On Thursday 21 January the Dutch Chamber in Sweden and the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands jointly held a new year's reception for their members in the presence of both Ambassadors.
The meeting started with a short quiz on peculiar national habits which, although most members seem to know their host countries very well, raised an eyebrow with some of the zoom participants.
After that both Ambassadors shared their reflections on national developments, policy and EU cooperation. The Swedish Ambassador to the Netherlands highlighted a.o. the good cooperation of the two countries in the EU and the importance of continued cooperation in fields such as innovation, digitalisation and sustainable development.
The Dutch Ambassador to Sweden spoke a.o. about the good examples he has noticed in Sweden on cross sectoral cooperation and in relation to that the need for companies to cooperate and look for win-win scenario’s. Before closing both embassies graciously extended an open invitation to all members to make use of their networks and facilities and expressed the hope that we would soon be able to mingle and meet in real life again.
 
/Ruben Brunsveld

On Thursday the 7th of January we held our first Online quiz. It was time to turn the page to 2021 with a fun little quiz. 
Participants were quizzed on a variety of topics such as how many blueberries does a Swedish brown bear eat? to What was the most streamed song on Spotify in 2020? 
We congratulate Esther Meulenberg with the 1st place! 
After the quiz there was time for a brief digital mingle with fellow members from Stockholm, Tilburg, Malmö and Göteborg.  Your quizmaster will be back later this year with episode 2. 

​/Frank Cleeren

Three speakers of hygiene and health company Essity presented during this webinar. After a general introduction about Essity as a company and its famous brands such as Tork, TENA, and Libresse, the speakers shared some insights on how Essity has been able to contribute to society during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Besides keeping up with their production of essential hygiene products such as toilet paper, tissues, hand wipes and sanitizers, we learned that they were able to make an extremely quick production shift from paper diapers to face masks, using the same diaper machines.
Furthermore, the speakers shared some of the results of a big survey Essity conducts yearly in many countries around the world: the Hygiene and Health Report - with this year's focus on the effects of COVID-19 on hygiene and health. One interesting takeaway was that 90% of people have increased their handwashing since the pandemic. Comparisons were shown between different countries on hand washing behaviours, places people now avoid, expectations people now have on public spaces and businesses, and changes people need to feel safer. COVID-19 has changed all of our lives and personal behaviour and we all see an increased need for hygiene measures. We thank Essity for their inspirational presentations and all participants for their engagement! 
​
/Esther Meulenberg
Team West

On 12 November we held our first Online beer tasting. This was hosted by SME-member Louis Hedberg, who is the proud owner of the craft beer brewery Inlands Bryggeri.  In the tasting we were shown through the factory facility and tasted 4 delicious handcrafted beers. Louis passionately guided the attendees through 4 different beers, it gave the spectators a unique insight in the Micro brewery and it's pearls.  Paragraph. Klicka här när du vill redigera.
/Frank Cleeren

the Dutch Chamber has moved to a new office at the embassy, the so-called Innovation House. The new office is located on the ground floor with its own entrance to Peter Myndesbacke. 
​Annika Närling, board member communications, prepared a film to show you around the Innovation House (see below). She interviewed John Dekker from the embassy, who explains the thoughts behind the Innovation House: a meeting place for those who want to explore the Swedish market. One can only conclude that it is an obvious home for our members and network. Please contact Frank Cleeren if you want an individual tour. 

Consul and DC member Kerstin Lindell opened the new Bona Headquarters, close to the Central Station in Malmö for a Dutch Chamber Mingle on 15 October. 
It was an excellent opportunity for our Ambassador, Mr Bengt van Loosdrecht to meet our members and for our members to hear more from the Ambassador at the beautiful new office.
The group of invitees was not big, due to the precautions taken because of the Covid 19 situation. But with approx. 20 people we had a very nice and interesting mingle, where people networked and exchanged the latest business experiences.
It was also good to hear, partly even in Swedish, that our Ambassador has an eye and heart for the importance of the regions outside of Stockholm. 
 
We thank Kerstin Lindell and Helena Wikenås for helping with the organisation. Regional Directors Bram Nabuurs and Wouter Ridder will follow-up on this mingle, hoping for a possibility to organise events soon with more guests if the situation permits.

