News

Opening Cradle to Cradle® ExpoLAB Venlo

juli 2012

The C2C® ExpoLab Foundation officially opened the first Cradle to Cradle® (C2C) ExpoLAB in the Netherlands on 21 June in the Frederik Hendrik Barracks in Venlo. In conjunction with the Cradle to Cradle^® business community and the municipality of Venlo the Foundation has created a Cradle to Cradle^® exhibition space, a Cradle to Cradle^® products library and an office environment and presentation room inspired by C2C. The ExpoLab will eventually be housed in the Innovatoren (Innovation Tower) at Venlo Greenpark.

By implementing the Cradle to Cradle^® principles in projects and companies, C2C® ExpoLAB brings together the knowledge and experience gained through research and education at its Cradle to Cradle^® knowledge and documentation centre. C2C® ExpoLAB allows interested parties free access to this knowledge.

The objective is to provide an easily accessible platform for introducing business partners, knowledge institutes and projects to each other enabling them to share as much knowledge as possible. Municipal Executive Councillor Stephan Satijn (Economic Affairs and C2C) opened the ExpoLAB at the Frederik Hendrik Barracks. Councillor Satijn: "Sustainability is passé as a topic in Venlo, because it only keeps you from doing things less badly. Instead we focus on doing the right things, on innovation in production development and on adding value; that is what Cradle to Cradle^® is all about. The ExpoLAB is the latest step in developing a true Cradle to Cradle^® knowledge centre in Venlo. I hope that companies in the region, in the Netherlands and ultimately in the whole world will join in."

"We expect the ExpoLAB to develop within the foreseeable future into the world’s leading centre for Cradle to Cradle^® developments and Cradle to Cradle^® products," explains Roy Vercoulen (Managing Director of the C2C® ExpoLAB Foundation. "We invite all companies to send us their Cradle to Cradle^® products. All the products in our library carry a description of the product’s added value for the user in terms of materials, functionalities and recycling possibilities. A more detailed description can be found on the C2C® ExpoLAB website. The site provides international access to the library, thus enabling companies to display their Cradle to Cradle^® products and making it much easier for interested parties to find products with the functionalities they are seeking. This saves a lot of time, plus it stimulates the sale of these products."

---

News archive:

• Venlo proud of first Cradle to Cradle^® Product Certification Training centre
• Cradle to Cradle Certified(CM) Product Program Moves to Independence, Transparency
• Interview with C2C®-Expolab on Duurzaagebouwd.nl
• Cradle to Cradle^®-concepts new city hall Venlo
• Venlo called 'sustainable hub for innovation' in The Guardian
• Open Masterclass Sustainability
• Positive attention in Dutch media for successful opening of C2C® ExpoLAB
• Opening Cradle to Cradle® ExpoLAB Venlo
• Important steps
• Lecture on Implementing the Cradle to Cradle^®-concept in the building process
• Chair of Learning at Twente University for Cradle to Cradle^® Master-degree education in the region
• Interview in der Freitag, a German newspaper (July 2011)
• Interview in Dagblad de Limburger (March 2011)
• Venlo and C2C® ExpoLAB are positive examples according Dutch magazine HP De Tijd
• C2C® ExpoLAB and Venlo participate in major European project
• Interview in forum CSR international magazine (January 2011)