The Dutch Ministry praised the innovative and entrepreneurial ways in which GreenfieldCities works to contribute to the alleviation of the migration crisis and the tangible ways in which they work towards creating enabling environments for refugees in the region of origin.
For both GreenfieldCities and Climate Mitigation and Change Management the 400 k€ grant represents an important milestone, as it reflects both the recognition and material support from the government for the project. As Arie van Beek – one of GreenfieldCities’ founders – puts it: “Our mission can never be realised without public and political support”.
On 19 February 2016 Arie van Beek and his partner Joris Benninga, legally founded an organisation on 19 February 2016 to create sustainable safe havens in the Middle East: GreenfieldCities.org. The flow of refugees from war torn Syria seems to be at an all time high. Additional steady flows from Africa keep coming in where climate change effects are hitting hard on every day’s reality. It cannot be expected these flows will go back to a trickle in the future. With GreenfieldCities.org we want to set out a path to create sustainable cities in the Middle East with the refugees as its citizens.