We are glad to introduce our newest member of the Dutch Chamber (region West), Esther Meulenberg. Born in Geleen, raised in Heerlen and graduated as Master of Laws at Maastricht University. She is a proud ambassador for the South of Limburg. For career reasons Esther relocated from Limburg to Amsterdam and since one and a half years she has landed in the far north, along the west coast of Sweden, in Göteborg. 

Esther, what made you come to Sweden?
“During the darkest winter months, I worked on a short term assignment for Essity in Mölndal and fell in love with the country, the Swedes and my Mexican partner. After this expat period I moved back to The Netherlands and started working on the possibility to move to Sweden permanently. The HR department of Essity and I worked on my relocation. Practical arrangements were made, the move went smoothly, a colleague accompanied me to the authorities to get my personal number, I attended a language course in Swedish and participated in a workshop on cultural communication and cultural differences. All ingredients for a great start”.

Besides being a new member, you are also engaged as a volunteer for the Dutch Chamber in organizing events along the west coast. Can you tell us about your ideas?
​“Working for Essity as a trademark attorney at the Intellectual Property department, I see what impact the Covid-19 virus has on our business, but also on people’s daily lives. We will be sharing some challenges, opportunities and changes in way of working via a webinar for The Dutch Chamber. One of my colleagues will inform participants about the company, the impact of the Corona-virus on the way of doing business, and she will present the results of the latest hygiene & health survey. In the survey, Essity examined the connection between health, hygiene, and people’s well-being by talking to 10,000 people in ten countries about their attitudes and behaviors during COVID-19. How often do people wash their hands every day? Do people still shake hands to greet each other? She will also talk about the direct impact on Essity’s business (remember the worldwide toilet paper hoarding?) and how Essity’s brands such as TORK contribute to a better health and hygiene. It will be an interactive webinar where we will have time for discussion and where Dutch Chamber members can meet each other at a safe distance”.

And it does not stop at this webinar, does it? Something with an intercultural expat support program?
“The workshop on intercultural communication and cultural differences that I mentioned earlier was truly helpful when I first moved to Sweden. It is based on the theory of Hofstede. I warmly recommend attending this workshop to everybody who works cross cultural. We will communicate the date for this workshop to all members as soon as possible under the current Corona restrictions.
At many different levels there can be communication problems between colleagues, companies or countries and increasing the understanding of the cultural differences it will minimize possible frustration and will help to understand each other in a better way. One may think that the cultural differences between The Netherlands and Sweden are small, but the contrary is proven. And this workshop will provide you with insights how to successfully do business in Sweden.
One of the differences that I noticed was that the Swedes have a lot of meetings, pre-meetings and even pre-pre-meetings. Just to give everybody a possibility of being involved in the matter and creating a well-supported decision. In The Netherlands we tend to be far more direct and to the point. Another aspect of the job in Sweden is the fika, which is the holy grail. Far more important than making over-hours, skipping breaks, going the extra mile. Here the social aspect of work is most relevant for getting things done”.

You mentioned it was part of the intercultural expats support program. Do you still see yourself as an expat?
“The way I live in Sweden nowadays is more as an immigrant. I work according to a Swedish contract. But as long as I don’t speak Swedish fluently there is still a part of me that says I am an expat.”

What made you connect to the Dutch Chamber?
“I have been in Sweden for one and a half years now. My social network exists of my Swedish colleagues and my Mexican friends. I feel it is time to re-connect with my Dutch roots and build a network here in Gothenburg with fellow countrymen. Building my career and making great steps within Essity is my ambition in Sweden plus creating a professional network. The Dutch Chamber can play a role in this. On a personal level I would like to really integrate in Sweden and understand the Swedish culture, learn Swedish and be an international citizen.”
Welcome to the Dutch Chamber Esther!

/Viola Pettersson Vergouwe

Marcus Scoliège recently joined the Netherlands Embassy network as business developer for Scandinavia. He is situated in the Gothenburg region, where we visited him and asked to introduce himself to our members:

​You are a new name in our cherished network with the Netherlands Embassy, could you introduce yourself to our members and other interested?
 
