Future Europe: Recent Episodes
European Investment Bank
Future Europe showcases the innovations that will shape your future. From environmental clean-ups to vaccines, superlasers and smart city tech. The episodes feature a project from each of the 28 European Union countries focusing on health, education, mobility, agriculture, urban development or science. Future Europe presents the projects through the voices of the people involved in them, set against the backdrop of sounds recorded on site. There’s no narrator to tell you what to think. It’s your future; you can figure it out for yourself. With the help of Future Europe. From the European Investment Bank.
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Climate Solutions 2122 is going to blow your mind. Coming to you from 100 years into the future, the podcast tells you about the new technologies that are going to make it possible to beat climate change. And they’re already being developed as you listen to this podcast. Subscribe to Climate Solutions 2122 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and all other major podcast platforms. Find out how you’re going to survive.
Listen to Climate Solutions’ award-winning first season for a checklist of things you can do to stop climate change, our second season to find out what 30 000 people across Europe, the US and China say they would give up to solve the climate crisis, and our third season to find out how we will finance the fight against climate change.
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Listen to our new podcast - Monster Under the Bed!
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Listen to this episode of Future Europe if you want to know:
· How the Tallin airport is becoming more eco-friendly
· How the La Mure line in France is reshaping the economy of a whole community in a sustainable way
· … and why Londoners (and not only) are so enthusiast about Crossrail, a new high-speed network in London and surrounding areas
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Listen to this episode of Future Europe if you want to know:
- how Ilunion improves the lives of disabled people and gives them jobs across Spain
- how food waste factory Verspillingsfabriek is changing food production and making a social impact
- …and why prunes that are 3 milimetres too small will no longer be a problem.
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Listen to this episode of Future Europe if you want to know:
· how renovating and improving educational institutions, museums, entertainment centers and concert halls inspires teachers and students and makes citizens feel better about the future
· how future culture investments revitalize city centers and regenerate old architecture
· the recipe for chocolate chip cookies
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Listen to this episode of Future Europe if you want to know:
· how tomorrow’s doctors and nurses are being trained (you had better listen, because you may need them to save your life one day…)
· how nurses practice for births with a doll and a recording of a woman yelling at them in pain, so they’ll learn how to deal with stress—and how to deliver the baby, of course
· how a pre-school sets up its toys and materials within reach, so that children can play with the things that spark their imagination—not just the things the teacher gives them
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Listen to this episode of Future Europe if you want to know:
· How a Swedish company expanded small business electronic payments for shops and cafés to sell their products
· How cash-free is Sweden? Very. Hear how that happened
· How the European Investment Bank gave early support to the small business electronic payments infrastructure company
· … and which film deserved the 1973 Best Picture Oscar
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For the future of energy, we need to be sure that our supply is secure and that we use it efficiently. Three projects in Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Romania illustrate how the EU bank is financing projects Help achieve these goals.
Listen to this episode if you want to know:
· how alternative sources of energy can boost energy security
· how saving money motives people to save energy
· how climate action can be triggered by a combination of supply-side and demand-side incentives.
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From massive university projects to science toys, here’s how future education will change the way we learn. This special episode of Future Europe examines how future education will change, and shows you the projects from across Europe that illustrate these changes as they’re happening now. Listen to this episode of Future Europe if you want to know:
· how schools and universities will develop to attract innovation and funding
· how one company is making toys designed to attract children—and girls, in particular—to science
· what makes the perfect environment for learning at kindergarten level
· and of course if you just like cute kids.
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From using wasted food to lasers that sort through tonnes of sunflower seeds, here’s how future food will be produced—and how it might taste. This special episode of Future Europe examines how future food will change, and shows you the projects from across Europe that illustrate these changes as they’re happening now. Listen to this episode of Future Europe if you want to know:
· how synthetic fertilizers can cut energy consumption
· the weight of one sunflower seed
· the social impact of a project to cut food waste by 50%
· and what happens to the rest of the tomato, after the restaurant puts a single slice on your burger.
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From range anxiety to open-tolling, here’s how companies are making future driving safer and more sustainable. This special episode of Future Europe examines how future driving will change, and shows you the projects from across Europe that illustrate these changes as they’re happening now. Listen to this episode of Future Europe if you want to know:
· How companies test new electronic and automated vehicles
· How an “open-tolling” highway saves fuel consumption and makes driving safer
· What the world’s fastest electric car sounds like
· And how an Italian company works to eliminate “range anxiety” for e-drivers.
