The Climate Campus will be located in the City Ports area. According to the City Council this area functions as a trial area to use new sustainable techniques. For example, converting industrial water into clean drinking water, floating communities and energy generation from the tidal movemnent of the river Meuse.

The RCC is a cooperation of the petrochemical industry, the Technical University of Delft, the Erasmus University, the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning, and the Environment, the City of Rotterdam, the electricity company Eneco, as well as the World Wide Fund for Nature.

According to Mark Harbers, city alderman for the Rotterdam Port and environment, there are a lot of opportunities for the RCC. Rotterdam should become a leader in an economy filled with clean energy techniques. In addition, he feels that the RCC can contribute to the region’s competitiveness. “The Campus needs to develop into the Silicon Valley of the lower countries,” he said.

The Institute will be located in a futuristic floating building. It will open in the second quarter of 2009.

The coming days Al Gore will be in the Netherlands. Tuesday night, October 14^th, he will host a seminar in Aalsmeer for students and businessmen and on Wednesday (October 15^th) he will teach at the “come back days” for volunteers of climate initiatives from all over the world.