News
Ten municipalities invest in green-blue urban networks
31. Aug 2022
Ten Flemish municipalities take the lead in the development of green-blue urban planning and climate adaptation. This is part of ‘Green-blue Arteries in the built-up space’, a call for projects within the context of the Flemish government's Blue Deal and ‘Vlaanderen Breekt Uit!’ of the Open Space Platform. Within this trajectory AWB will take on the role of process coordinator, putting emphasis on raising the ambitions of the projects and gathering the knowledge gained.
The municipalities of Menen, Harelbeke, Izegem, Geraardsbergen, Antwerpen, Vorselaar, Kontich, Landen, Boutersem en Genk are taking the next step towards a less paved Flanders, leaving more room for greenery and water. Thanks to the open call ‘Green-blue networks in built space’ the municipalities will start working on climate adaptive projects, in which they will gather and share knowledge concerning measures, methods and collaborations. In this way the municipalities will become pioneers in desealing and climate adaptation.
Two generations of Pilot Projects Desealing lay the basis for Green-blue Networks. However, this trajectory aims to tackle more difficult questions such as preventing the re-increase of hardened surfaces or rethinking financial reasoning. We will work on forming coalitions and making ambitious designs, but will also support towards future-proof realisation and management of projects.
In close collaboration with a group of design supervisors, experts, desealing scanners and the Flemish Department of Environment, AWB supervises the ten municipalities to develop necessary practices and accumulate the knowledge gained. With ‘Green-blue networks in built space’ we are working towards the multiplication of innovative strategies concerning climate adaptive, green-blue planning.
