Tag: The Hague

Protecting The Hague’s forests: 450 years of the Act of Redemption

Stuart Mitchell

On 16 April 2026, it was exactly 450 years since William of Orange signed the Act of Redemption. The decision ensured that no one in the Hague Forest, the Koekamp or on the Malieveld (names of famous green spaces and forests in The Hague) would be allowed to cut down trees for the sale of wood. Thanks to this promise, the Hague Forest is considered the Netherlands’ oldest protected forest and city park. The Act of Redemption  The Act of Redemption dates from 1576 and was signed during the Eighty…

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Three schools and a childcare centre in The Hague to be heated by sports field

Stuart Mitchell

A football pitch in The Hague is set to become an unexpected source of sustainable energy for the surrounding neighbourhood. At the ‘Haagse Sporttuin Moerwijk’, the municipality has started installing an underground collector field beneath the artificial grass pitches — a system that will soon provide heat for three primary schools and a childcare centre nearby. Sports pitch powers sustainable heat The innovative system captures solar heat absorbed by the artificial turf. Beneath the pitch, a network of water-filled pipes collects this warmth and stores it in the ground. When…

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The Hague AI innovation marks breakthrough in global soil health monitoring

Stuart Mitchell

A new artificial intelligence system developed by The Hague-based Veridi Technologies, in collaboration with Wageningen University & Research (WUR), marks a breakthrough in identifying nematode species. Normally this is complex, costly, and requires specialised expertise, which is available only at a limited number of places worldwide. This AI system can now independently recognise the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne chitwoodi through a microscope. In tests, its performance matched that of an experienced taxonomic nematologist. “This breakthrough demonstrates how artificial intelligence can make highly specialised biological expertise accessible at scale. Healthy soil is…

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Office EU promises to protect European companies from US data sovereignty threat

Stuart Mitchell

In 2025, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague decided to move its internal software system away from US tech giant Microsoft and onto an independent European open-source alternative provider.  This was in response to ongoing data sovereignty threats from the United States government, which uses its powerful Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act to compel US tech companies to share data to aid criminal investigations – even if that data is held by foreign organisations. The US has also recently imposed sanctions on high-profile ICC judges,…

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How a community project in The Hague is helping youngsters ‘Find their Fire’

Stuart Mitchell

Hart Beach is a popular surf and skate hangout in the Scheveningen area of The Hague, but it is also the home of Firestarters, a unique programme to help disadvantaged young people reignite their passion for life and ‘Find their Fire’. Hope on Hart Beach It is, perhaps, a hidden crisis. In the City of The Hague alone, there are more than 14,000 teenagers who have dropped out of school and are not yet in employment. Firestarters takes a small cohort of these kids and offers structure and new potential…

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