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On Saturday 15 September a group of Enviu-ers from different backgrounds met in the beautiful Natuurmonumenten area of Nieuwekoopse Plassen for the latest Enviu Day. The assignment: To brainstorm and generate more innovative ideas on how to make the nature reserve attractive for younger visitors (21-35 years) and what products and services to develop for the new visitor’s centre.

In March 2006 twenty Enviu-ers joined a first brainstorm to give Natuurmonumenten some primary ideas on how to achieve the two goals and help make the nature reserve less dependent on funding. Inspired by the approach and the ideas proposed on the day, and having secured the base funding for the new visitor centre, Natuurmonumenten asked Enviu to support them again with great ideas to make the pilot happen and to expand on the best ideas of last year.

First for some inspiration

This time the group were first treated to a boat trip through the reserve while Nelleke Woortman from Natuurmonumenten gave some interesting information about the area and about Natuurmonumenten’s plans and aspirations for the reserve and for the new visitors centre. The beautiful surroundings helped to stimulate the brain cells and proved to be a great source of inspiration.

Upon return to dry land the group sat outside in the sun. Sharing their meeting space with the local flora and fauna they got down to some real work. The group brainstormed into the evening and used all their creativity and inspiration to tackle the task in hand.

The brainstorm proved to be a great success with many innovative ideas emerging including:

- Adopt an orchid

- Bringing “Peace in the Park” with Ben & Jerrys to Nieuwekoopse Plassen

- Headphone concerts

- The Green Line - eco-friendly transport through the reserve

Enviu is currently busy working with Natuurmonumenten to turn the best ideas into workable plans.

We are still looking for people to help us with this project in a number of areas including:

- Interior designers - with store design experience

- Meeting and conference experts

- Marketing specialists

- Financial experts
 

Apply now or find out more by contacting Josine via community@enviu.org.

Go to our Flickr page to see more photos.

Find out more about the Nieuwekoopse Plassen nature reserve.