A murderer was on the loose at Green Energy Park! At least, in a game initiated by Svenja Enke (Climate Alliance) at the third IB-Green project meeting, which took place from 18 to 20 June in Mechelen, Belgium. The aim of the deadly game was to strengthen the sense of belonging in the group, since project partners could avoid being “killed” by talking with another, for example about their project activities.
In Mechelen, IB-Green partners were greeted with typically variable Belgian weather: rain upon arrival, but sunshine just on time for the site visit of Green Energy Park. Danny Dewit, project manager of Green Energy Park, guided the IB-Green partners to see examples of green and blue infrastructure implemented on company grounds as well as to visit a so called “smart village lab”, for appliances such as heat pumps, batteries, solar panels and other innovative technologies that contribute towards the energy transition.
Further, the quaint city close to Brussels provided the participants with practical examples of how green and blue infrastructure can successfully be implemented in an urban context. Traces of (past) transnational cooperation in North-West Europe were also visible: Project partners found evidence of the impact of RegEnergy, as well as Water Resilient Cities, two former Interreg North-West Europe projects.
The main work of the project meeting was centered
around three working group sessions. In these sessions, the partners worked on joint communication measures for their
project activities, a joint IB-Green
strategy and a monitoring and
evaluating framework for adaptation measures implemented within IB-Green.
In the first session on communication for project activities, the goal was to establish how project partners can effectively reach out to target groups such as municipalities or companies. One important point: When communicating about climate adaptation or green and blue infrastructure, it is important to consider whether an audience has background knowledge on this complex topic. Anna-Christine Sander from HLNUG (HLNUG, Hessisches Landesamt für Naturschutz, Umwelt und Geologie) explained that the Hessian authority uses its network of “Hessian Climate Municipalities” to reach out to local authorities. Municipalities are encouraged to become a part of this network by receiving better funding rates for potential adaptation measures.
In the second working group session, project partners were asked to discuss and feed the draft IB-Green strategy. In this strategy, the aim is to create a common baseline of challenges regarding climate adaptation in industrial and business parks and to identify main priorities to take action. Franziska Böhm (Wissenschaftsladen Bonn), emphasized that the IB-Green strategy should especially highlight blue infrastructure, which is often not given the same importance as green infrastructure. One reason behind this is that blue infrastructure requires more technical expertise, and especially municipalities are often lacking engineers. To give inspiration, Maurice Nilles (Ministry of Spatial Planning and Housing, Luxemburg) and Marine Laborde (European Metropolis Lille) presented strategies from the national (Luxemburg) and municipal (Lille) level.
Finally, project partners worked on a monitoring and evaluation framework for adaptation measures. The aim of the session was to define and prioritize criteria and indicators, in order to not only support planning and decision making in municipalities, but also to provide accountability e.g. towards citizens, as well as support learning and exchange. Alena Hayer, from the municipality of Singen, stressed that for the monitoring and evaluation of adaptation measures it is important to consider what to effectively measure with a limited budget: In her eyes, for instance, the positive effect of cooling trees is sufficiently documented in existing literature and does not need to be measured.
IB-Green is very grateful and thankful to Green Energy Park, the hosting partner of the meeting in Mechelen, not just for a great meeting, but also the diligent preparation and on-site support! Next stop for IB-Green project partners: Lille, in November, for the mid-term conference.