Case studies

Each project team tackled the challenges faced by the three different regions of the Euregion. Each team got a basic design brief and project description and a template to expand and develop their own project design briefs based on the different case study sites and team objectives. Each team was facilitated by IwB and Euregional faculty.

Three themes that were explored: Public Space, Food and Water. All three were approached in a site specific context sharing the notion of identity. The results of the workshops are sustainable concepts that answer the needs of three case studies.

Case study Public Space - Liège (Province of Liège)

The team working on this case study got a design brief that focused on designing a new kind of urban area in the historical centre of Liège. The area is financially poor and going down slowly with a lot of vacancy and poorly maintained buildings. On the contrary the area is rich in population, with a lot of student houses, developing project ideas and initiatives. The designs must be sustainable and innovative, and build upon the historical identity of the region and the area in specific to create a fresh, new regional identity of sustainable shared public spaces.

Case study Public Space - Genk (Belgian Limburg)

The team working on this case study got a design brief that focused on designing an urban neighborhood in an old mining area of the city of Genk. The population in the area is characterised highly diversity, low level of education, unemployment, weak social cohesion and its commercial activities are under pressure. The concepts must be sustainable and innovative, and build upon the historical identity of the neighborhood in order to create a shared public space that stimulates social cohesion.

Case study Food - Maastricht (Dutch Limburg)

The team working on this case got a design brief that focused on designing alternative systems for distribution of products from urban farms. The case study focused on one urban farm in Maastricht that was recently forced to stop their initiative due to various circumstances. In a region where the land is so fertile that production is almost a given, distribution proved to be a problem in this case. The team was invited to think of various distribution scenarios that can be run on a small scale within Maastricht. Goal was to engage local residents not only in the demand end of the distribution process but also in the running of these scenarios.

Case study Water - Hasselt (Belgian Limburg)

Team working on this case study got a design brief that focused on designing innovative new solutions for what is currently waste-water that is pumped from former mining areas into nearby canals. Solutions should have taken a holistic approach to sustainable design and look at the challenges or opportunities in the region that could solve or be solved by this water. Design solutions had to be represent and strengthen the regional identity of Belgian Limburg.