About Dorp

A circular economy in 2050, that's the goal. In Dorp, we will make sure that we make our way there as quickly as possible. We devise and develop sustainable innovations and we use the infrastructure of the festival and its visitors to test them immediately in the field.

The barriers to sustainable innovation

The Netherlands is on a mission: to be completely independent of fossil fuels and scarce primary resources by 2050. To create a circular economy in which there is no longer any waste. Quite a challenge, but how do we achieve that? By working in a new way. This involves new materials, products and production processes. But also by reviewing ownership, examining existing business models and renewing our way of thinking.

Fortunately, we are on the right track. Many great innovative ideas and initiatives are emerging that contribute to a better world. Yet it comes with a catch. Translating these ideas into a product or service is an intensive and complex process that has the tendency to halt somewhere halfway. A start-up can have the proper technical background, but may have never really thought the costs of their business through properly; or an innovation remains in the R&D phase, never making it to the prototype stage.

In other words, an innovation process can have a gap between idea and reality, holding back sustainable development.

Dorp’s place in the innovation process

DORP Innovation Pipeline

In Dorp, we seize this challenge and take the lead. It is a unique Living Lab where different disciplines take on the adventure, discover new things and innovate. Dorplings range from start-ups to artists and from technicians to students. The result? A rapid flow of concepts and experiments!

In the form of Dorp, with experts, coaches, short inspiration sessions and fully stacked workplaces, we create a place where the circular economy is visualized and experienced. Crucial in all this is the possibility, perhaps even the condition, to fail. After all, if nothing goes wrong in an innovation process, is the innovation really innovative enough?

We celebrate making mistakes. In fact, it energizes us. Together, we solve them and create a huge learning curve. This makes Dorp the crucial milestone for actually launching circular innovation!

Why a festival is perfect for innovation

A festival is a cultural enrichment for our society, but it also creates a new mini-society with the same challenges as the real world. How do we generate electricity, what do we do with our raw material flows and where do we collect food from? The difference with the real world, however, is that everything is temporary, can be changed in no time and above all, can be fixed very quickly.

Because there is always an emergency generator, a handy handyman or a helpful neighbor a stone’s throw away. Thanks to the clear boundaries of the terrain and by using our visitors as guinea pigs, we can measure anything and try out different scenarios. This makes the festival a unique opportunity and the perfect test site for innovations and social experiments.

More information

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