New Dutch: A Focus on the Dutch Future
The Netherlands boasts many innovative fields in which it's the world leader, or the leader in Europe. You can imagine ASML's advanced chip technology, advanced quantum developments in Leiden and Delft, data-driven agricultural innovations, rapid developments in renewable energy and creative Dutch design. These are just a few examples, but there are many more. Despite this, if you ask any search engine about the Netherlands, it will show you windmills, tulips, and canals. The traditional Dutch image continues to persist, despite recent developments. So, let's talk about new icons, heroes and masters. Let's talk New Dutch.
New Dutch seeks to tell tourists and business visitors about the contemporary Netherlands: an innovative nation which continues to grow, to develop. Naturally, the innovations of yesteryear are stunning, ground-breaking for the time. But the Dutch past doesn't reflect the Dutch present, nor the future. A new image has to be made, which breaks away from the traditional narrative.
Leiden continues to innovate, with many of its institutions heading the charge in trying to develop a more advanced future. The Leiden Bio Science Park and its organisations and companies are developing cutting-edge innovations in the life sciences and health fields, endeavouring to safeguard our future health. Naturalis' ARISE project is seeking to identify and map any multi-cellular Dutch species, and to catalogue them in an interconnected database. Leiden University has collaborated with ESA and NASA in order to engineer the James Webb Space Telescope, which continues to take stunning pictures from across the universe. Similarly, New Dutch is attempting to look forward into the future, to try and highlight the Dutch innovations which will make large changes happen in science.
Campuses dedicated to innovation across the country are conducting ground-breaking research on intricate topics like energy transition, AI, quantum technology and food scarcity. Startups and citizen initiatives are transitioning to a low-carbon or zero-carbon economy, hoping to make the planet a more livable space for all.
The Netherlands has so much more to offer than tulips, clogs and windmills. The country has a new story to tell. In the Netherlands, traditional icons and high-tech innovations can coexist. Together, they will complete the story.