Education, governments and businesses in the Eems Delta are joining forces for Campus XL. Together they want to prepare 1,500 pupils and students every year for a career in green chemistry, sustainable energy and healthcare.
The plans require an investment of almost 7.5 million euros. More than 3 million of this will go towards the construction of a new education and knowledge center on the education campus in Appingedam, which opened last year.
Not only the 1,700 students who are already attending secondary education there will get to work on practical assignments from the regional business community. Students from the Noorderpoortcollege, the Hanze University of Applied Sciences and the University of Groningen are also working on solutions for specific questions from the industry.
Makerswierde will meet the rapidly growing demand for personnel
This new ‘Makerswierde’ in Appingedam should develop into a ‘connection point’ where education and business in the wider North Groningen region together meet the fast-growing demand for personnel, particularly in the ‘booming’ green chemistry and sustainable energy and hydrogen sectors in Delfzijl and the Eemshaven.
Thirteen partners join forces in the Campus XL, from the municipality of Eemsdelta and four educational institutions to large industrial companies in the region. They have now developed an initial project plan and will make final decisions at the end of this month about the next step towards realization.
Subsidy application has already been submitted to the European ‘Just Transition Fund’
A subsidy application was sent to the European ‘Just Transition Fund’ in December, says director Frans Alting of the Eemsdelta Collaborating Companies, one of the initiators of the project. The initiators are also seeking financing from the Nij Begun programme, the Hague ‘debt of honor’ billions for sixty years of gas extraction in Groningen.
The JTF is a European fund for regions that rely heavily on oil and gas extraction. Brussels wants to help these areas make a just transition to a more sustainable economy. Groningen, together with Drenthe, will receive more than half of the 623 million allocated to the Netherlands from the JTF fund.
The Makerswierde is the most eye-catching part of the Campus XL, but the plans are much broader than that, says SBE director Alting. “We are entering into a unique collaboration in North Groningen that will bring the region substantially further in the field of innovation and sustainability of our industry.”
Quartermaster must further lift a multimillion-dollar plan off the ground
The initiators have now hired a quartermaster who works full-time on the realization. Campus XL must grow into a hub between education and business within five years, says Alting. “A vibrant place for students but also a flywheel for new and ongoing initiatives.”
In addition to the Makerswierde, the plans include a comparable Care Expertise Center in the new care center to be built in Delfzijl-Noord. Existing test sites such as the Offshore Wind Center in Eemshaven and the Chemport Innovation Center in Delfzijl are also participating.