As part of the national cabinet’s “Regional Deal” (Regiodeal), the first financial contributions have been awarded to ten projects to strengthen the economic strength of Brainport Eindhoven. Over the next four years, the cabinet will invest a total of 130 million through the Regional Deal and 240 million through local contributions. Of the national contribution, 25.4 million has now been allocated.
Mayor John Jorritsma of Eindhoven, also chairman of the Brainport Foundation, sees this as a milestone: “Everyone in the region has done their utmost to make this possible. In January the proposal was written to the cabinet, it was approved in the summer and now, less than a year later, the money has been received and we can move from development to implementation. Important for our region and of course for the rest of the Netherlands”.
Read more about the regional deal here
The first ten projects fit well in the three programme lines from the Regional Deal: attracting, training and retaining technical talent at all educational levels, realising innovations with social impact and strengthening cultural, social and sports facilities and increasing the quality of life for the existing population.
Eindhoven Engine, one of the first ten projects, wants to become an accelerator for innovation, a cooperation programme between the knowledge institutes and the business community in the region. Intiator Maarten Steinbuch: “With this, we combine the fresh creativity of ambitious students with brilliant researchers, and with innovative entrepreneurs and employees from the industry. Together we want to come up with solutions for social challenges at a high pace. Solving real-world problems with multidisciplinary teams. We will do this at a joint research location where we can find and inspire each other. This is essential for our talents to continue to develop, accelerate innovation and ensure that we as Brainport remain the smartest region in the world.”
Thom Aussems is responsible for the Urban Culture & Sports hall ‘Area 51’ project, which is also one of the projects that we have been awarded: “An upgrade of ‘Area 51’ will create a unique location with great appeal throughout the region, but also nationally and internationally. In the hall on Strijp-S, both recreational and top-level athletes in this branch of sport can optimally accommodate and the position of Brainport Eindhoven on the Urban Culture & Sports terrain will receive an extra impulse.”
It is not only Eindhoven projects that receive funding. Marjan Wester, coordinator of internationalisation at the Pius-X College in Bladel, will also work with money from the regional deal: “Today’s world is changing rapidly. Not only do companies orientate themselves more often on foreign countries, but society is also becoming more diverse and international. It is therefore necessary to prepare children – regardless of their level of education – for this from an early age. Everyone has or will have to deal with this globalising world and must be able to cope with change.”
All the projects that are about to start:
Photo Bart van Overbeeke
Related Posts
