 2024

We will ask the municipal council to facilitate organic food for all

Together with students and volunteers, we visit people with a small budget in places where they feel at home and ask them how they want to live sustainably themselves. We then look for partners to make those wishes possible in co-creation with the target group. Social justice and environmental protection go hand in hand. This idea was conceived during the Sustainable Utrecht 2030 workshop on 9 October 2021 in the Dominicuskerk in Utrecht. The initiative is gaining increased support. This is visible through two awards awarded: the third prize of the Mantel of Sint Maarten 2022, and one of the three U Awards of Utrecht 4 Global Goals in 2023.

Read more about our achievements in this newsletter.


Are you inspired?

With your help, we can take new steps forward, such as:

 

Organic food for everyone

Building on the pilot with subsidised organic groceries in Lunetten, we will present a petition on organic food for the whole of Utrecht to the city council committee on Energy (transition), Sustainability, Real Estate and Housing on 8 February 2024. We are also looking for partners for a follow-up in Lunetten, and for similar trials in one or two other districts.

Mobility poverty

The report on mobility poverty among students at HAS University of Applied Sciences will be published in February. After that, we want to start follow-up projects, for which we are looking for partners. One possibility is to conduct a survey or conversations about the mobility wishes of residents of Sterrenwijk when the community centre Sterrenzicht will be renovated and activities will be held elsewhere.

Communication

In 2024, we will further develop the communication plan for Sustainable Utrecht 2030, to increase the reach and impact of the initiative within and outside Utrecht. In doing so, we emphasise concrete results that have already been achieved, for example from the trial with subsidised organic groceries. We also put concrete questions for follow-up projects by students and other partners in the spotlight more strongly.

Energy poverty

If we can find the right partners, we want to try to get an exemplary project started in a neighborhood in 2024 in which volunteer maintenance people and landlords of social housing work together to make these homes more sustainable in consultation with residents.

New Topics

Young people and people with a migrant background need concrete solutions and information to separate waste, shop packaging-free, fly less and consume less. In consultation with partners, we are trying to meet this in 2024.

Please contact us if you would like to help: ineke@duurzaamutrecht2030.nl

door Ineke Malsch 19 december 2024
Laat u inspireren door dit voorproefje van ' Duurzaam eten met smalle beurs in Lunetten '
door Noor Ul Ain 12 december 2024
On 29-11-24, “ Duurzaam Utrecht 2030 ” held a workshop to discuss the results of the Trial with “ Subsidized Organic Groceries” in Kanaleneiland. The event brought together participants from diverse backgrounds to engage in an open conversation about future steps for local residents of Kanaleneiland. The trial's outcomes were presented, and a range of suggestions were explored, all of which are detailed in the report available here . Among the various suggestions, one stood out as particularly promising: the use of the U-Pas to purchase organic food. Many workshop participants supported this idea, emphasizing that enabling U-Pas credit for organic groceries could make these products more accessible to low-income residents. This suggestion has been forwarded to city council member Jantine Zwinkels in the hope it will be discussed further in upcoming council meetings. The workshop also touched on other creative ideas. For example, some participants highlighted the potential of incorporating halal food options, which are already relatively affordable and widely accessible to the Muslim population in the Netherlands. Students contributed suggestions focusing on reducing food waste while promoting organic consumption. They proposed initiatives to distribute farmers' leftover produce or imperfectly shaped fruits and vegetables, which could provide low-income students with affordable organic options while lessening the burden on farmers. The workshop showed how important it is to include vulnerable groups in these discussions. The trial made the most vulnerable feel safe enough to join the event and participate, which in itself is a successful result. Their presence added valuable perspectives and helped highlight the challenges they face, showing that they felt included and were not ashamed to discuss their own issues. It was clear that when people feel included and listened to, they are more willing to participate and help find solutions. This event gave a voice to those who are often left out, creating a space where everyone could contribute. If policymakers could take the opinions of the most vulnerable in open discussions like these workshops, they could better understand how important the role of organizations like “ Duurzaam Utrecht 2030 ” is in bridging the gap between top-down and bottom-up approaches. These dialogues provide an essential platform for collaboration and mutual understanding, paving the way for meaningful and inclusive change.
door Ineke Malsch 5 december 2024
Ontmoet ons 10 december bij LIFT! 2024 pitchavond in Leidsche Rijn
door Ineke Malsch 2 december 2024
“Sta toe dat U-pashouders met hun tegoed ook biologisch eten mogen betalen.” Dit is de opvallendste wens van bewoners van Kanaleneiland die deelnamen aan onze proef met biologische boodschappen . Om hieraan te voldoen, moet de gemeente Utrecht de regels veranderen, want nu mag het U-pastegoed niet voor eten en drinken gebruikt worden. Noor Ul Ain presenteerde vrijdag 29 november haar rapport met deze en andere aanbevelingen, tijdens de workshop die studenten Event Management van de Hogeschool Utrecht voor Duurzaam Utrecht 2030 organiseerden. Hebt u het gemist? Geen nood, in de decembernieuwsbrief leest u alles over deze en andere activiteiten die we afgelopen maand organiseerden.
door Daniella Mires Valdez 26 november 2024
Winter is approaching and the cold easily becomes unbearable for all types of international students In the University College Utrecht campus. Within the campus, heating is included in costs and is not regulated by usage– which leads students to often abuse of heating without consciousness. EcologiCo is a student committee focused on bringing awareness to sustainable practices, creating events, and engaging with students in regard to climate action. I am part of this board, apart from interning here at Duurzaam Utrecht 2030 , and we received some training together last week alongside Energie U representatives. We will be insulating heaters within campus buildings, which are getting older and do not have the most effective insulation. We wish to create more effective heating to reduce the intensity of heater settings and ensure that fewer resources are used. This is a first step towards a bigger insulation campaign, all in the hope of lowering gas consumption. Until now, campus fees (rent and facility costs) have increased yearly due to heating behavioral patterns within a gas crisis, leading to an expensive outcome. Students often blast their heaters at setting 5 without closing all windows or use the faucet’s hot water every time they wash dishes and do not use the kettle. We want to tackle these behavioral choices further by creating a conscience around resource usage. Here are some pictures from the training, we learned how to use two types of aluminum insulation foil applications. One that is put directly on the heater’s backside, and one that is on the wall directly. The point of this is to reduce the amount of heat that is lost towards the outside wall, which in old buildings such as the ones we have on campus is often the case.
door Noor Ul Ain 25 november 2024
Het Knooppunt's tasting night
door Ineke Malsch 22 november 2024
Brainstorm Energy saving at UCU campus on 5 November 2024
door Ineke Malsch 15 november 2024
Doe mee met onze gratis workshops in buurtcentrum Hart van Hoograven
door Ineke Malsch 12 november 2024
Buurtbewoners proefden elkaars recepten voor het kookboek ‘Duurzaam eten met smalle beurs in Lunetten’
door Ineke Malsch 25 oktober 2024
Indrukken van de Dragon's Den op Het Nieuwe Lyceum in Bilthoven, 18 oktober 2024
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