I don’t think I have to explain to a Dutchy what Gemeente Amersfoort is. But for others: it's the municipality of the city of Amersfoort. Not just any city, but a European City of the Year. An award it received due to its unique heritage, progressive planning, and the happiness & health of its inhabitants. Lucky for us, they chose to represent their city with our notebooks.
The history and ambitions of Amersfoort
As one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands, it may come as no surprise that they have such a rich heritage. Amersfoort values this history by preserving its many historical buildings like the Onze Lieve Vrouwentoren, Sint-Joriskerk, Monnikendam, and Koppelpoort. Moreover, there is a neighborhood made entirely of stones from the old city walls, creating a truly unique atmosphere that makes you feel you are standing in a medieval town.
But what makes Amersfoort stand out even more, in our humble opinion, is that they are not stuck in the past. They have very progressive ambitions for the future. They treasure their history and take good care of their current inhabitants while always looking ahead.
So, what are their ambitions? Simple, to strive towards a good life. Amersfoort is working to become a green, sustainable city for this and future generations. A mission we, unsurprisingly, can get on board with.
Flowers are great, but sustainable notebooks are even better!
A big part of Amersfoort’s ambition is sustainability with a commitment to their city and the planet. So, they decided that an onboarding gift should reflect this, setting a good example for employees. They chose to replace the traditional flower bouquet with a sustainable alternative: an erasable stone paper notebook with a handwritten card on growing paper.
Instead of receiving a bunch of flowers with a brief life, you can now grow your own flowers and plant an entire tree with your welcome notebook gift. An impressive feat on your first day!
This first day of every Gemeente Amersfoort employee will be remembered by nature for hundreds of years as their trees grow and thrive. Where they keep building their city in new sustainable ways, we will continue to reforest the planet. Some great teamwork if you ask me.
Not an alternative but an upgrade
The notebooks themselves are a hit! They love being able to gift a sustainable alternative to their employees but were also really impressed by the high quality of the product and how easily you can erase the text without leaving any marks. It’s always good to be sustainable, but it’s even better when the new alternative feels like an upgrade. And that's some feedback we would love to set in stone ;)
What's the next step? Hopefully, we will continue to replace single-use paper notebooks with erasable notebooks across Gemeente Amersfoort. We can’t wait to make even more impact together.