Belgium’s green gem wins inaugural European Green Cities Award

BERINGEN, Belgium: The Belgian city of Beringen has won the first European Green Cities Award this week.

In  recent  years,  Beringen (Belgium) has  been  transformed  from  an industrial mining town into a green gem. Many hectares of industrial heritage  have  been  redeveloped  as  a  tourist-recreational  project. The layout of the outdoor space and the use of green connects the urban functions such as living, working and shopping in a balanced way.

With this, Beringen has created a future-proof city. A city in which the green outdoor space provides a healthy living environment, popular retail properties, recreation, climate adaptation and other important values.

The way in which Beringen has realised this is an example for Europe, which is why the jury selected this project as the winner.

The award ceremony took place during a meeting on the successful application of green space in the urban environment. Because of the pandemic, the viewers attended the event digitally.

Six EU countries competed in the international finals against five projects from five other countries: The Netherlands: Grotestraat Nijverdal (Climate-adaptive city centre), France: Le quartier du Ramponneau (Urban renewal program/landscaping project), Bulgaria: Art center ‘Rila Renesans’ (Social infrastructure and education), Denmark: The Climate City in Middelfart (Climate adaption and urban development), Germany: Taylor Park (Green industrial zone) .

The  international  competition  was  preceded  by  national  competitions  in  the various countries. Additional info about the projects: https://thegreencity.eu/award

The  chairman of the jury is Mr Jan-Dieter  Bruns from Germany, president of ENA, the European  Nurserystock Association and regular contributor to FloraCulture International.  Furthermore, the jury is composed of the  following members: Mr. Rudi Geerardyn (Landscape Architect), Deputy director VVOG, Belgium, Ms. Kirsten Lund-andersen (Landscape Architect), Citygardner in Aalborg,  Municipality and chairman of Park-og Naturforvalterne in Denmark, Ms Velyana Naidenova  (Landscape  Architect),  Chairman  of  the Board Union of Landscape Architects in Bulgaria, Ms Catherine Muller (Landscape Contractor) Member of the board of VAL’HOR in France, Mr Tom Bosschaert (Engineer /  Architect),  Except Integrated Sustainability in The Netherlands, Mr Yasin Otuzoglu (Landscape Architect), representing ELCA, and Ms Diana Culescu (Landscape Architect), representing IFLA Europe Green Cities for a Sustainable Europe.

The Award is an initiative of Green Cities for a Sustainable  Europe. This is a campaign, funded by CHAFEA (EC) that stimulates the greening of public space by providing innovative ideas, information based on scientific research  and  technical  expertise. The activities of this platform focus on certain themes: wellbeing, climate, economy, biodiversity, and social cohesion. For more information visit www.thegreencity.eu