The International Welcome Centre welcomes you to Utrecht Region. The International Welcome Centre Utrecht Region (IWCUR) is a central place where internationals can go to for government services and practical information about living, working and studying in Utrecht Region. Whether you are a newcomer or a current international resident: they are here to help you settle in! They offer a number of free services designed to advise and assist you during your arrival and stay in Utrecht Region.

Government formalities
Before starting your new life in Utrecht Region, you should be aware that you need to take care of some essential formalities. At the The International Welcome Centre they offer you personalised support to arrange your legal registration. Learn more at welcome.utrechtregion.com.

Practical information
After you have sorted out all the formalities, you may still have many questions related to living, working and studying in the Utrecht Region. No problem! Their experts are happy to provide you with information about topics related to housing, education, healthcare, finance, job opportunities, as well as cultural and leisure activities in the region. To start, you can find a lot of information related to these topics on their website.

Utrecht has almost 40,000 companies, 262,000 jobs and is good for no less than 216,000 train passengers per day. Did you know that Utrecht has no less than 39,405 jobs in the healthcare sector? And 120 innovative startups? Find many more interesting Utrecht facts in the short animation film ‘This is Utrecht’.

Utrecht has been shortlisted for the European City of the Year, alongside Porto and Sheffield, by the Academy of Urbanism. The annual Awards, which celebrate and learn from great placemaking, cover five categories of scale, including European City of the Year and Great Town, Neighbourhood, Street and Place. The winners will be announced at the Urbanism Awards in London on November 27 2019.

The Academy of Urbanism is a politically independent, not-for-profit organisation that brings together both the current and next generation of urban leaders, thinkers and practitioners. The Urbanism Awards are the Academy’s primary platform for recognising the best, most enduring or most improved urban environments. Learn more about Utrecht, the finalist in the European City of the Year category for the Urbanism Awards 2020:

The municipality of Utrecht and the Utrecht company ‘LomboXnet’ will install at least 145 public charging stations for electric cars in 2019. These innovative charging stations are suitable for storing solar energy in the batteries of electric cars and delivering them back to the neighborhood. The charging stations thus offer both the possibility of charging a car and discharging future cars. This ‘Vehicle 2 Grid’ technology is one of Iris Smart Cities’ 16 targeted solutions creating smarter, more sustainable cities.

‘LomboXnet’, together with various partners, has developed the technology in these charging stations in recent years. These charging stations are now being installed throughout Utrecht. Robin Berg (LomboXnet) explains: “The charging stations will make an important contribution to our future energy transition. By temporarily storing solar energy in electric cars, we can use this energy when it is needed. The charging stations are also suitable for charging at high power. This is great for electric motorists, who can charge their car quickly, but also favorable to use peaks of solar and wind energy for charging.”

A world first
For the first time these innovative charging stations are placed in a large urban charging network. A new international standard for communication between charging station and car is also being applied for the first time. In the future, different car brands can communicate with the charging station about how full the battery is and when charging or discharging can take place. Utrecht has a first. Deputy Mayor Victor Everhardt: ” I am proud that Utrecht has this world premiere and thus stays ahead with smart energy networks. It is an important step for the large-scale storage of sustainable energy in electric cars. Electric driving contributes to cleaner air in our city and a healthier living environment and brings Utrecht closer to an emission-free zone in 2030″.

Scource: IRIS Smart Cities

Between the 19^th and 21^st of November 2019, Utrecht Region will attend the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona. The Smart City Expo exists to empower cities and collectivize urban innovations across the globe. Dedicated to creating a better future for cities and their citizens, worldwide, this yearly expo showcases social innovation and provides a platform to forge partnerships and explore business opportunities.

Discover urban solutions
The Smart City Expo is based around the values of social inclusion and empowerment and is dedicated to promoting awareness, understanding, and critical reflection between inhabitants of different cities worldwide. Sustainability is a top priority. The 2019 edition will gather 25,000+ visitors, from both public and private sectors, across a wide range of industries, representing 700+ cities and 140+ countries.

Holland Pavilion at Smart City Expo
Utrecht Region is part of an innovation mission for Dutch cities and regions active in the Smart City sector. The Holland Pavilion at the Smart City Expo will showcase a wide selection of Dutch smart city solutions. We welcome you to meet our Dutch delegates in Gran Via, Hall P2, Level 0, Street D, Stand 473. Don’t miss out on the Utrecht Region stand and get acquainted with our centrally situated, smart, green, and healthy community, fondly described as the region of Healthy Urban Living.

