Towns and Cities, Growing Greener - European Commission
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Towns and Cities, Growing Greener
Leuven’s urban landscape is characterised by its With 30ha of pedestrianised zones, citizens can
historical buildings. stroll through the vibrant city streets.
Leuven at a glance
Approximately 30 kilometres from Belgium’s capital, Brussels, lies
Leuven, a charming, compact city of just under 100,000 citizens. Leuven
is characterised by a wide range of landscapes, including lush parks, a
beautiful botanical garden, 1,000ha of forest, and the river Dyle running
through the heart of the region.
A historic city An innovative city
The city has maintained many cultural relics Regularly ranked in the top 100 universities in
from its medieval past. All through the Middle the world, KU Leuven is known for its innovative
Ages, Leuven was characterised by numerous work and collaboration with scientific and
churches, monasteries and convents, many of research institutions based in the city. This
which are still intact and are now very popular wealth of shared knowledge makes the city a
tourist sights. hot spot for innovative research in a range of
different areas, such as climate change.
A young city
Leuven is largely known for its 600-year-old
university, KU Leuven. Thanks to Leuven’s large
student population (40,000), it is a lively, vibrant
and dynamic city.
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Leuven’s Accolades
• Youth City of Flanders 2017-2018 • 40,000 trees in public spaces and 70 parks
and open gardens
• Belgian Environment and Energy Award 2014
• Less domestic waste per person than the
• Most Sustainable Belgian Municipality 2013
average for the Flanders region
• Fair trade city since 2006
• 5km of bicycle lanes in the old city centre
• The number one car sharing city in Belgium
• 20 charging points for electric bicycles
• 30ha pedestrianised area
Leuven, a green city
Leuven 2030 – Innovative climate Green space and biodiversity
change governance The city of Leuven is committed to protecting
The NGO ‘Leuven 2030’, co-founded by citizens its wildlife; leading several biodiversity projects,
and 60 different organisations, is working in opening up covered streams and minimising
collaboration with the City of Leuven to achieve urban sprawl to safeguard its open space. The
a climate neutral future, uniting citizens, reappearance of some very rare and valuable
organisations, companies, governments species is a clear sign of success for the
and knowledge institutions to make this ambitious policy on nature conservation which
transition. Committed to public participation in has been in place since 1998.
environmental issues, Leuven is one of the few
cities in Europe to monitor its carbon dioxide
emissions monthly and share them online with
its citizens.
Leuven 2030 developed its own professional
communication strategy for its climate journey,
based on the principles of behavioural change.
Citizens are the key ambassadors for a green
and sustainable Leuven; their stories inspiring
others to look for solutions.
Clockwise from Left to Right
©Toerisme Leuven
©Miechel De Paep
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Leuven is striving to become the number one cycling
Leuven is home to the oldest botanical
city in Belgium through improving its environment for
gardens in Belgium.
cyclists as well as pedestrians.
Cycle and pedestrian friendly city Water
Leuven’s city centre is now car free thanks to The River Dyle plays an important role in
an ambitious circulation plan implemented in naturally cooling the city, however it also
2016, increasing levels of cycling by 30% and leaves it vulnerable to flooding. Over the past
reducing motorised traffic by almost 10% across decade the city has focused on introducing
the entire city. With 5km of cycle lanes in the flood protection measures and thanks to the
city centre and the continuous addition of bike construction of a wide spread sewer system, the
stands (currently 18,000), cycling in the city has water quality has improved drastically. Citizens
never been easier. Travelling to Leuven by bike can now enjoy a more open river running through
has also been made possible with the creation the city centre, and thanks to the improved
of cycle highways, such as the route connecting environment, the creation of green parks along
Leuven and Brussels. the Dyle has been made possible.
A clean city Air quality
Leuven is a very clean city thanks to its policy The decrease in motorised traffic, thanks to the
on domestic waste, maintaining a clean city 2016 circulation plan, has had a direct impact
centre and monitoring illegal dumping. In 2016 on local air quality; in some places air quality is
the average amount of domestic waste shrank up to 2.5 times better than before the plan was
to 118.40kg per citizen. This is lower than the implemented. To continue this improvement, the
average in the Flanders region and over 80kg city of Leuven and its citizens will embark on a
less than the target goal for 2022 for small cities new collaborative project to use smart sensors
in Belgium. The city has invested much effort in for measuring air quality.
the reduction of waste production by promoting
composting, reuse and repair.