I joined the Dutch Embassy network as Business Developer Scandinavia in August this year. I am originally from New Zealand and have spent most of the last 30 years living in various places in Europe, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom. I first moved to Gothenburg in 2001 and in total I have spent more than 10 years in Sweden. I moved back to West Sweden two years ago with my Swedish wife and two children and I am very excited about the opportunity to work for the Netherlands in my second home. Outside of work I enjoy running and participating in sports, as well as cheering on my boys from the sideline of the football pitch.
 
What is your professional background?
I started my career in the tourism industry promoting New Zealand to Germans, before turning to international business and trade development, which included working for a Swedish company in the health and wellbeing sector, and later New Zealand’s trade and investment promotion agency for 11 years. During this time I was based in London, Hamburg as well as a couple of years back in New Zealand.
 
What would you like to achieve in your assignment and how can our network help you? 
My role is to identify and promote business opportunities across Sweden, Denmark and Norway where Dutch companies and institutions can establish and grow. In order to do this I need to have my ear to the ground across a number of sectors in order to pick up on trends and develop leads. To get started I am focusing on opportunities in the construction and infrastructure, energy, and logistics sectors as well as life sciences and health. Sustainable, climate-smart solutions are of particular interest.
I am part of a small Regional Business Development team with one colleague in Tallinn for Finland and the Baltics, and our director in Copenhagen who creates the links with companies in the Netherlands. We are however an integrated part of the wider Dutch Embassy network which we call the Nordic Baltic Network (NBN). This network of economic advisors across seven countries provides knowledge and experience as well as connections to Dutch companies interested in the region. I am also fortunate to have two excellent Honorary Consuls who I can talk to; Håkan Friberg in Gothenburg and Kerstin Lindell in Malmö.
However I need to broaden my reach further and I am certain the outstanding network at the Dutch Chamber will be a valuable asset. I look forward to meeting as many members as possible to hear new ideas and suggestions.
 
How can you help our network?
I hope to be able to contribute to the network by participating in as many Chamber events as possible. I also look forward to working alongside the regional directors in Gothenburg and Malmö with their regional activities. I am also certain we will have some very interesting people from Dutch companies to speak at events and share their stories.
 
Are there any events planned where it is possible to meet you? 
I am based in Kungsbacka and will have a small office in Gothenburg, however I want to get out and about as much as possible and look forward to a time hopefully in the not too distant future where current restrictions can be lifted. Along with the Embassy and Dutch companies we plan to have Dutch pavilions at a number of trade exhibitions next year. Two examples are Nordbygg in Stockholm and Vitalis in Gothenburg. One particular happening to be aware of is of course Gothenburg’s 400th birthday in 2021. We had been hoping to mark this occasion and the Dutch involvement in Gothenburg’s development with a series of event next year. Unfortunately with most official activities now postponed until 2023, we will be looking at some other way to celebrate this important milestone before the big party takes place in two years’ time.

​/M.N.

​On behalf of the board of Dutch Chamber we would like to thank everyone attending our very first live Back-to-work Mingle at the Sheraton Hotel on the 3th of September. It was great to see so many known and new members, especially after this turbulent time with Covid-19. To our satisfaction, regardless of safety measures, everybody seems to have had a great time and we would like to express our gratitude to the Sheraton Hotel in particular for their hospitality and care to secure a safe event. Furthermore, it was a great honour to welcome our new Dutch ambassador, Bengt van Loosdrecht. We look back on a wonderful night with the creation of so many new connections. We are looking forward to seeing you again soon in one of our events.
/Dirk Carlier
​

Elis Dijkstra has recently joined the Dutch Chamber as an associate member. She is the chair of De Nederlandse school in Stockholm, so we were curious to find out more about her and this school, as many of our members have school-going children (either expat or Dutch-Swedish).

