VE-R

VE-R is an office for landscape architecture and urbanism based in Haarlem, the Netherlands. More than 20 years of working together in different settings, Berrie van Elderen and Remco Rolvink have strengthened their collaboration by starting VE-R. The office designs projects within and outside Europe, including the Netherlands and Belgium but also African countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria, as part of DASUDA (Dutch Alliance for Sustainable Urban Development in Africa). The projects, ranging from small-scale design interventions to larger-scale strategies and master plans, focus on contemporary challenges and with a sustainable approach to the built and unbuilt environment. Our main drivers are:

• Transitions to inclusive public spaces, urban developments and landscapes;
• Increasing and accelerating transition to renewable energy, biodiversity including and circular use of resources;
• Creating robust spatial frameworks with flexibility for infills and possibilities of changes in these infills over time while the continuity of the spatial frameworks remains;
• Develop new planning concepts such as the Urban Accelerator© concept for African citiesAim for implementation, because projects are not completed on paper;Collaborating with people, at project level, to make optimal use of all expertise;
• Involve users and stakeholders and plan together to create more ownership of areas to be developed.

>> See the VE-R website

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Rebel Group

Specialized strategy and finance advisory firm leveraging international expertise at the interface of the public and private sector

Rebel helps public and private organizations bridge the gap between their infrastructure needs and financial resources by focusing on developing public-private partnerships, innovative capital financing, project delivery strategies, efficient management, and performance improvement. In addition we offer a range of related services in the field of policy and strategy, institutional development, capacity building and feasibility studies.

We have extensive experience in public investment financing in Europe, Africa, North and South America and Asia from the simplest of deals to the more complicated deals. We thrive on our ability to provide creative solutions to our client’s problems and have shown our tenacity to bring projects to success by going the extra mile.

RebelGroup is headquartered in Rotterdam (Netherlands) and has further presence in Antwerp (Belgium), Dusseldorf (Germany), Washington DC (USA), San Francisco (USA), Toronto (Canada), Nairobi (Kenya), Johannesburg (South Africa) and Jakarta (Indonesia).

We work globally with substantial experience in nearly every country on the African continent. We highly value the drive for sustainable urban development, and for this reason we are active members of the DASUDA alliance.

>> See the RebelGroup website

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MOVE Mobility

MOVE Mobility is a young, versatile and dynamic Dutch consultancy firm, working all over the world. Its international team holds experience in sustainable mobility and transport planning, spatial planning and the development of relevant tools for supporting transport related consultancy services. They provide integrated spatial planning and transport solutions for creating liveable places. Their goal is to improve accessibility, liveability, safety and economic vitality of countries, regions and cities, by providing guidance towards the establishment of a sustainable transport system. MOVE Mobility is responsible for developing the sustainable mobility module and its relation with environment, housing and land-use planning.

Their core business follows three main directions, which are constantly interacting and creating synergies: (1) integrated transport planning services, (2) development of appropriate tooling, using (big) data (e.g. the MOVE Meter) and (3) knowledge transfer and capacity building.

In recent years they have participated in and concluded projects in Europe (The Netherlands, Georgia, Germany), Africa (Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa), The Americas (The USA, Mexico, Colombia) and Asia (Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Palestine Territories, Iran), in close collaboration with local partners and stakeholders.

In their recent projects they have been dealing with and trying to find solutions for transport related issues, such as congestion, safety, pollution, health by developing appropriate policies, data and tools, at and for various scales (international, national, regional, local and neighbourhood level). Their clients are both (international) institutions and organisations, such as: UNDP, Netherlands Enterprise Agency (The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Change), The Dutch Ministry for Infrastructure and Water Management, Ugandan Local Government Association and private parties.

>> See the MOVE Mobility website

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CDR International

CDR International B.V. (CDR), founded in 2012, is an independent medium-sized Engineering Consultancy firm in the Water Sector, operating globally and having its roots in the Netherlands. CDR is an acronym for Coasts, Deltas and Rivers. Our professional services cover the range from project inception development, climate change vulnerability and adaptation studies, (bankable) feasibility studies, covering the whole project cycle from project idea development to detailed design, value engineering through to construction supervision and added-value advice during implementation. We offer our services to the private and public sector including international financial institutions.

Our expertise services consists of:

• Coastal protection and Marine Structures:

Coastal protection and design of marine structures is our key expertise. With inhouse experts on all facets required to develop effective, integrated and constructable coastal protection schemes to combat coastal erosion in a sustainable manner.

• Flood Protection and Climate Resilience

Due to urbanisation pressure and climate change people and assets are increasingly at risk of water related hazards like flooding. CDR provides flood risk assessment and flood risk management studies that are tailored to the needs of stakeholders via participatory design processes.

• Dredging, Reclamation and Land development

As Dutch water experts we know how to create land in a water environment. CDR is experienced in geotechnical and hydraulic design studies for public and private land reclamations and developments. CDR site supervision team for the dredging and reclamation works can be deployed to ensure the quality of the works.

• Port Master Planning and Waterway Transport

Trade and transport of goods via water are key for economic growth. CDR has experience in Masterplan studies to port infrastructure design.

• Numerical Modelling and Simulations

Numerical modelling studies form the basis of many of our studies and designs. We are using the latest models available for scientific and industry use.

>> See the CDR website

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BKVV

To design develop and  built climate friendly buildings is our mission. In our design process bkvv architects focuses on using smart natural principles (physics) to create buildings that are efficiënt in their energy consumption and enable a comfortable way of living. The natural environment has a central role in every project. Indoor spaces and outdoor spaces are brought together as one continuing space. The materials, we work with, have, as much as possible, a natural origin, like wood, clay, stones and bamboo. Over the last years the search for natural honest materials has lead us into the field of research and even farming. If we as architects, want to design buildings that are climate friendly, the materials, that we use, must have a positive impact on their environment of their own.

One of the materials that can tick of that box very well is bamboo. The strength, growth rate and similarities with wood timber makes it an interesting resource for the built environment. As we are convinced of the qualities of bamboo we aim to make bamboo a prominent material in our designs.

The current market in Uganda (the country where we currently use bamboo the most) does not provide in quality building materials made out of bamboo. To be able to use bamboo in the built environment as a strong reliable construction material we collaborated with engineers, farmers and researchers to set up a bamboo factory and farm to create the value chain from bamboo seedling to bamboo building elements.

You could compare our approach with a topchef of a fine restaurant that grows his/her own fresh biological herbs and vegetables. By growing our own bamboo and process them following international high standards into reliable building materials we ensure our clients of a building that is built with high quality locally grown natural materials that have a positive impact on its environment.

Over the past few years bkvv architects has been executing several (award winning) projects in Uganda. In these projects collaborations were built with (local) engineers, contractors, clients, the government, NFA and people from many other disciplines. We have shared our holistic view on building climate friendly with locally grown natural materials and created an expanding community with a similar green goal.

bkvv architects will connect the international experience to the local bamboo community in Uganda. All together we can make it possible to let the Ugandan bamboo market flourish like it does in countries as Indonesia and China.

>> See the BKVV website

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