Transitions in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area aren't delayed by lack of ideas. They're delayed by systems too slow to act. Young professionals are the accelerators. This is their day.
In 2025, 150 young professionals walked into the same room, from energy, logistics, finance, government, real estate and tech. Not to sit through presentations. Not to collect business cards. To work on the things that keep their region stuck. One day. And conversations that didn't stop when the lights went off.
ORAM Next Gen Festival — aftermovie 2025
The transitions reshaping the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area aren't happening somewhere in the future. They're happening now, in the port, in the grid, in the office, in the data infrastructure under your feet.
And yet things move slower than they should. Not because people don't care. Not because the ideas aren't there. But because the systems around those ideas are built to protect themselves. Complex decision-making. Competing interests. Risk-averse governance. The kind of friction that turns urgency into inertia.
ORAM Next Gen Festival exists to cut through that. Not with inspiration theatre. Not with panels of people congratulating each other. With real knowledge, honest conversation, and a room full of people who are done waiting for permission to move things forward.
Young professionals are the builders of what comes next. They can't do it without the partners, institutions and organisations that co-create this platform. But the energy, the urgency and the responsibility to act starts with them.
Read our missionEvery focus area was chosen for one reason: it matters to the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area right now. These aren't trends. They're the questions the region has to answer, drawn directly from the Draghi report, the Wennink report and the Dutch AI Deltaplan.
Every speaker at this festival has one thing in common: they work on the topic they talk about. New speakers announced regularly from April 2026.
Minimum 1 speaker announced per week from April through August 2026
In 2025, the room included professionals from Arcadis, Port of Amsterdam, Gemeente Amsterdam, SADC, Snakeware, Fresh Professionals and more. The mix is deliberate. The value comes from the fact that everyone comes from a different corner of the system — and that nobody has the full picture alone.
The organisations behind ORAM Next Gen Festival aren't sponsors in the traditional sense. They're co-creators. They bring challenges. They send their people. They take responsibility for what happens after the festival.
We are currently looking for a Main Partner for the 2026 edition. Every partnership is tailored — built around what you can genuinely contribute and what you need in return.
Become a partner
