Beneath you will read an interview by Eelco van Wijk with program manager of 'Natural gas-free' at the municipality of Rotterdam in Bospolder-Tussendijken, Anne-Marie Verheijen.
This article has been retrieved via: https://publications.hva.nl/bewogen-stad-16/interview-botu
Since January 2019, Anne-Marie Verheijen has been program manager Natural gas-free in Bospolder-Tussendijken (BoTu) on behalf of the municipality of Rotterdam. In this role, she is responsible for one of the first area-oriented energy transitions in Rotterdam. BoTu is a neighborhood with great social challenges, and is therewith a learning approach where technology and social policy go hand in hand.
Het programma maakt deel uit van een bredere strategie waarbij het vorige gemeentebestuur zes gebieden aanwees voor een aardgasvrije toekomst. De inzet in BoTu is het aansluiten van woningen op het stadswarmtenet, in samenwerking met Eneco en woningcorporatie Havensteder. In eerste instantie lag de nadruk sterk op de technische kant: planning, aanleg van infrastructuur en het opstellen van juridische overeenkomsten. “De eerste jaren waren we vooral bezig met het maken van afspraken over kosten, tijdslijnen en de ruimtelijke inpassing van het netwerk,” zegt Verheijen.
BoTu turned out to be a difficult environment for a large-scale intervention. The neighborhood has small streets, limited public space and much existing infrastructure. "We wanted to prevent that the construction of the heating network would lead to loss of trees or extra building in public space. That is why we have put much work into the spacial design of each street during the early stages."
A specific part of the technical preparation, was the integration of the distribution stations that are needed for the functioning of the heating network. In densely built neighborhoods like BoTu, public space is scarce, and new infrastructure highlights this. "We deliberately have chosen to not place distribution stations above ground, in public spaces" explains Verheijen. "Instead, all distribution points are realized indoor. This asks for a lot of coordination and customization, but it contributes to the conservation of the quality of life and greenery in the neighborhood."
That careful preparation payed off: in March of 2021, the first shovel dug into the ground. As of now, over 800 homes, a couple of home owner associations and a school have been affiliated. The execution is, thus far, on schedule.
Parallel to the technical route, Verheijen works on the combining of the technical challenges with various social goals and projects. BoTu scores, and has for years, beneath the municipal average on the social index. The neighborhood knows structural problems in terms of poverty, health and livability. At the same time, there already existed initiatives in the neighborhood like Veerkrachtig ('resilient') BoTu, a network of active residents that focuses, alongside other things, on sustainability and community development.
With that, the energy transition addressed broader questions about ownership, control and justice. "We came with an offer, of which we had thought it was the most technically and financially best," says Verheijen. "But that does not automatically mean that the residents recognize themselves in that".
The first encounters between municipality and resident initiatives did not always go smoothly. Verheijen: "Some residents were critical about the fact that we came with a monopolistic heat supplier. They had ideas about energy communities, decentralized generation or feed-in of heat energy."
De kloof tussen de meer institutionele aanpak en bottom-up initiatieven was groot. Verheijen besloot samen met de projectleider Energie van het programma Veerkrachtig BoTu externe ondersteuning in te roepen. Samen met Marije van den Berg van ‘Democratie in Uitvoering’ werd een proces opgezet waarin bewoners, lokale partijen, gemeente, woningcorporatie en warmteleverancier gezamenlijk verkenden wat hen bond en hoe ze op het thema energie wilden samenwerken. Dat leidde in 2021 tot een samenwerkingsovereenkomst (SOK) met afspraken over projecten, communicatie en budget.
Joining local initiatives does not merely has a social function, but also supports the wider goal of the transition to the district heat network. Through making use of existing structures and networks in the neighborhood, more trust and support is built for the transfer. An important role here is given to 'De Verbindingskamer', who by for example going around bringing flowers to people's doorstep connect with residents in a very low-threshold manner, whom otherwise would not be seen. In this way they receive possible signals of trouble, but the wishes and needs of residents are also made visible. Another good example are the 'Taal-Milieucoaches'. This initiative focuses on non-native female speakers in the neighborhood. By giving them low-threshold language courses and by training them to become milieucoach, they are involved in the informing of residents about energy conservation, as well as in the door-to-door conversations. Verheijen: ''It is the people who have accessibility to homes that are harder to reach for us. They not only help with the signaling of concerns or energy problems, but also by making the conversation about connecting to the heating network more concrete and accessible for residents. In this way they contribute to exceeding the goal: connecting as many home to sustainable heath in a just way. Signals are fed back to the municipality, corporation and heath supplier, who pledge to respond to this."
