Metabolic: A Systems Approach to Action Posted on October 23, 2014 by Grounded Strategies Share this post What if you could revitalize a brownfield not only in a ecological way, but also create an active, useful, economically-viable, creative space? What if all the building were made of entirely recycled material and waste wasn’t disposed of, but rather reused? This morning Eva Gladek, CEO and founder of Metabolic — a clean tech development and systems consulting firm based in Amsterdam, spoke to a group of GTECH staff, SCC members and partners about a project that embodied just that. The De Ceuvel, or Cleantech Playground, is an office park for social and creative enterprises as well as a sustainable restaurant. By looking at the whole system the teams working to the project provided one solution the solved multiple issues – soil quality, affordable space for artists and social entrepreneurs, energy and waste reduction, and space activation. You can read more about the project here. Here are a few things that the audience shared about the presentation. [one_third padding=”40px 0px 0px 0px”][/one_third] [two_third_last padding=”0px 0px 0px 0px”] “Her [Eva’s] coverage of integrated systems was really interesting and important for our region. When you start to look at things from that level you realize that you don’t have to trade off as much as you would’ve thought.” – Iris Whitworth, Executive Director of ARTEZ [/two_third_last] [one_third padding=”40px 0px 0px 0px”] [/one_third] [two_third_last padding=”0px 0px 0px 0px”] “The presentation was a really interesting example of everything that needs to work together to make things happen. If there was ever a time where a project like this could work in Pittsburgh – the time is now. ” – Shelly Danko-Day, Open Space Specialist for the City of Pittsburgh [/two_third_last] [one_third padding=”40px 0px 0px 0px”][/one_third] [two_third_last padding=”0px 0px 0px 0px”] ” I too am inspired and motivated by the desire to solve issues of over consumption. When you start to look at integrated systems, like local food and food waste, you realize that the solutions are so straightforward, yet so profound.” Regina Kotters, Owner of Marty’s Market[/two_third_last]