Global conversations
Guest blog by Captain Peter Lambourn RN, UK Defence Attache to the Benelux. It was like a hallucination. Eighty distinctive London cabs in an unbroken file on an otherwise empty road. And in the Netherlands! That was what motorists would have seen yesterday on the route between the Hook of Holland and Arnhem. And the sight will be frequently repeated over the coming days across the Arnhem region. This is … Read more »Commemorations, celebrations…and cabbies
I’ve blogged before about commemorations here in the Netherlands which give us time to reflect and remember the past. Yesterday I chaired a ceremony at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) where we took a moment to remember all the past victims of chemical warfare. We do this annually on 29 April because this date is the anniversary of the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons … Read more »Remembrance and commemoration: lest we forget
In just 100 days from today the bells marking the first day of the 2012 Olympic Games will ring out across the UK and the eyes and ears of the world will turn to London. It’s amazing to think that the marathon journey that will culminate in July began almost 7 years ago with a single word in Singapore: “London!”. The very thought of it gives me “kippenvel” (Dutch for … Read more »Ready, set, Games!
Last Saturday people all over the world switched off their lights for Earth Hour 2012, sending a powerful message for action on climate change. “A more unstable climate, with rising temperatures and more frequent and intense weather events, could affect the most fundamental aspects of our shared security: food, water, and trade”. These words of Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Edward Davey, delivered at a recent Wilton … Read more »Climate and resource security: shared threats, shared opportunities
Speeches about the UK-Netherlands relationship often refer to our shared history as trading and maritime nations. Some, for example Nick Clegg’s in The Hague 2 weeks ago, recall that relations weren’t always so jovial and cooperative as they are today – there were 4 Anglo-Dutch naval wars during Holland’s “Golden Age” when the 2 countries were vying for maritime (and hence commercial) supremacy. An important event in London last week … Read more »History brought to life
I was in Manchester this week for our annual UK-Netherlands “Apeldoorn” Conference. It was good to be back in the North West (I managed to fit in a Bolton Wanderers game which we won!). The Conference theme was “Higher Education at the Heart of Growth”. There were some fascinating discussions, and concrete outcomes involving cooperation between higher education institutions in the UK and Netherlands. The Conference brought home to me … Read more »Higher Education at the Heart of Growth
Guest blog by the Chief Editor at Dutchnews.nl Robin Pascoe. My neighbour Karin invited me to join her today, March 8, for the annual zonne-ontbijt – or sun breakfast – which marks the one day of the year when the sun falls on the grave of Saskia van Uylenburgh, wife of the painter Rembrandt. This year, being a leap year, the communal breakfast was brought forward by one day to … Read more »Thinking about the rights and opportunities we take for granted
I have the honour of taking over the Ambassador’s blog this week all the way from Finland to share some ideas from a recent event ‘Connecting Digital Start-Ups’, which took place in Amsterdam on 21 and 22 February. The UK Creative Industries KTN, de WAAG Society, PICNIC and the UK Science and Innovation Network organised this event jointly in Read more »What makes it or breaks it for Digital Start-ups?
Edward Maalouf is a Lebanese Paralympic Handbiker who lives in and trains in the Netherlands but competes for Lebanon. An accomplished athlete, Edward won two Bronze medals in Beijing as well as winning the New York Marathon in 2006 and Hamburg & Dusseldorf marathons in 2007. Edward has been in a wheelchair for 16 years after having an accident at work in which he broke his back when he fell … Read more »Fell from the 6th floor – Qualified for the Paralympics – Won 2 medals!
One of the pleasures of being an Ambassador is having the opportunity to meet inspirational people who make you think beyond the daily routine. I had the fortune this week of meeting 2 such people – Lord Bates who spent a couple of days in The Hague as he nears the end of his “Walk For Truce” to highlight the Olympic Truce, and Edward Maalouf, a Lebanese Paralympian training for … Read more »Great achievements through sheer guts and determination