Belgium will host Europe’s biggest sportainment park
The facility will be located in Hasselt and is set to welcome its first visitors this spring
Local authorities will hand out the plants to people who want to help make their city get greener
Today, authorities in Brussels launched a campaign called ‘Tree Week’, aiming to make the Belgian capital a greener city. During this week, officials will distribute a total of 1,000 trees to citizens in different neighbourhoods. People participating in the campaign will then have to plant the saplings. The whole campaign will be carried out under the supervision of the city’s Green Spaces Agency, which will contribute additional 200 trees.
The initiative is part of Brussels’ Canopy Plan 2020-2030 (Plan Canopée) aimed at combating climate change and contributing to a more sustainable urban environment. The issue of nature in city policy is now up front and centre, and trees are in the spotlight this week.
To a large extent, Brussels’ Canopy Plan focuses on trees as a source of sustainability, listing some of their major benefits to the environment. For instance, a tree will store up to 120 kilograms of CO2 during its lifetime or capture up to 20 kilograms of fine dust particles each year. On top of that, they make excellent habitats for a variety of animals.
Furthermore, they provide natural air conditioning and can prevent the formation of heat islands. On the other hand, in winter, they act as a barrier to cold wind and lower the cost of heating.
The plan has three main axes: preservation, growth and citizen participation. The city aims to strengthen the preservation efforts of the existing green spaces through the creation of a Boommeester (Tree Master) who will be responsible for the proper implementation of the plan.
Second, local authorities in Brussels want to analyse the city and plant a tree everywhere they can. The third axis is about involving the citizens in the whole process and making greening the city a cause for all of them. This includes a proposed festival of trees.
In the programme for ‘Tree week’, local authorities will distribute 150 trees every day in communities across the city and officials from the Green Spaces Agency will plant a further 200 trees on Sunday. Meanwhile, during the rest of the week, citizens will have the opportunity to take part in guided tours about urban ecology, workshops on pruning trees for the winter and a conference on fruit trees.
Zoubida Jellab, Brussels Alderman for Green Spaces and Public Cleanliness explained the city aims to preserve and densify the plant tissue in public spaces and citizens can play a major role in the rejuvenation plan. They can really help make Brussels greener.
Citing concerns about humaneness, the legislation aims to discourage the proliferation of the so-called designer pet breeds
Naturally, many aren’t happy - not because of the reduced possibility for prayers, but because they felt it was an attack on welfare
The facility will be located in Hasselt and is set to welcome its first visitors this spring
Some autonomous shuttles in France are now doing their rounds without a human supervisor inside
Europe is striving to cut the costs of operating wind turbines on water
38,000 of these fellas help to purify the city air, so why not become friends with them?
2020 and 2021 were zero years for these types of events, but the break has not diminished its reputation
As Europe strives to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, Turku and Dijon are among a group of cities seeking to reach this goal two decades earlier
Some autonomous shuttles in France are now doing their rounds without a human supervisor inside
2020 and 2021 were zero years for these types of events, but the break has not diminished its reputation
Citing concerns about humaneness, the legislation aims to discourage the proliferation of the so-called designer pet breeds
The facility will be located in Hasselt and is set to welcome its first visitors this spring
The European Commission has published its first progress report charting the achievements of the socio-cultural movement that combines beauty, inclusion and sustainability
The 2023 edition of the creative initiative promises to be bigger, bolder and more inclusive
This initiative seeks to integrate the values of the New European Bauhaus into the European Commission’s 100 Cities Mission
Veni Markovski’s take on dealing with disinformation in the European Union's poorest country – Bulgaria
A conversation with the mayor of Utrecht on the occasion of her mission to COP27
A conversation with the President of the European Committee of the Regions, about energy, climate change and the underrated importance of cohesion policy