BLOSSITY
Hofplein 20
3032AC Rotterdam
The Netherlands
AMS Playbook
Location
The Netherlands
Scale
City
Timeline
12 months
Sector
City As Campus
Services
Concept development
Delivery
Team
Jorick Beijer
Christian Pappalardo
CHALLENGE
To document the evolution of AMS Institute from a visionary concept to a globally recognised hub for urban innovation, we set out to distil the lessons learned into seven building blocks for creating meaningful change in cities around the world.
Welcomed back to AMS Institute after our work supporting its launch a decade ago, we were tasked with capturing the mechanics of this unique innovation ecosystem with core partners TU Delft, Wageningen University and Research, MIT and the City of Amsterdam.
RESPONSE
It’s not often that cities and universities find completely new ways of working together. What makes the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions stand out is how this public-public partnership systematically uses the city itself as a testbed to drive urban innovation with tangible, science-based impact.
Over the past decade, the AMS Institute has tackled a wide range of urban issues: from collapsing quayside walls and the myths surrounding timber construction, to solutions to widespread energy poverty, air pollution and barriers to achieving net-zero goals. The total project portfolio amounts to nearly 250 research projects with a value of more than €220 million, the joint MSc MADE master’s programme has trained nearly 200 ‘urban engineers’ to date, and the Institute has supported the growth of nearly 100 urban tech start-ups. All of this has been driven by a truly novel partnership model and continuous learning over the years.
Our response to the challenge of distilling all this into an actionable Playbook was to revisit the original bid, dive deep into the Institute’s practice today, interview key stakeholders and research other innovation institutes around the world. In a short space of time, we’ve translated all this into seven distinct building blocks and designed a Playbook that can guide others on their own unique innovation journey.
What is AMS Institute?
THE IMPACT
This Playbook reveals a tapestry of approaches to urban challenges. We hope that it will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in building urban innovation ecosystems. From city leaders to educators, researchers, and policymakers, the learnings can help address today’s major urban challenges, nurture talent as the foundation for sustainable economic development, and promote new mechanisms for innovation and capacity building with and within our governments.
