50th Anniversary Celebration Innovation & Sustainability Conference and Royal Gala Evening
By: Hans Duijn
 On October 28, 2010 the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the Netherlands celebrated its 50th Anniversary in the Hotels van Oranje in the lovely seaside town of Noordwijk. The Program started at 12:30 pm with the Conference on Innovation & Sustainability in the presence of H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and with a list of prominent speakers. A Royal Gala Evening with Princess Victoria and H.R.H. The Prince of Orange as honorary guests concluded the anniversary celebrations.
Conference
Harry Starren, CEO of Management Training Centre ‘De Baak’, skillfully led the Conference on Innovation & Sustainability. With his amicable and disarming style he immediately relaxed the audience, which had entered the conference room somewhat tense, well aware of the
honorary guest  H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria in the front row. Subsequently the audience received a flood of information on innovative developments, both in Sweden and the Netherlands, contributing to a more sustainable use of energy and other natural resources and a cleaner world.
The new ambassador of Sweden in the Netherlands, H.E. Håkan Emsgård, opened the Conference with a reference to SymbioCity, the succesful co-operation on urban development
between a network of consultants, contractors and system suppliers in Sweden. With more than half of the global population nowadays living in cities the SymbioCity model is key to a sustainable urban development throughout the world.
 Maria Rankka, General Manager of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, illustrated this co-operation with the sustainable success story of Hammarby Sjöstad, the redevelopment of a mainly industrial zone in the eastern part of Stockholm. Before the redevelopment could start, the area had to be environmentally cleaned, among others from hundreds of tonnes of heavy metals, oils and grease. Hammarby Sjöstad is now a showpiece of sustainable urban development with all kinds of efficiencies. Modern architecture with the focus on sustainable materials, such as glass, wood, steel and stone. Excellent public transportation, carpool facilities and safe cycle roads. Eco-friendly installations ensure subs antially lower than average consumption levels of water; a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant separates the organic materials, which are turned into biogas; waste is separated at the source, recycled or used to produce heating and electricity. Hammarby Sjöstad does not stand alone: it is an example for many urban development projects in Sweden and abroad.  Huib Morelisse, CEO of the Dutch energy giant Nuon, recently acquired by the Swedish state enterprise Vattenfall, explained that, in order to eventually achieve CO2 emission neutrality, the Vattenfall/ Nuon Group invests heavily in energy innovation projects, aimed at further increasing the use of so-called energy renewables (such as wind power and solar energy), the use of biomass and investments in Carbon Capture and Storage projects. According to Mats Granryd, CEO of Tele2, ICT itself is responsible for only 2% of global CO2 emissions. He claimed that ICT can and will reduce the 98%, caused by others, with up to 15% by 2020. Scarcity, in his opinion, drives innovation and innovation is always linked to new business models, as evidenced by the success of his company
Tele2.
 Ben Vree, Chairman of Smit Internationale NV and honorary consul general for the Kingdom of Sweden in Rotterdam, told the audience the story of the “Greening Smit Program”. By reducing the average age of the fleet of Smit, one of the two global leading companies in harbour towage and salvage, and systematically measuring energy consumption and CO2 emission, the use of energy and emission levels have been substantially reduced. A new generation of “hybrid” tugboats, designed in close co-operation with Smit, will contribute to a further decrease of energy consumption and CO2 emission. Sharing knowledge and technology is, according to Mr Vree, a key element in improving global sustainability.
 H.R.H. Prince Carlos de Bourbon de Parme is President of INSID, the Institute for Sustainable Information & Development. INSID is an independent foundation aiming at accelerating sustainable innovation. In its vision document ‘Planet First!’ INSID formulates
the priorities, conditions, goals and measures to achieve a sustainable society. Real cost pricing, taxation on the use of scarce resources, sustainability accounting and reporting standards are some of the requirements INSID is strongly advocating. Companies and individuals cannot leave the responsibility solely to governments, they should act themselves.
 Eva Struving, International and Charity Director of Novamedia, the owner of the Postcode Lottery format, proudly mentioned that the Postcode Lotteries embraced the ‘Planet First!’ slogan and contributed in 2009 over € 300 mln to charities for a better world.
Prof. Dr. Ir. Rob van Haren is, as director of Kiemkracht, a joint initiative of the Agriculture Sector and the Ministry of Agriculture in the Netherlands, closely involved in Farming Innovation projects. One of the projects is Biochar: a man-made process that breaks down complex biomass materials by heating them at high temperatures. The result, a carbonrich, charcoal-like material, makes the soil more  resistant to climate change and also provides a way of keeping more carbon in the soil, which is good for the environment. Prof. Van Haren expects also much of the cultivating of lupine, of which the beans are rich in oil and more tasteful than soya and therefore an excellent ecological substitute for meat.
After a short tea break, in which the participants could taste a cake, made of lupine beans, the Swedish Astronaut, Prof. Dr. Christer Fuglesang kept the audience in suspense with his wesome story and motion pictures of his two missions to the International Space Station. Any doubts to the connection with the theme of this conference were taken away by Dr Fuglesang with his narrative of the contribution of various physical and biological experiments in space to medical and ecological innovations.
 The afternoon program was concluded with the presentation of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce 50th Anniversary Company Award to the forest industry group Holmen in recognition of their efforts to decrease the environmental impact of their industrial activities. The award was presented by H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria to Björn Kvick, President of Iggesund Paperboard AB, Holmen’s business area for the production and sale of paperboard. The award was accompanied by a cheque of € 2500.--, offered by Hans Blokzijl, managing director of Bomencentrum Nederland and to be spent on a monumental tree in front of Iggesund’s new office in Amsterdam. In his words of acceptance Björn Kvick mentioned that Iggesund Mill, which produces more than 300,000 tons of paperboard per year will shortly use 0% of fossile energy.
Gala Evening
 The black tie and evening dresses of the close to 400 participants of the Royal Gala Evening dominated the Hotels van Oranje as of 6:30 pm. A small selection of them were invited to greet at a private reception the honorary royal guests H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria and H.R.H. the Prince of Orange. At punctually 8.00 pm the royal guests were greeted by all attendants in the splendidly decorated large ball room. Lady speaker for the occasion, Charlotte Kalin, Head of the International Department at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, charmingly led the audience through the evening. Nils van Dijkman, Chairman of the Board of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the Netherlands, welcomed all guests, especially the royal guests, and briefly commemorated the 50 year history of the Chamber. The brigade of Hotels van Oranje did a wonderful job in serving a dinner with a Swedish
touch. After the first course Charlotte Kalin announced Mikael Treschow, Chairman of Unilever, as the  Guest Speaker. In line with the theme of the afternoon conference Mr Treschow elaborated on the sustainability efforts of Unilever. The statement that Unilever
would obtain by 2015 tea and palm oil, two of the core products of Unilever, only from 100% certified sustainable resources, met applause from the audience.
The precious moment of the evening came when Princess Victoria honored Ingvar Kamprad (84), founder of IKEA, with the Lifetime Achievement Award and carefully guided him back from the stage to the table of honour. In his acceptance speech Ingvar Kamprad caused some hilarity when he admitted that, being a born Smålander, economy had always been one of the guiding principles in his
life, but that he had also met some of the most stingy persons in his life in Holland!
 A special performance of the famous Swedish mezzo soprano Malena Ernman and top pianist Roland Pöntinen gave the evening a golden touch.
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