"Facilitate self-regulation"

The end of the start-up period is in sight for the Dutch Institute for Sustainable Mobility (IvDM), founded half a year ago with funding from the transport ministry. Managing director Tjeerd Willem Hobma is looking forward to the coming period, in which the institute must prove its right of existence.

Moral duty
According to the IvDM, the mobility industry is sufficiently innovative, and willing and able to decrease environmental harm. The industry, they feel, acknowledges its moral duty to do so.

Does it really? “While some of our partners are real pioneers, there are also the ones who simply must follow the sustainability trend to continue their business,” Hobma explains. “We can help them add that little bit to create new business products and mobility services, but also enhance the sustainable performance of their operations. If we can quantify this performance and reward it with a certificate they can actually advertise their sustainability.”

Knowledge centre
“What is needed,” Tjeerd continues, “is more, impartial knowledge on environment and sustainability, readily accessible for everyone in, or dealing with, the mobility sector. The IvDM wants to become a knowledge network, without conducting research themselves: a data bank and a platform, the connection between government, mobility sector, and clients and contacts of the sector.”

Of all twelve programmes the IvDM formulated, this is the part he is looking forward to most, Tjeerd confesses. “Everyone is willing to cooperate, for a knowledge centre is not a threat to anyone. This function perfectly underlines the independence of the IvDM. Discussions need to be based on facts and require an attractive climate that stimulates new ways of thinking. We can accommodate that.”

Will he admit that, for instance in the biogas versus (bio)diesel debate, there is no such thing as an impartial truth? “Certainly,” says Tjeerd. “We don't own the truth. And we won't be merely a place to get knowledge from, but just as well a place to take your expertise and experience to and share it with others, wikipedia-style. But I dare say that if an ongoing topic is in need of a firm decision, we would volunteer to make up the collective mind.”

Futuristic
To be a knowledge centre is just one of the envisaged functions of the institute. The other programmes look promising as well. There are various futuristic projects: 'the mobility company of the future', the fuel station, and the driver of the future. Within these projects, virtual models of visions of the future are designed by use of 'crowd sourcing' (comparable to wikipedia, but by a designated internet community). The fuel station of the future is an initiative of various players in the BOVAG network.

“Some of our partners are real pioneers,” says Tjeerd. “For instance, Green Planet wants to actually build the envisaged fuel station on the A28. That is wonderful, but at the same time one of the pitfalls I hope to avoid is to focus entirely on those enthusiasts. We have to equally strive to get the companies involved that still believe there is no consumer demand for sustainable mobility. We can help such dealers to make their company processes sustainable. If they then put in a little more effort, they can receive a sustainability certificate, which is another one of our projects. And that could lead to more.”

Pragmatic
Some programmes have already started. “We must be pragmatic and sometimes get on board of existing initiatives by like-minded parties in our country and worldwide. I believe we can thus accelerate the transition to a more sustainable mobile Netherlands,” Tjeerd explains.

Any international initiatives he is looking into? “Yes, I recently met a foreign consultant working with an institute similar to ours,” says Tjeerd. “European legislation and our business models provide plenty opportunities for international bonds, far more than in the United States. The urgency of sustainability is now becoming clear in the US as well, but as soon as fuel prices drop, the effect wears off.”

Self-regulation
Talking of legislation, the IvDM is based on the idea that the sector itself will embrace sustainable mobility chances. To what extent does Tjeerd believe in self-regulation?

“We cannot leave everything to the market or the industry without regulatory incentives. 'Reward good behaviour,' is what I say. Tempt parties to adopt the desired behaviour and then, in a snowball effect, let them expand this behaviour so that it sells. Without sustainability goals, nowadays in the mobility sector, your company becomes invisible.

“Government has a facilitating role and must lead the way: be clear and reliable. Government must sometimes make a choice, for electric vehicles for instance, and then facilitate standardisation and put its money where its mouth is. The IvDM must also be regarded a government extension, in this sense. A knowledge centre can increase the pace of developments, especially when actively supported by the two large sector organisations, and if parties want to cooperate, we can bring some funding money in the early stages.”

Phase two
Kick-off of the next phase will be a presentation on March 12th, at The RAI congress centre in Amsterdam. Here, the institute's founders (Dutch car manufacturers' and dealer associations RAI and BOVAG together with training centre Innovam), its possible partners and clients, and the press will be presented with IvDM's plans as described above.

“Some parties tend to consider us competition,” says Tjeerd. “That is no surprise: we use up part of the available government funding. But we want to convince them that if we cooperate, that could even mean there'll be more assignments for them. Besides, we do not want to be engineers or take the place of any other organisation.”

Redundant
Current funding, which is granted on condition that an equal amount comes from the sector itself, suffices for the period of 2008-2012. What will happen after 2012? Tjeerd: “In the most likely scenario we will have enough paid assignments by then, like monitoring and certification, to pay for other projects as well. But wouldn't it be beautiful if we would have made ourselves redundant by then?”