Leisure is important not only for the 13.500 inhabitants, also for the 694.847 tourists a year visiting Texel. Big events or many smaller leisure activities can have great impact on the island. This can be learned from experiences at the neighbour island Vlieland which hosts the yearly music festival “Into the great wide open”. This festival collaborates with Vlielabs, to ensure a sustainable festival. However so far, a strong point of Texel may be characterized by knowledge events and institutes: the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research is located there for decades, as is Ecomare and  events like Texel academy, Planet Texel (and now Engineering for sustainable development) are hosted. We wonder what would be distinguishing features of leisure on Texel, when Vlieland ‘owns’ music and art, and Oerol at Terschelling focusses on theatre.

Texel has a relatively strong position as a host of knowledge events and institutes. The Netherlands Institute for Sea Research is located there for decades, as is Ecomare. Events like Texel academy and  Planet Texel (and now the course Engineering for Sustainable Development) are hosted on the island. This combined with being a host not only for the 13.500 inhabitants, also for the 694.847 tourists a year there is great potential in profiling Texel as the knowledge island. Big events or festivals can have great impact. This can be learned from experiences at the neighbour island Vlieland which hosts the yearly music festival “Into the great wide open”, which collaborates with Vlielabs, to ensure a sustainable festival, and the island Terschelling which hosts the cultural festival Oerol. Tinker about the potential and possibilities of Texel as a knowledge island, when Vlieland ‘owns’ music and Terschelling theatre. What are the possibilities for engaging citizens in science? How can this contribute to sustainability?

Current initiatives:

- NIOZ http://www.nioz.nl/

- Ecomare http://www.ecomare.nl/

- Wadden academie http://www.waddenacademie.nl/en/

- Marine innovation center https://www.ecn.nl/newsletter/english/2012/december/centre-of-excellence-for-marine-innovation-on-the-isle-of-texel/

- D-exto