This August DART joined a high-level California delegation in the Netherlands for the Climate & Mobility Innovation Exchange, a ten-day working mission designed to accelerate collaboration around clean mobility, advanced air transportation, and climate resilience.

Hosted by the Province of North Holland in partnership with the Governor’s Office of Land Use & Climate Innovation (LCI), the Coast-to-Coast Foundation, and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the exchange brought together leaders from state and local government, NASA, universities, tribal nations, and industry to share knowledge and chart pathways for cooperation.

A Shared Mission

Western Europe and the U.S. West Coast face many of the same challenges: traffic congestion, air quality, the energy transition, disaster preparedness, and equitable access to sustainable jobs. The exchange was designed to tackle these issues through field visits, policy roundtables, and innovation showcases aligned with two major European events—SAIL Amsterdam 2025 and the Dutch Formula 1 Grand Prix.

 

The California delegation included:

• Samuel Assefa, Director, Governor’s Office of LCI
• Dr. Parimal Kopardekar, NASA Aeronautics Research Institute
• Dr. Huy Tran, NASA Ames Research Center
• Tim Haile, Contra Costa Transportation Authority
• Councilmember Caity Maple, City of Sacramento
• Heidi Moore-Guynup, Blue Lake Rancheria
• Tarek Tabshouri, Caltrans Division of Aeronautics
• Josh Metz & Chris Bley, DART (Drones, Aviation & Robotics Technology)

Together, the group explored Dutch innovations in hydrogen mobility, electric aviation, sustainable port operations, smart city planning, and civil-military airspace cooperation.

Key Highlights

• Meetings at the Dutch “NASA,” Royal NLR – California and Dutch leaders compared approaches on airspace integration, eVTOL vs. eCTOL technologies, and dual-use airspace management.
  
• Port of Rotterdam demonstrations – including drone-based fire response, hydrogen fueling, and U-Space traffic management for future eVTOL operations.
  
• METIP Living Lab in Den Helder – presentations on maritime logistics, wildfire detection with NASA, and regional innovation clusters.
  
• EU-level policy sessions in Brussels – with the European Commission’s DG MOVE and DG CLIMA, alongside partners from Baden-Württemberg and the POLIS network.
  
• Electric aviation at Teuge Airport – delegation members experienced Europe’s first e-flight school, including hands-on training in electric aircraft.

A Historic Agreement

The exchange culminated in the signing of the Transatlantic Agreement on Air Mobility (2025–2028) between:

• DART (California)
• METIP (Netherlands)
• Contra Costa Transportation Authority (California)
• Electric Flying Connection (Netherlands)
• Foundation Coast-to-Coast (Transatlantic NGO)

This landmark agreement commits the partners to:

1. Exchange knowledge on air mobility development and innovation.
2. Support field visits and missions (including DART’s October 2025 convening and major summits like ADW 2026 and LIFT 2026).
3. Advance collaborative projects, such as governance models for integrating air mobility into sustainable multi-modal systems.
4. Promote workforce and curriculum development, including Bay Area LEEDS and international academic partnerships.
5. Engage in joint presentations and exchanges at leading conferences.

As DART Executive Director Josh Metz noted:

“This agreement moves us from dialogue to action. By connecting California’s innovation ecosystem with our Dutch counterparts, we are laying the groundwork for shared solutions that advance climate-smart aviation, resilient infrastructure, and inclusive workforce opportunities.”

Looking Ahead

The Climate and Mobility Innovation Exchange demonstrated the power of cross-sector, cross-border collaboration to accelerate change. For Monterey Bay DART, the trip reinforced our role as a catalyst for emerging technology ecosystems, aligning industry, academia, and communities to pursue equitable access to future opportunities.

Next steps include:

• Coordinating follow-up exchanges and project teams with Dutch and California partners.
  
• Bringing international perspectives to the 2026 LIFT Summit in Monterey.
  
• Advancing workforce pilots such as the Aircraft Maintenance Technician Apprenticeship (AMTA) and RV-12 Build Lab in Pajaro Valley.
  
• Continuing to represent the Central Coast and California in global conversations about the future of flight and sustainable mobility.
  

The Climate & Mobility Innovation Exchange was not just a trip—it was the launchpad for a new phase of transatlantic cooperation in climate-smart innovation.

Onward!