Meet the speaker

Winy Maas on Rotterdam, the ‘second reconstruction’ and his green mission
Coming up with solutions for the city of the future. Getting people involved and inviting them to come up with their own ideas. That is Winy Maas’s mission. That mission really came out in the conversation we had with the leading architect, urban planner, and landscape architect. We met in the lead-up to our ICEC Conference, where he will be featured as a keynote speaker.

Of all the cities in the Netherlands, Rotterdam and Eindhoven have the largest roof surface areas per capita. And there are all kinds of things you can do on those roofs. Maas starts off by saying: “That’s where you can build more, add to the city and make it greener. It’s essential in the densification of the city and in providing sustainable housing for more people.” He calls it the ‘second reconstruction’ of Rotterdam: building buildings, gardens, and parks on the roofs of the existing city. Born and bred in Brabant, this is the city he’s lived in for decades and where he says he’d like to stay. Read the full interview: Interview Winy Maas (ENG).

Sander Pluijm on team building, leadership, overcoming setbacks, and his extreme experiences during the Ocean Race.

One of the keynote speakers at the ICEC conference is Sander Pluijm, head of content at media agency UM. In 2008, Pluijm participated in the Volvo Ocean Race as a media crew member with Team Delta Lloyd. His lecture is about team building, working together, working under pressure,
leadership, performance, achieving success, overcoming setbacks and of course about his extreme experiences during the Race.

The theme of the conference is ‘Predictable projects in a dynamic world’. What can you predict in an Ocean Race? Sander: “To determine the fastest route, you try to predict the legs very accurately. The more accurate the data, the more accurate the predictions and the faster you can sail. The weather is predictable but there are always unexpected outcomes. Sometimes you have to deviate from the route. That requires a great deal of improvisation. Flexibility is extremely
important in an unpredictable world.” Read the full interview: Interview Sander Pluijm (ENG)