That the 2020 global professional speakers convention was bound to bring some great speakers to Adelaide was to be expected. That two of them came straight from The Netherlands and willing to address the members of the Australian Netherlands Chamber of Commerce was a happy surprise. DutchSA joined forces with the Strategy Execution & Leadership Meetup to organise a breakfast seminar with Paul Ter Wal (The president of the international federation of professional speakers organisations and international human capital consultant) and Nienke Bloem (a certified Customer Experience consultant and international keynote speaker). 
We were delighted with 62 tickets sold for such an early morning event and attracting such a diverse group of company leaders, managers, consultants and interested people. It was a perfect mix for networking and discussion! Key take-aways from this Strategy Execution Seminar were:

• Talking about 'non-negotiables' in stead of the more opaque term 'values', when aligning employee and company needs, is a key driver for better employee engagement and creating business value - Paul Ter Wal
• Great customer experience only happens by design (because if it happens by accident, than bad experiences will also happen by accident) - Nienke Bloem

Many thanks to our presenters Paul ter Wal and Nienke Bloem, our DutchSA, the team at Stone & Chalk - Lot Fourteen, the Strategy Execution & Leadership team and Christo Photography for the event photography!

DutchSA initiated a Dutch event at the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge and co-organised this with the South Australian Tourism Commission, The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge Team, The Government of South Australia, the City of Adelaide and The Consulate of The Netherlands in Sydney.

​The focus of the event was fast tracking the renewable industry and all in attendance, not in the least the chief executive officer of SA Power Networks and the Minister for Energy and Mining, are fully aligned with this mission.

On 13 October solar power set a stunning new milestone in the renewable state of South Australia, reaching 80 per cent of total demand and accounting for more than 70 per cent of demand over four hours in the middle of the day.

​Design lead of Stella Era (Team Eindhoven) showing off the 4 time winner of the World Solar Challenge  Cruiser Class Competition.
Team Eindhoven also won the Smart Grid Pitching competition. Their car has 8 radars to allow itself to find a spot in the sun to recharge its internal battery using its 5 square meter (!) of roof top solar panels and act as a mobile charging station for EV cars running out of power without a fixed charging station in sight!

​On Monday 9th May DutchSA and the Embassy of The Netherlands hosted an networking dinner for Dutch companies visiting the Ozwater2011 conference in Adelaide.

Guests from various visiting Dutch companies and industry organisations as well as SA companies with interests in the water industry exchanged views and experiences in an informal environment. Guest speaker Joe Flynn talked about the water industry in South Australia, its challenges, and the innovative projects and initiatives that are being undertaken, resulting in astonishing results in water efficiency. What followed was a very engaging discussion about opportunities and challenges between those present around the table. 

A special thanks goes to local company Elwa (energy efficient hot water systems) for sponsoring this event.