About Utrecht Region
Utrecht Region is Europe’s hotspot for Healthy Urban Living. The region is the European frontrunner in creating and implementing future health technologies, urban solutions on air quality, smart mobility, urban sustainable planning, an inclusive society, renewable energy and energy efficiency, green public spaces and urban biodiversity.

Utrecht Region has just been ranked once again as one of the most competitive regions in Europe (source: European Commission, October 2019). The Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI) ranks Utrecht in a joint second place, together with London. Utrecht Region is located right in the center of the Netherlands, just 25 minutes from Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam.

For more information about growing or locating your company in Utrecht Region, please contact:

Roel Franken: roel.franken@utrechtregion.com / +31 6 57 33 89 28

Leonard van Nispen: leonard.vannispen@utrechtregion.com / + 31 6 41 54 98 28

Or meet our team in Barcelona between the 19^th and 21^st of November 2019. Our Dutch delegation is eager to learn, share experiences, talk about best practices, and open new paths for international collaboration.

According the European Innovation Scoreboard 2019 (EIS), the Netherlands ranks amongst the four strongest innovators, together with Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

The Netherlands scores far above average in the EIS for the quality of scientific publications, the number of patent applications, indicators for the labor force such as lifelong learning and preconditions such as excellent networks for fixed and mobile communication.

In addition to countries, the EIS also assesses European regions for their innovation power. In this comparison, the provinces of Utrecht and North-Brabant perform strongly. Utrecht is the 9^th best region for innovation in Europe, scoring high on higher education and public-private partnerships. North Brabant, ranked 15^th, is particularly strong in the number of registered patents.

For the full report see the European Commission website.

Ultimaker, the global leader in desktop 3D printing, relocates its global headquarters to Utrecht, in the heart of The Netherlands. In the last several years, the company has significantly expanded its overall business and team to service new and existing customers across every region on the planet.

“The strategic alliances we have formed over the last few years are boosting the adoption of 3D printing within the professional environment. Compelling business cases from global enterprises such as Ford, L’Oréal, Airbus, Volkswagen Autoeuropa, and Decathlon inspire others to embed desktop 3D printing in their professional workflow,” said Jos Burger, CEO of Ultimaker. “We selected this brand new building as our headquarters because it is easily accessible for our employees and will support our ongoing growth as we attract new talent to help professionals innovate every day with 3D printing.”

While the new headquarters will be located in Creative Valley  at Utrecht Central Station, Ultimaker also has its production facility in Zaltbommel and additional office spaces in Geldermalsen in the Netherlands.

For more information visit the Ultimaker website.

Utrecht Science Park is the largest science park in the Netherlands. Its concentration of knowledge acts as a magnet, with employee numbers rapidly increasing despite the recent economic depression.

This information has emerged from a report by Buck Consultants International, which investigates campuses and science parks once every four years on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Dutch cities of knowledge. The report identifies Utrecht Science Park as by far the largest science park in the Netherlands, whose knowledge institutions, care institutes and companies employ over 26,000 staff (this figure has meanwhile exceeded 27,000).

Such large science parks and campuses constitute significant economic value. Since 2014, there has been a 22% increase in the total number of companies and jobs at the ten top campuses and science parks. The fact that all campuses and science parks see a much stronger growth in employment than the municipalities where they are situated means that these places of business are in great demand.

Utrecht Science Park clearly has this magnetic effect as well, attracting not only company research & development departments but also new knowledge institutions such as RIVM. There has been a rapid increase in employee numbers at the Science Park because of fast-growing companies, such as Merus, Genmab and GendX, as well as the Princess Máxima Center and its staff of 800.

New technologies in life sciences and sustainability being developed at the Utrecht Science Park could herald important breakthroughs – in the fight against cancer, for example. The Science Park is the beating heart of one of Europe’s most competitive regions. Here, knowledge institutions, research institutes and companies all collaborate intensively to develop new solutions that enable people to live longer and healthier lives.

See for more information: Utrecht Science Park

See the full report (in Dutch): Inventarisatie en meerwaarde van campussen in Nederland