Seraing, Belgium
City population: 378156
Duration: 2013 – ongoing
Implementation status: In piloting stage
Scale: Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level, Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Industrial
Last updated: October 2021

The acronym VERDIR stands for Sustainable Rehabilitation and Responsible Innovation (Valorisation de l’Environnement par la Réhabilitation Durable et l’Innovation Responsable) and is a project of the University of Liège, about the development of local economic activities based on urban and peri-urban agriculture. It aims to convert existing brownfield sites according to the needs of the population. This involves the large-scale production of vegetables and plants which can be used for food but also for the pharmaceutical industry and the production of biomass, which is increasingly needed (Ref. 1).

Architectural image of a square and green space between buildings
https://www.news.uliege.be/cms/c_10383499/fr/verdir-integre-au-master-plan-de-la-reconversion-du-site-des-acec-a-herstal

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Community gardens and allotments
  • Allotments
  • Community gardens
  • Other
  • Nature in buildings (indoor)
  • Green walls and ceilings

Key challenges

  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Conversion of former industrial areas
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Environmental education
  • Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
  • Economic development: agriculture
  • Employment/job creation
  • Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
  • Sustainable consumption
  • Sustainable production

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Ecological restoration of ecosystems

Project objectives

The general objective of the project VERDIR is the re-conversion of the Liège basin by the re-appropriation and greening of brownfields. By redeveloping an economic activity less dependent on globalization and focusing on the production of biomass and ecosystem services on the one hand, and on the other hand on the valorisation of high value added products. (Ref. 2) "VERDIR® wants to take advantage of brownfields by relying on the 3 pillars of sustainability which are respect for the environment, social equity and economic demand. VERDIR® also wishes to increase the well-being and quality of life of the inhabitants of the Liège Basin by combining food, alternative energy from living organisms in an innovative way, based on a platform that combines river transport, short circuits and recent revegetation technologies and as a result, open up new employment opportunities (Ref. 6, 2018). VERDIR also offers sustainable use of old buildings and waterways and contributes to sustainable development by allowing a soft transport and proximity of fresh products. This conversion will also lead to the creation of skilled jobs and the hiring of low-skilled workers in urban areas where unemployment rates are frequently above average. In addition, the quality of life of city dwellers will be significantly improved by access to fresh produce and the conversion of waste land into a more attractive landscape (Ref. 2).

Implementation activities

To achieve its general objective, the VERDIR® project comprised five phases following the project's start (2013-2017): 1) A feasibility study of the project in order to assess the economic, social, legislative and environmental context and to identify the products and technologies to be favored (2013); 2) Research projects carried out by the University and the economic community of Liège (2013); 3) Development of several pilot units in brownfield buildings for "off-soil" production of biomass and high value-added products (2013-2015); 4) The establishment of a labeled network of distribution for local producers in the Liège basin in order to integrate initiatives from urban agriculture to those of local agriculture (2013-2017); 5) The installation of a floating demonstration pilot unit to raise awareness among the general public and the business community about innovation and the possibilities for urban agriculture (Ref. 2). Example of pilot activities: "The former site of the ACEC (Electric Construction Workshops of Charleroi) in Herstal is today an industrial wasteland of 27 ha along the Meuse. SPI and the City of Herstal have the ambition to convert this place into a connected urban district. Partner of the project, the University of Liège is helping to redefine this place into an innovation hub. The Verdir project led by Prof. Éric Haubruge will find a place there. Dedicated in particular to urban agriculture, the project will benefit both from the proximity of water and energy essential for the cultivation of tropical plants, real reservoirs of molecules with high added value intended for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics" (Ref. 8).

Main beneficiaries

  • National-level government
  • Private sector/Corporate/Company
  • Researchers/University

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Researchers/university

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Unknown

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

"VERDIR® is a platform for networking the actors who will contribute to the transformation of the Liège Basin by enabling the production and valuation of biological, food and non-food materials in urban areas through technological and social innovation . The VERDIR project was born within the University of Liege and more particularly on its Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech campus. It is supported by scientists from most other Faculties (Architecture, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Sciences, Applied Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences) and in particular by the "Accenture Chair" in Sustainable Strategy at HEC-School of Management. As a federative project, initiated by the University of Liège with the support of most of the Faculties, "Verdir" also has the support of the Arcelor research center, the competitiveness clusters (notably the Mécatech cluster) and the ID-Campus (Ref. 1, 2).

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown
... a local policy or strategy? Unknown

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • EU funds
  • Public regional budget
  • Corporate investment

Type of funding

  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
  • Asset-backed funding (e.g., leasing)

Non-financial contribution

Type of non-financial contribution
  • Provision of land
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
  • Private sector (businesses, financial institution)

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Environmental quality
  • Improved waste management
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Restoration of derelict areas

Economic impacts

  • Increase of green jobs (e.g. paid employment positions)
  • Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
  • Increased market share for green economies

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved liveability
  • Increased access to healthy/affordable food
  • Increased sustainability of agriculture practices
  • Education
  • Increased support for education and scientific research

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

(1) Bruno, Boutsen (2015). Verdir entre dans le concret. Available at: Source link (Accessed: November 10, 2020).
(2) Rentier, Bernard (n.d.). Valorisation de l’Environnement par la
Réhabilitation Durable et l’Innovation Responsable. Available at: Source link (Accessed: November 10, 2020).
(3) Rentier, Bernard (2013). VERDIR project presentation. Available at: Source link (Accessed: November 10, 2020).
(4) Chardon, Frédéric (2012). L’ULg va créer une spin-off d’agriculture urbaine. Available at: Source link (Accessed: November 10, 2020).
(5) Remits, Jacqueline (2015). Agriculture urbaine : quand Liège devient fertile. Available at: Source link (Accessed: November 10, 2020).
(6) Haubruge, Eric and Nguyen, Kim (2018). La transition des friches industrielles comme outil de création de valeur environnementale, sociale et économique. Available at: Source link (Accessed: November 10, 2020).
(7) Liege Universite (2018). Verdir intégré au master plan de la reconversion du site des ACEC à Herstal. Available at: Source link (Accessed: November 10, 2020).
(8) Hach Hach (2019). Herstal: Verdir et le Master Plan pour les Acec. Available at: Source link (Accessed: November 10, 2020).