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Find out how an EIB loan helped make the Internet educational and safer in countries around the world.
- Upstream plans to give billions of people around world mobile internet access
- Company also offers safe online surfing and transactions
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how a new EIB financial instrument supports companies that want to consume less energy:
• Businesses in the Czech Republic can receive loans at good rates to lower energy use
• Lending facility helps small and medium firms in a range of sectors
• A Czech Bank uses its contacts and local knowledge to lead the project
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how innovative research and development into green technologies will change the global automotive industry.
• Automated, electric cars are solutions for a zero-emission future in our cities. Here’s how they’re being developed in Austria
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how scientists at a 78-year-old Danish company are developing innovative solutions for today’s environmental concerns:
• Without fertilizer world could feed only 4 billion of its current 7 billion people
• Innovative technology cuts energy consumption for the production of ammonia (for fertilizers) by 3%
• Energy efficient ammonia means less greenhouse gas produced in making the fertilizers needed for a growing population
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how the EU bank, with its Cyprus university finance, is helping young Cypriots stay on their island—even after the financial crisis—to build the island’s future:
• The number of students studying at the University of Cyprus has grown from 486 to over 10,000 in the last 15 years
• Eight major building projects are underway, with 75% of the costs covered by EIB funding
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how the design and construction of new facilities countrywide is helping Finland respond to a growing, and aging, population:
• Constructing over 58 new premises across the country as it faces an ever-increasing demand for care facilities both for young and old
• Designing and constructing bright, clean and modern buildings tailor-made to the requirements of the users, from kindergarten onwards
• Providing further support and care for the elderly – in a country with the most rapidly ageing population in Europe!
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how the renovation of an old mountain train line will benefit a remote region of France:
• New stations and a restaurant with a terrace and a panoramic view to serve expected increased numbers of visitors
• Boosting local businesses, including a museum, restaurants and shops
• Increased capacity on the train line will bring an anticipated 100 000 tourists to the site every year
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how a major German environmental regeneration project revitalises a once heavily industrialized part of the Ruhr Valley.
• New infrastructure allows the river to become a haven for leisure and wildlife
• Wastewater pumps move 20,000 litres per second
• Land returns to nature after decades of heavy industrial pollution
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how investment in Valletta’s architectural heritage boosts the national culture:
· An iconic new parliament building designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano has brought the democratic process closer to the people.
· The new city gate has revived the city’s economic prospects.
· The old opera house, bombed during WW2, has been restored as a state-of-the-art open air theatre
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how Transport for London is dealing with the projected growth of the British capital to 10 million people by 2030 with a new rail connection right across the city:
· Connecting Heathrow Airport in west to the centre of the city and on into the East
· Increasing rail transport capacity by 10%
· Introducing lighter, more eco-friendly trains that offer amenities including free WiFi, air conditioning and live travel information
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how Katowice became a destination for music, culture and sport:
• Katowice’s “cultural quarter,” built on the area of an old coal mine, now contains a concert hall, conference center, sports arena and museum
• Katowice is now a UNESCO “City of Music”
• The city’s International Conference Center, with a capacity for 12,000 visitors, will host the COP 24 climate conference in December 2018
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how Ilunion makes life better for disabled people and gives them jobs across Spain:
• Accessible hotels serve the different needs of all guests
• Funding research in new technology to help those with visual, auditory or cognitive impairment
• With 42% of its workers disabled
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how Riga Transport company is facilitating wider use of environmentally friendly public transport in the city of Riga in a number if ways:
· Introducing 20 new accessible tram units to operate on their network
· Trying out trolley buses with hydrogen fuel cells
· Upgrading tram tracks and overhauling a tram depot to maintain the new rolling stock
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how the installation of the first network of charging stations across Italy is encouraging the adoption of e-mobility.
