Leuven shows leadership and takes its responsibility, inviting others to take theirs for ‘a better future’

Yesterday, the City of Leuven, as one of the 112 EU climate neutral and smart mission cities hosted a partnership and investment event to help accelerate the transition towards not only net zero, but also a more adaptive, resilient, and inclusive urban future.

Over the years Mohamed Ridouani and the Leuven 2030 team have created a diverse ecosystem and a shared goal that invests in improving the quality of life for all. The team has been proving that personal connections and mutual respect allow people to go beyond their comfort zone, and to co-leverage rather than merely connect. Yesterday he again stressed the importance of trust between actors, to shape the conditions for a just transition for all stakeholders involved. For both the short and the long term. He looks at tangible projects that are at human scale and neigbourhood level, but are also replicable, scaleable and investable and thereby help the EU Green Deal become reality. Creating critical mass and an investment portfolio approach, will help drive volumes that help share risks and become investable, and thereby also allow a transition that leaves no one behind. As he pointed out earlier, why makes plans for the long term, if some families in the city can’t make it to the end of the month?

The intervention of Frederik Jan van den Bosch was in line with Ridouani’s. On how to indeed drive a return to society rather than only a return on investment approach, where apart from risk and investment, also impact is seriously taken into account.

Kurt Vandenberghe stressed the importance of implementation. As the regulatory framework has now been put in place, cities will more and more act as test beds for the envisaged transition. Especially with the climate transition offering a narrative that addresses as well mitigation and adaptation, but also challenges related to safety and security, affordability, predictability, and competitiveness – concerns that dominated the recent EU elections. Cities should therefore have a more dominant position in future iterations of national energy and climate plans. To reflect on investments and contributions, but also the cost of non-action. Where it is important to see with all actors how we can derisk or share the risk and drive more investment with a multiple return on that investment. With warming in Europe possibly mounting to 3° and perhaps more, it is key to see and support cities as places where opportunities emerge, where systemic transformations find fertile ground and where bottom-linked solutions - everything, everywhere, all at the same time -can be tested and implemented in a holistic way.

Katrien Rycken , Jessie Van Couwenberghe and Filip Coenen passionately offered more insight on how a Leuven Transition Fund could look like, presenting a portfolio of 86 investable projects and a wide range of supporting commitments. Key however will be to embrace complexity and look at ‘hyperblending’ initiatives and investments, which is only possible if we all adopt this as a massive learning and collaboration opportunity rethinking business, society and value models. Which is only feasible if we pick up a joint responsibility across public and private sectors, across traditional top down and bottom up thinking, to reinforce the common good. Who adds value to the system, who takes value out? How do we pool knowledge, talent, finance, and commitment, and build not just on ambitious plans, but on lived experience. Or in there own words, quoting Victor Hugo ‘Nothing is more powerful than an idea who’s time has come’. Go join them!

Thanks for good talks - Niels De Waele Harry Tuinder Serge de Gheldere Ludo Vandervelden Frédéric Madry Steven Serneels Stefaan Saeys Nick Meynen Jan Larosse Bart Vercoutere Geertrui Vanloo David Dessers bert cornillie An Eijkelenburg Fedra Vanhuyse, PhD Ronny Jongen Thomas Van Craen Frederik Matthijs Sven Verstraeten Anneleen De Bonte Jan Leyssens Stefaan Vandist Geert Vaes #leuven2030 #citiesmission Bob DHaeseleer Thomas Osdoba Maria Galindo Garcia-Delgado Alberto Francesco Anfossi Paulo Ferr?o Fran?oise Guaspare Siir Kilkis Gabriela Ku?tan Gratian Mihailescu Chrysses Nicolaides Matiss Paegle Karolina Skog Maria Vassilakou Sissy Windisch