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.

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:

Our Consultancy, to steward organizational change Our Institute, to build collective intelligence Our Ventures arm, to create future infrastructure Our Software arm, to develop scalable tools And our Foundation, to empower communities

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.

Metabolic celebrates 10 years of making positive impact

The first decade of tackling systems change in the global food system, in industries, and in urban areas has produced a total of 546 projects (and counting) across 43 countries. Our team now consists of nearly 100 dedicated people from all over the world, plus the additional 30 bright interns we host annually. The next 10 years promise to continue creating a world in which economic activity stays well within planetary boundaries.

REFLOW project

That started in 2019 concludes with a digital tool to track resource flows in cities, circular strategies for the six pilot cities based on our material flow and environmental impact assessment of their urban plastics, textiles, food, energy, and timber flows. Of the six pilot cities involved, Metabolic Institute helped Amsterdam find ways to reuse textiles, Paris to remanufacture timber at an art fair, and Milan assess food at the wholesaling market level.

European industrial value chains embark on systemic change

This month launches the SoTecIn Factory, which aims to stimulate systemic ventures that connect entrepreneurs, society, and industries within key industries defined by the EU Green Deal: electronics and ICT, batteries and vehicles, packaging, plastics, textiles, construction and buildings, and food, water, and nutrients. The goal is a transformation to low-carbon and circular value chains, thus strengthening the resilience and sustainability of European industry.