• Previously behind other EU nations, Italy will now be at the forefront of developments in e-mobility
• Infrastructure will now be in place ready for anticipated greater adoption of electric vehicles
• Sales of electric cars more than double in a year
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how a new Slovenia automated tolling system for heavy vehicles helps transport and trade:
• Old toll plazas are being demolished to allow for uninterrupted travel on Slovenia’s motorways
• Open motorways mean savings for transport companies in time and fuel
• The absence of barriers is better for safety, with an immediate and direct reduction in accidents
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how a new sunflower oil processing facility in Bulgaria boosts the country’s agricultural sector:
• New factory doubles Oliva’s productivity
• Sunflower seeds can be consumed by humans and animals—and also can occasionally be sold as biofuel
• Oliva creates new jobs for local workers who might otherwise have to seek employment abroad
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how Portugal science toys help children across Europe learn about science:
• Providing constructive learning through fun scientific experiences.
• Helping children learn as individuals and transmit their scientific knowledge to others.
• Introducing science to girls who often used to feel excluded from the subject.
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how a state-of-the-art Ireland healthcare training helps medical students from all over the world.
• Providing previously unimaginable training through ‘real life’ simulations using special mannequins
• Helping students record and evaluate their performance with support from peers and colleagues—without risk to patients
• Hospitals feel the benefits already as visiting medical students are “much calmer”
• When do patients “have a good cry”?
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how a floating terminal makes Lithuania more independent of Russian gas supply:
· Visit the offshore jetty and hear technicians describe the sometimes dangerous work they do
· Learn how the European Investment Bank’s Lithuania gas investment makes the country’s energy supply more independent
· Learn about the contribution to Lithuania’s economy
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how Luxembourg coped with fast population growth in its schools:
· Fast population growth put Luxembourg education under pressure until the investment from the European Investment Bank
· How to make a school energy efficient
· How a renovated school builds student motivation
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how a food waste factory in the Netherlands is changing food production and making a social impact:
• Transforming waste and surplus ingredients into delicious new products
• Providing a new facility for experts and entrepreneurs to learn, plan and discuss food recycling
• Pioneering a new system to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030
• 70% of the factory’s workers are disabled
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out why a Croatian entrepreneur decided to build the world’s fastest electric car in Zagreb:
· How did he make an electric car with a 360 km per hour top speed
· Listen to an electric car as it goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.5 seconds
· Learn how this electric car can be used in other vehicles, including wheelchairs
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how a Tallinn Airport investment makes Estonia a key link between Europe and Asia:
· On Europe’s periphery, Tallin is winning the fight against bigger airports, with passenger traffic up 20% a year
· Learn about the smart infrastructure upgrade by the Tallinn Airport investment from the European Investment Bank
· How does Estonia’s northerly position help Tallinn win the fight for flights against bigger European airports
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how electronic payments infrastructure helps small businesses compete with big firms:
· iZettle expands the tools small businesses can use to sell their products
· How cash-free is Sweden? Very. Hear how that happened
· The European Investment Bank gave early support to the electronic payments infrastructure company
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how a big Romania energy efficiency programme to renovate Soviet-era apartment buildings in Bucharest helps in the fight against climate change:
· 20% of Romanians can’t afford to heat their homes. After these renovations, heating bills are cut 50% to 60%
· Some of the residents didn’t like the idea of moving their pigeon coops from their roofs—until they found out how much money they’d save
· The European Investment Bank finances a bigger portion of the deal than usual, because it represents action against climate change
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how scientists in Hungary built a super high-tech laser facility that allows researchers to observe the reaction of molecules and atoms to extreme light. In this episode learn:
· How this advanced technology works
· What “attoscience” is
· What it could do for the future of medical science, chemistry, climate science, nanotechnology and developing new materials
· How the EU bank financed the project
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find how a Belgium smart cities infrastructure programme transformed one small town’s historic centre:
· Smart Cities infrastructure tailored to new needs of citizens
· How to create a Smart Cities programme for any city or town
· Programme revitalises town centres across Belgium
· One third of Belgian citizens have benefited from Belfius/European Investment Bank project
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Find out how a Slovakia education investment boosts the national culture:
· From “very ugly” to “beautiful,” a school renovation that inspires the artists who train there
· Modernising a landmark high school improves students’ results
· Inspiration for young people leads to greater national artists
For more information visit eib.org/future-europe.
Do you ever wonder what life would be like in the future? What if I told you you could hear the future happening around you now on this podcast. From the world's fastest electric car in Croatia, to super laser technology in Hungary, and protecting against antibiotics resistance in Denmark.
One episode from every country in the European Union.
Subscribe to Future Europe, from the European Investment Bank.