Climate Innovations Study Tour June 12 – 18, 2016 June 3, 2016
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Climate Innovations Study Tour June 12 – 18, 2016 June 3, 2016 Dear Colleague, We are honored that you are able to join us for the GRC’s Climate Innovations Study Tour from June 12 to 18. The intent of this trip is is to bring together business, institutional, and civic leaders in Boston and the Commonwealth to learn about cutting- edge European practices for achieving carbon neutrality, and long-term climate preparedness. Our goal is to apply what we learn on this trip to the Boston and Massachusetts context as we make climate action part of our regular governance and business practices. Our trip will take us from the Netherlands to Denmark and to Sweden. In The Netherlands, we will focus on adaptation and resiliency strategies undertaken by the City of Amsterdam and the City of Rotterdam. We will meet with the City of Boston’s Dutch partners to learn about their climate action planning, tour two climate adapted neighborhoods, explore institutional capacity-building via public-private partnerships, and see an example of a big infrastructure approach to adaptation. In Copenhagen, our focus will shift to climate mitigation, and we will learn firsthand about the Danish approach to developing renewable energy nationally and at the city level. Our group will learn about district heating and cooling strategies and tour one of Europe’s first carbon neutral districts in Malmö, Sweden. Our trip coincides with the release of Climate Ready Boston’s preliminary vulnerability assessment findings, which identify the key climate impacts, vulnerabilities, and potential strategies for resilience in Boston. The GRC has also reached the next phase in its ongoing advisory support to the City of Boston in developing strategies to achieve its deep decarbonization goals (80% emissions reduction by 2050) through the Carbon Free Boston initiative. And at the state level, the government is aiming to reduce GHG emissions 25% by 2020 as set by the Global Warming Solutions Act. To meet these ambitious goals and to continue to lead, we need to begin institutionalizing climate planning and action into the everyday work of our government and its private and non- profit sector partners. This tour will help us understand how some of our European colleagues have achieved these ends. We have an ambitious agenda and are excited to have you lend your valuable time and expertise to this trip. Please take some time to read through the information in this packet, which includes a detailed daily agenda with speaker biographies, city profiles, a summary of the Massachusetts Climate Plan, and a briefing on Climate Ready Boston. We look forward to your participation and to your continued leadership on climate issues in Boston and the Commonwealth. Sincerely, John Cleveland Executive Director, Boston Green Ribbon Commission 2 Table of Contents Detailed Itinerary ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…… 4 Day 1: Sunday, June 12 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5 Day 2: Monday, June 13 ………………………………………………………………………………………………….10 Day 3: Tuesday, June 14 ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 20 Day 4: Wednesday, June 15 ………………………………………………………………………………………….… 27 Day 5, Thursday, June 16 ……………………………………………………………………………………………..… 32 Day 6, Friday, June 17 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 40 Day 7, Saturday, June 18 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 47 City Profiles ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…. 48 Amsterdam , Netherlands ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 49 Rotterdam, Netherlands ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 54 Copenhagen, Denmark .…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 59 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. …………………………………………………………………………………………… 64 City Climate Context Comparison …………………………………………………………………………………………… 68 Climate Ready Boston Overview …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 70 Summary of Massachusetts Clean Energy Climate Plan Update……………………….……………………… 72 3 Detailed Itinerary 4 DAY 1: Sunday, June 12 | Arrival in Amsterdam Detailed Inerary Start End Acvity Notes You will transferred to the Renaissance Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel Amsterdam Hotel. Your room will be Address: KaFengat 1 Amsterdam 1012 SZ ready for check-in upon arrival. 12:00 PM 1:00 PM Oponal lunch at hotel Restaurant Scossa, Renaissance Hotel 1:00 PM 3:30 PM Oponal Walking Tour See descripons in following secon -or- Oponal tour of FabCity 3:30 PM 3:50 PM Return to hotel 3:50 PM 4:00 PM Gather in lobby ‣ Business casual are 4:00 PM 5:00 PM Join Canal Tour led by City of Embark at Herenmark (approx. 