Joining local initiatives does not merely has a social function, but also supports the wider goal of the transition to the district heat network. Through making use of existing structures and networks in the neighborhood, more trust and support is built for the transfer. An important role here is given to 'De Verbindingskamer', who by for example going around bringing flowers to people's doorstep connect with residents in a very low-threshold manner, whom otherwise would not be seen. In this way they receive possible signals of trouble, but the wishes and needs of residents are also made visible. Another good example are the 'Taal-Milieucoaches'. This initiative focuses on non-native female speakers in the neighborhood. By giving them low-threshold language courses and by training them to become milieucoach, they are involved in the informing of residents about energy conservation, as well as in the door-to-door conversations. Verheijen: ''It is the people who have accessibility to homes that are harder to reach for us. They not only help with the signaling of concerns or energy problems, but also by making the conversation about connecting to the heating network more concrete and accessible for residents. In this way they contribute to exceeding the goal: connecting as many home to sustainable heath in a just way. Signals are fed back to the municipality, corporation and heath supplier, who pledge to respond to this."
Besides the realization of connections to the heating network, the project team tries to contribute to wider sustainable initiatives from the SOK. From the collaboration with residents, space was created for several projects: energy conservation, circular initiatives, neighborhood vegetable gardens, and child education about sustainability. During annual energy festivals, these initiatives are made visible.
“We proberen aan te sluiten bij wat er al leeft in de wijk. Dat betekent dat we onze definitie van ‘energie’ hebben verbreed,” zegt Verheijen. “Niet alleen warmte, maar ook wat mensen op andere energievraagstukken motiveert.”
Een specifieke groep die extra aandacht kreeg zijn de Verenigingen van Eigenaren (VvE’s). Veel VvE’s in BoTu functioneren minder goed of zijn inactief. Voor een overstap op stadsverwarming is dat een uitdaging. De gemeente ontwikkelde daarom samen met VVE010 een aanpak waarin VvE’s intensief worden ondersteund. Er zijn keukentafelgesprekken, een stimuleringsbijdrage voor verduurzaming en ondersteuning bij het opstellen van meerjarenonderhoudsplannen. Inmiddels zijn vijf VvE’s daadwerkelijk aangesloten op het warmtenet.
The implementation of the natural gas-free program in BoTu will run until mid-2026. Verheijen's assignment will also end by then. An important point of concern is how the built networks and working methods can be maintained. “As long as the project is running, we can deploy resources and connect partners. But what will happen when that ends?”
That is why ways to safeguard working methods are already being sought. The collaboration with De Verbindingskamer is one example of this. That organization is now active in several cities, but their work in BoTu is project-based. “If we want what they do to be able to continue, we as a network must seek to embed it in existing welfare assignments and neighborhood (and sometimes even community) structures.”
Terugkijkend noemt Verheijen verschillende onderdelen waar ze met voldoening op terugkijkt. “Ik ben trots op hoe we het voor elkaar hebben gekregen om vanuit een technisch en abstract beginpunt echt in de wijk te landen,” zegt ze. “Dat we leidingen konden aanleggen zonder bomen te kappen of de openbare ruimte verder te belasten, dat we samen met bewoners een SOK hebben gesloten, en dat initiatieven als De Verbindingskamer en de Taal-Milieucoaches nu vanzelfsprekende gesprekspartners zijn geworden in de uitvoering. Dat zijn geen vanzelfsprekendheden, maar het resultaat van veel samenwerking en investeren in relaties.” De aanpak in BoTu laat zien hoe een technische opgave als de energietransitie raakt aan bredere sociale vraagstukken. Volgens Verheijen is het naïef te denken dat je in wijken als BoTu zonder sociale aanpak resultaat boekt. “Als je een wijk binnenkomt met de boodschap ‘we gaan aardgasvrij’, dan moet je ook iets kunnen betekenen voor mensen die met heel andere problemen zitten.”
At the same time, she is cautious about overly high expectations. “Sometimes it is suggested that the energy transition can lift the entire neighborhood. I don't believe that. But I do believe it is an opportunity to contribute to improvement, but only if you organize it properly.”
Het programma BoTu Aardgasvrij is geen blauwdruk, maar een leerproces. Veel onderdelen zijn onderweg ontstaan, ingegeven door noodzaak en samenwerking. Wat begon als een technische opdracht, ontwikkelde zich tot een bredere sociale aanpak. De les: energietransitie in oude stadswijken vraagt om meer dan techniek. Het vraagt om aanwezigheid, luisteren en het verbinden van belangen. Maar vooral: om het serieus nemen van de mensen voor wie het allemaal bedoeld is.
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