About

A systemic approach to sustainability.

Our mission

At Metabolic, we strive to transition the global economy to a fundamentally sustainable state.

A new economic model is necessary: one that ensures the wellbeing of all people and allows organizations to thrive without transgressing the safe boundaries of the earth’s natural systems.  And we don’t have much time. Metabolic advises governments, businesses, and NGOs on how to adapt to a fast-changing global context, while creating disruptive solutions that can dramatically shift how the economy functions. We crunch data, provide strategies and tools, build pilots, and create new ventures that develop scalable solutions to critical problems. Core to achieving our mission is the transition to an economy that is regenerative and ‘circular’ by design.

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Our Ecosystem

Metabolic is made up of five entities working together in a symbiotic way. Each exists to address what we believe are the critical leverage points for systems change:

The Metabolic Philosophy

We come from all over the globe with a range of backgrounds and perspectives, but when it comes to changing the world there are some things we all agree on.

Think in systems

Solving our biggest challenges requires always addressing them as a holistic system. By focusing on these systems, and the leverage points within them, we can ensure we affect the most impactful changes.

Do epic shit

The world needs big ideas and organizations who have the courage to follow through on making them a reality. Setting ambitious goals, engaging in pioneering projects, and expecting a lot from ourselves defines who we are.

Join forces

The challenges we all face cannot be solved alone. We work together with other organizations to maximize impact. We also ensure that our work is accessible and easy to build upon by supporting the open source community.

Make it fly

Ideas are only as good as the actions they lead to. We make sure our work is practical and scalable, paying close attention to users, stakeholders, and contexts, so things can really take off.

Empower others

We believe everyone has the potential to achieve great things. We invest in individual development and encourage the entrepreneurial spirit in us all. And where we see others doing amazing things, we help them to succeed.

Our story

Founded in 2012, Metabolic is a group of organizations based in Amsterdam, working to drive systems change and build a sustainable economy. This timeline highlights the milestones of our evolution.

February 2024

FOODE: Creating sustainable food systems for European Cities

Started in 2020, Metabolic Institute concludes the FoodE project – a project co-created together with other 15 European pilots. The project highlighted the success of an aquaponics greenhouse in Amsterdam Noord for sustainable urban food production, integrating advanced technologies and engaging the community in aquaponics education.

February 2024
January 2024

CENTRINNO: Heritage as a catalyst for a new industrial revolution

After four exciting years, Metabolic Institute concludes the EU CENTRINNO project. With nine pilot projects across Europe, the CENTRINNO project has worked to empower circular makers, highlighting the need for comprehensive policy for sustainable urban development that ensures the livelihood of diverse workforces.

January 2024
January 2024

New partnership charts a path for systemic change in the EU

We have launched the Systems Transformation Hub! In an effort to address global crises, the hub seeks to support the European Green Deal through holistic policy guidance and systemic change. It is backed by five leading organizations: Metabolic, EIT Climate-KIC, Systemiq, the Club of Rome, and the World Resources Institute.

January 2024
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Team

Join our team

We are a diverse group of data scientists, engineers, biologists, designers, systems scientists, and economists – and although we work on some pretty serious issues, we have a lot of fun doing it! Headquartered in Amsterdam, we have an international team that’s passionate about changing the way the economy functions. Find our open positions below. We also feature vacancies from across our ecosystem, including our spinoffs and ventures. Please check them out too!