350 metres/ Amsterdam Spaal Planning staff 4 minute walk) from the Renaissance Hotel: hps://Goo.gl/maps/Ssd5ndnGD562 5:00 PM 6:30 PM Recepon at Tracy Metz’s residence, Address: Herengracht 528 the Director of the John Adams Instute, with an introductory briefing on the tour and overview of the Netherlands/Amsterdam climate planning context 6:45 PM 8:30 PM Welcome Dinner at Herengracht Herengracht Restaurant Restaurant Address: Herengracht 435, 1017 BR, Amsterdam; Tel: +31 (0) 20 616 24 82 8:30 PM 9:00 PM Return to hotel ‣ Have bags packed for early check out in the morning Overnight Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel Amsterdam Renaissance Hotel Address: KaFengat 1 Amsterdam 1012 SZ Page 1 5 Sunday, June 12: Amsterdam Optional Tours: 1:00pm to 3:30pm Option 1: Walking Tour Amsterdam is the Netherlands’ capital, known for its artistic heritage, elaborate canal system and narrow houses with gabled facades, legacies of the city’s 17th-century Golden Age. With an expert local guide, this walking tour will begin outside the Renaissance Hotel and take the short stroll to Dam Square and the Royal Palace. Built between 1648-1665 as the City Hall, when it was complete this was the largest secular building in the world (it became a Royal Palace in 1808 when King Louis Napoleon arrived and decided to make the City Hall his personal residence). You will then visit the Begijnhof Courtyard, an oasis of 17th century alms houses hidden in the heart of the city. Onwards to the Art Market on Het Spui followed by a visit to the only floating flower market in the world and one of the most fragrant places in Amsterdam. Here you will enjoy a cheese tasting before walking via the Jordaan area and continuing on along the Canal Ring district past Anne Frank’s House where she wrote her celebrated diary during the Second World War. From here it is approximately a ten-minute walk back to your hotel. Option 2: Fab City Tour Hosted by Carter Craft, a second option is to visit “FabCity”. FabCity is a campus created at the head of Amsterdam’s Java Island in the city’s Eastern Harbour District. Conceived as a green, self-sustaining city, FabCity is home to approximately 50 innovative pavilions, installations and prototypes that are meant to comprise a self-sufficient society where young people – students, artists and professionals – work, create, research and come up with solutions for everyday city problems. Program themes include Smart Living and Working, Data and Commons, and Mobility and Transport. Over 400 young professionals have created installations that include sustainable building design and construction as well as green infrastructure. The group will depart from the lobby of the hotel for this tour. Amsterdam Canal Tour: 4:00pm to 5:00pm The first official activity of the trip will begin with a guided boat tour through the Amsterdam canals. Paulien Hartog, Strategic Advisor at Waternet, Edgar Westerhof, National Director for Flood Risk and Resiliency at ARCADIS North America, and Carter Craft, Senior Economic Officer for the Dutch Consulate in New York, will help to lead the tour. They will provide highlights along the route related to Amsterdam’s history, architecture, and climate planning strategy. Welcome Reception at the John Adams Institute: 5:00pm to 6:30pm Tracy Metz, a native of California, is a journalist and author based in the Netherlands. She is the Director of the John Adams Institute, the center of American culture in the Netherlands. She recently authored Sweet & Salt: Water and the Dutch, a book on the extreme makeover of the Travel, Meals and Hotel Check-ins | Meetings and Discussions | Site Visits | Cultural & Social Activities 6 Dutch landscape to accommodate a new relationship with water. Ms. Metz also hosts her own monthly live talk show, Stadsleven (City Life), on living in cities. Ms. Metz invites will be hosting a private reception for the delegation at her residence. Amos Hostetter will welcome the delegation and John Cleveland will provide an introduction and overview of the Climate Innovations Study tour. The U.S. Consul General to Amsterdam, David McCawley, will join as a guest, as will Paulien Hartog, Edgar Westerhof, and Carter Craft. Travel, Meals and Hotel Check-ins | Meetings and Discussions | Site Visits | Cultural & Social Activities 7 Bios of Speakers and Guests Sunday, June 12 Carter Craft Carter Craft is an urban planner with close to twenty years of experience specializing in waterfront and transportation issues. He currently serves as a Senior Economic Officer for Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York City. Mr. Craft has served as a consultant to a wide range of public and private organizations, working with many waterfront stakeholders and decision-makers help to develop potential solutions that are both practical and progressive. Mr. Craft has served as the director of Long Range Planning for the New York Harbor Foundation and helped to create the “Harbor Loop” ferry plan for the East River and the Hudson- Harbor Greenway Plan that traces