‘The competition is a playful way to encourage residents to make their garden or neighborhood greener,’ says Daniel Opbroek. He is one of nearly 20 coordinators of the municipalitys climate action team. He helps residents with lifting tiles. In the Old North, Opbroek organizes actions to make the neighborhood greener, together with residents. Residents can ask him any questions. ‘For example, if someone wants to exchange tiles for a green patch. It can be a big step to figure out who in the municipality to contact. Or how to arrange the financing. Or to find out what rules apply. I help them with that.’

Extra Green

‘I register all green actions with the National Tile Lifting Championship. It works very simply. You enter on the website how many tiles you have removed. You also add a photo. This way, your contribution counts towards the competition. Of course, it’s nice if Rotterdam registers the most tiles and wins, just like in 2020. But it’s mainly about what all that extra greenery brings. Namely: more cooling and less water nuisance.

No more water nuisance for years

Opbroek remembers an action that residents are still talking about. ‘Three years ago, we created a green patch on Moerkapellestraat. We removed about 250 square meters of tiles. This meant removing a truckload of sand and bringing in 3 full truckloads of soil. The tile taxi had to pick up stacks of stones. The result of the green patch was not only beautiful to see. Residents also say that the street always flooded after heavy rain, but that doesn’t happen anymore.’

Register your tile

The National Tile Lifting Championship is for everyone who removes tiles. ‘Even if you just do it in your own garden, you can register it for the competition. And you can have the tiles picked up by the tile taxi. In 2024, we lifted a total of 217,738 tiles in Rotterdam. And a fun fact: we beat Amsterdam. There, residents lifted 195,562 tiles last year.’

Opbroek already has new actions planned. ‘On September 21, we will create a facade garden and green patch on Scholtenstraat. And plans are being made to tackle the large inner garden of Het Klooster. That is the House of the Neighborhood in the Old North. In the spring of 2026, we will replace tiles in the garden with . A few hundred square meters at once! Enough tiles in any case to register for the competition,’ he concludes with a wink.

More information about greening your garden, lifting tiles, and picking up tiles can be found on the website of the Rotterdam Weather Voice. Link opens an external page. You can directly register your lifted tiles via the website of the National Tile Lifting Championship.. Link opens an external page This can be done until October 31. Are you curious who the climate action team coordinator in your neighborhood is? Then check out Climate Action Team - Rotterdam Weather Voice. Link opens an external page.