The Netherlands Embassy in South Africa is hosting a five-day event entitled ‘The House of the Future’ at the Turbine Hall from November 16 – 20 November. Visit the website http://www.houseofthefuture.co.za to see the full programme.
Key South African and Dutch thought leaders, industry stakeholders and government officials from the Netherlands will come together to generate solutions for our shared challenges in the health, logistics, energy, agri-food, water, education and entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship, innovation and internationalisation have been key drivers behind the economic prosperity of both The Netherlands and South Africa. Education is key and co-create is the instrument.

Projects that showcase co-creation between South Africa and The Netherlands is the Co-create My City project. South African and Dutch students team up to co-create innovative solutions for local urban challenges identified by the City of Johannesburg.

In the StartSAUp! event, panellists will engage the audience on the role universities can play in generating entrepreneurs.  Interactive discussions will allow young (potential) entrepreneurs to express their visions, enable them to ask questions and share their future aspirations. Minister Lindiwe Zulu and influential South African and Dutch Entrepreneurs will inspire and ignite the entrepreneurial spirit of the audience.

Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint hearted; being a female entrepreneur brings even more challenges and opportunities. In women and entrepreneurship, Guest of Honour and key note speaker, Minister of Women in the Presidency, Susan Shabangu will talk about female entrepreneurship.

“House of the Future provides a unique opportunity to rethink what our tomorrow should look like. Our ability to fundamentally challenge the status quo lies in our shared experiences, visions and ideas,” says Marisa Gerards, Netherlands Ambassador to South Africa.

Key topics that are so relevant in South Africa today are those of water saving and water management. South Africa is a water starved country and has benefited from guidance from The Netherlands who are world leaders in their field and have been collaborating with South Africa in this field and have set up models for water management and purification. The Netherlands provides 35% of the budget for South Africa to repair sanitation and water supplies to various areas. Look out for the discussion on Water Worx on Tuesday at 10 am.

Renewable energy is another area where the Netherlands is providing sound collaboration between the two countries and this part of the event takes place on Tuesday, November 17 at 10 am. On Wednesday, November 18 catch Waste transformers: Become compliant to BEE while transforming your waste and energy on site. Starts at 1.30 pm. Renewable energy policies co-operating beyond REIPPP takes place on Thursday, November 19 at 2 pm.

It’s not all hard work and no play, Friday, November 20 is the cultural day and is an area of focus which features prominently in The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ programme.

House of the Future is open to the public and is free. Parking available at the Turbine Hall in Newtown.