Please introduce yourself:
My husband Jos and I are both Dutch and we have lived overseas for over 17 years now, starting out in Sydney. We then briefly came back to Haarlem to renovate a house and get married thinking we would settle there, before another foreign adventure in Munich lured us back into expat life. Our two children were born there, after which we moved to London and now for the last three years we have lived in Stocksund, where we will stay for the foreseeable future. I have been the 'trailing spouse' as you call it for most of these years, so every new country we move to presents me with new challenges and opportunities to find a meaningful way to spend my time and contribute to my new community. Coming from a background in emergency assistance, I seem to seek out the role of organiser or problem solver mostly. Besides that, I enjoy bringing communities together, be it Dutch or international, so my activities have ranged from coordinating repatriations, to organising events, to being on a school intercultural advisory committee or on a Dutch school board at the present time. 
 
 What can The Dutch School offer children of expats and Dutch-Swedish families?
The Dutch School of Stockholm (De Nederlandse School Stockholm) exists now for 23 years and we currently employ 5 teachers that teach approximately 65 children aged 4 to 16 in 7 different groups during 3 afternoons each week in the locations of the BISS. We are a not-for-profit foundation with a voluntary board and are inspected by the Dutch inspector for education. Our population consists half of expats, so families of two Dutch parents that are here for a few years and then move on or return to the Netherlands. For these families the main objective is to keep up their Dutch language to a standard so that the children can easily return to an age-appropriate class upon return to the Netherlands.
We offer a high standard of education and have qualified teachers, up to date teaching methods, books and tests (CITO) to make this happen. The other half of our population consists of families that live here long term and mostly have 1 Swedish and 1 Dutch parent and for them it is more important to keep up the language so they can speak to their grandparents for instance, join in the Dutch cultural activities, or be able to study at a Dutch university later on.
Also for expat children like mine that have never lived in the Netherlands this is a consideration, because a Dutch university will not just accept them with a foreign secondary diploma. Proof of sufficient Dutch language comprehension and speech is necessary, which is why we offer the 4th year secondary school students the chance to sit for their CNaVT (Certificaat Nederlands als Vreemde Taal) exam. If they pass this, they get a certificate confirming their Dutch competency and this is accepted by most Dutch and Flemish universities. For the Swedish-based students this is also interesting, because the level at which we teach is of a higher level then Modersmål and this certificate is equivalent to an A mark in a foreign language. Many Swedish schools accept the certificate and a student may then be able to substitute this high mark for a lower one in another language and get more points that way. 
 
What made you accept the challenge of chairing the board of The Dutch School?
As my kids were born in Germany and have never lived in the Netherlands or gone to school there, I find it very important for them to connect with other Dutch children and for our family to be part of a Dutch community, both from a language and a cultural perspective. After a Dutch preschool in Munich, we went to an international school in the UK where all kids got mother tongue lessons 5 hours per week during their normal school day. The school provided 14 different mother tongues, because their vision was that each child should first of all learn their mother tongue properly, in order to better learn any second or third language, which I strongly believe to be true. After leaving the UK we were lucky enough to end up here, where there was another great Dutch language school already in place. What better way to spend my time than to invest in my as well as other kids' language education, so I joined the board of volunteer parents, firstly organising cultural activities like Sinterklaas and King's Day and since a year as chairperson. I find it to be challenging on a personal level, because although I have led teams before, things like writing a 4-year school plan and policy to further professionalize the school or hiring new teachers in a hr capacity is new to me. Also of course the Corona-crisis has added an extra dimension of challenges, but I keep learning and that's the way I like it!
 
How can the Dutch Chamber be of use for De Nederlandse school?
I joined the Dutch Chamber not just for the great cultural exchanges that go on there between Sweden and the Netherlands (I am very much looking forward to the online beer tasting event for instance), but on a professional level I hope to make some connections with other members that could benefit the school and Dutch language and culture in general. Not everyone knows about the Dutch school when they first come here, and we are always working on that, lately also more on social media, but I would love for the school to be widely known and for companies that have Dutch employees to know about us. Also, being a not-for-profit foundation we are always looking for ways to connect with companies that also embrace a Dutch culture for sponsorship opportunities especially for our cultural events, to keep the school fees as low as possible and we can continue to provide high quality Dutch language education. We already have a longstanding cooperation between our school and KLM for instance, where they assist us to fly in a Dutch children's book author for the book week cultural day, or even Sinterklaas himself one time! I am looking forward to getting to know other members in person soon!

/M.N.