The Johan Cruijff ArenA recently became the first stadium in the world to achieve B Corp™ certification. Behind that milestone is a broader ambition: to use the stadium as a living lab where businesses can experiment with technologies in a demanding, real-world environment.
“We have a responsibility to leave this world a better place than when we started. Today, we are a living lab for businesses that want to experiment with technologies that can make the industry more sustainable.”
For companies developing new solutions, testing is only one part of the challenge. Technologies also need opportunities to prove their value, become commercially viable and be adopted by others.
A stadium brings many systems together in one place—from energy and mobility to visitor flows, events and facility management. That makes it an interesting environment for testing ideas that may eventually be relevant far beyond the venue itself.
In an interview with IQ Magazine, COO Hidde Salverda (alumni of Hotel Management School Leeuwarden) discusses the Johan Cruijff ArenA’s long-term sustainability ambitions and its aim to contribute to change across the stadium industry.
Read the full interview here:
https://www.iqmagazine.com/magazine/qa-hidde-salverda-johan-cruijff-arena-global-stadium-report-2026/