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Over the past decade much work has been put The Braem Project, an initiative from ‘Stand up
into restoring natural floodplains and constructing for your neighbourhood’, worked with children’s
sustainable flood management infrastructure and organisation De Kettekeet, De Zevensprong school
improving water quality. and local residents to set up a community garden.
Leuven, European Green Leaf 2018
As European Green Leaf 2018, Leuven would like to inspire other cities
with its approach of involving the whole community to tackle climate
change. In 2018 the many projects focusing on energy use, energy
production, food consumption and mobility (amongst others), will further
contribute to a sustainable, inspiring and climate neutral future.
Energy, a collective approach A local and sustainable food system
Leuven has brought together a range of actors Sustainable food consumption and agriculture
to reduce the city’s energy consumption and are also key topics for Leuven. Currently
promote renewables. For instance, ‘LICHT working on a local food strategy involving over
Leuven’ a partnership of 15 organisations, 100 stakeholders, Leuven aims to help local,
supports local, citizen-led solar and wind energy small scale agricultural enterprises reach their
projects, promoting renewable energy and civic potential in sustainable food production develop
engagement and boosting the local economy. a policy to reduce food waste at every step in
Another example is the ‘Leuven Switcht’ the food production chain.
campaign, which offers a simple tool to help
people change to the cheapest available green
Mobility
The city of Leuven aims to be a car free city. The
energy contract.
city will continue to support civic platforms,
Leuven 2030 is helping 18 partners introduce such as ‘Straten Vol Leuven’ (Streets Full of
substantial energy efficiency measures in Leuven) and ‘Kom op voor je wijk’ (Stand Up for
various large buildings in and around Leuven, Your Neighbourhood), to unite organisations and
including offices, schools, elderly homes, social citizens to accelerate this transformation and
housing, and cultural buildings, once again ambitious modal shift.
demonstrating a commitment to collaboration
and knowledge sharing.
Clockwise from Left to Right
©Toerisme Leuven
©City of Leuven
©City of Leuven
©Sofie Abts
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European Green Leaf Award
Winners
European Green Leaf Award
Winnaars
• Leuven 2018
• Växjö 2018
• Galway 2017
• Torres Vedras 2015/2016
• Mollet del Vallès 2015/2016
• Växjö
• Galway
• Leuven
• Mollet del Vallès
• Torres Vedras
European Green Leaf Award European Green Leaf Award
The European Green Leaf is a competition De European Green Leaf is een wedstrijd die
aimed at towns and cities across Europe, with bedoeld is voor Europese gemeenten en steden
between 20,000 and 100,000 inhabitants met 20 000 tot 100 000 inwoners, en is een
which recognises a city’s commitment erkenning voor de inspanningen die deze steden
to better environmental outcomes. It is leveren om betere milieuresultaten te behalen.
the partner competition of the European Het is een partnerwedstrijd van de European
Green Capital Award for cities over 100,000 Green Capital Award voor steden met meer dan
inhabitants. Leuven in Belgium and Växjö in 100 000 inwoners. De Belgische stad Leuven en
Sweden are the joint European Green Leaf de Zweedse stad Växjö zijn de twee winnaars
Award winners for 2018. The Spanish city van de European Green Leaf Award in 2018. De
of Mollet del Vallès and the Portuguese city Spaanse stad Mollet del Vallès en de Portugese
of Torres Vedras were the winners of the stad Torres Vedras mochten in 2015/2016 de
inaugural European Green Leaf 2015/2016, eerste European Green Leaf in ontvangst nemen,
followed by the Irish city of Galway, who won gevolgd door de Ierse stad Galway, die de titel in
the title in 2017. 2017 kreeg.
The European Green Leaf and European Green De European Green Leaf en European Green
Capital Awards are initiatives of the European Capital Awards zijn initiatieven van de Europese
Commission. To find more information about Commissie. Surf via de onderstaande link naar
the winners, how to apply for the awards, how onze website voor meer informatie over de
the winners are selected, and for any other winnaars, hoe kandidaten zich kunnen inschrijven
questions, please visit our website below. voor de awards, hoe de winnaars worden
gekozen en voor alle andere vragen.
ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreenleafYou can also read
