On the 16th of June, Leeuwarden had an exciting atmosphere buzzing with activity.
Over a hundred people, ranging from engineering students to art students, and budding entrepreneurs to experts, all gathered at the Blokhuispoort for the kick-off of DORP 2018.
What is DORP?
DORP is a temporary mini society where we can freely test innovations that can be used in society for a circular economy. It’s a place where all kinds of wild ideas for innovation can get the space to be worked out, developed and tested. Here, artists, entrepreneurs, students and experts work together to make these ideas a reality.
DORP is a place where all kinds of wild ideas for innovation can get the space to be worked out, developed and tested."
The kick-off event in Leeuwarden gave us a taste of what is to come at DORP this year, which will start one week prior to the festival Welcome to the Village in July.
The event started with a cheery welcome, where the participants who came from all around the country got a chance to get to know each other. Following this, there was a challenge market where different innovators pitched their challenges to all the participants.
A sneak-peak into the projects
This year’s projects have tackled a variety of themes, from plant based water filtration to electrical cars for kids, there is an interesting challenge for everyone.
The snackbar of the future
Welcome to the Village declared the snackbar of the future as its main theme in 2018.
In the Netherlands, we love our snacks. From patat, bitterballen, kroketten to nacho’s, all kinds of snack that taste good, are cheap and just done within a few minutes. But what we often see, cheap and fast comes with a price - in this case our health and the negative impact on the environment. Unhealthy food causes diseases like obesitas, heart diseases and diabetes. Livestock farming for meat and diary is responsible for 14,5% of the total worldwide CO2 emissions.
To find solutions to the challenges provided by traditional snacks, DORP will tackle this with innovative ideas. The perfect place to try out new kind of snacks, is during a festival, and in order to develop new snacks that are sustainable and healthy, DORP will have a so called snackathon: a challenge in which several teams develop 5 sustainable snacks projects that will immediately be tested during the festival, which include a variety of vegan snacks, and even food made out of insects!
Proper Plates
The project of Proper Plates, organised by Comp-a-Tent, aims to eliminate disposable serveware at events. Currently, festivals and events use massive amounts of single-use plastics, and other forms of serveware that leads to enormous amounts of waste being generated.
At DORP, the goal of project team Proper Plates is to find what extra value is generated for the consumer by implementing an alternative to single use serveware, and how can it be monetised into a sustainable business model.
This will then be tested at the Welcome to the Village Festival, with different consumer hypotheses and how to put the logistics to test.
Bringing Minds Together
The afternoon session of the DORP kick-off day started with the formation of the project teams where people with different backgrounds formed groups to tackle the challenges that interested them the most.
From this point on, the afternoon ensued with a productive exchange of ideas and brainstorming. Mediated by Brainfuel and TU Delft, all project teams created a layout and a set of goals for DORP 2018.
The new collaborations had a very productive session, and the day concluded with much enthusiasm, inspiration and many new ideas to work out over the following weeks!
The new collaborations had a very productive session, and the day concluded with much enthusiasm, inspiration and many new ideas to work out!"
Experience DORP yourself: book a DORP tour!
DORP starts one week prior to the festival Welcome to the Village in July, and is located in the Groene Ster in Leeuwarden. It is a place where innovation, music, art and fun come together, and where people unite to work on one goal: contribute to a sustainable society. During this time, all the various projects will be developed and tested.
Curious about all these project?
Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Sustainability is one of the partner organisations of DORP, and with us, it is now possible to visit DORP on 20 July.
Programme DORP tour Friday 20 July
15:00 - 15:30 uur | Doors open & registration
15:30 - 17:15 uur | Welcome and guided tour
16:45 - 17:15 uur | Welcome to The Village opening ceremony
17:15 - 18:00 uur | Drinks!
