The kick-off meeting for our ambitious 'Growth with Green Steel' Program, held on May 22 and 23, 2024, was a resounding success! The two-day meeting laid a strong foundation for the intended, far-reaching transformation of the entire steel sector into a sector characterized by sustainability and circularity, while maintaining international competitiveness.
120 representatives from all 32 academic and industrial partners held fruitful discussions to present their ambitions regarding the 45 demonstration and knowledge development projects, and what impact these projects will have.
Five themes
To make the transition to a green steel sector, the program focuses on developing knowledge and building demonstrators in five themes: system change, steel production, steel processing, use of steel in consumer and industrial products and recovery of steel: the entire value chain.
The programme, the five themes and the individual projects have organized their goals and ambitions in terms of the 'Theory of Change'. This theory sets out the pathways through which the program will have an impact and generate climate and economic gains, deliver human capital and help the Netherlands achieve source autonomy.
During the first day of the kick-off meeting, each theme manager presented an overview of the plans within their theme, taking into account mutual dependencies of developments in other themes.
The second day was fully interactive, with workshops per theme, and sufficient time for all participants within the themes and among themselves to talk to each other and coordinate activities. The successful kick-off meeting energized all consortium members, promoted collaboration and set a positive tone for the 'Growth with Green Steel' program. The collective energy and commitment of all partners are the pillars that will make this program a success.
About the program
The 'Growth with Green Steel' program aims to make the Dutch steel sector more sustainable by 2030, with the ultimate goal of a circular, completely CO2-neutral and high-tech steel sector by 2050. The Netherlands is thus developing a technological lead over other countries. This means that as a country we are not only working on climate goals, but that the steel sector is also becoming more economically competitive. The program aims to have an impact on:
- Climate
- Economy
- Human capital
- Source autonomy
The eight-year program has received a grant of more than €100 million from the National Growth Fund.
