After more than two years of intense cooperation, the capitalisation phase (CAN SME) of the Interreg NWE project Climate Active Neighbourhoods is slowly coming to an end.
The final meeting of CAN SME took place between 28 February and 2 March 2023 in the “Cité Ardente” of Liège. The meeting was hosted by the City of Liège and included a one-day conference, a working group meeting and a site visit.
To highlight the efforts made by the partners to engage small and medium-sized enterprises for energy retrofit and sustainable practices, the partnership invited a broader public to join its final conference, which took place on 1st March 2023 in Liège. It was an ideal moment to share, discuss and put into context the achievements of the partners, as well as to present local initiatives from Liège and the Walloon region. The conference was structured in two Table Talks discussing 1/ how public authorities support SMEs in their just and sustainable transition and 2/ the appropriate professional support to small businesses. Besides the four project partners participating in the capitalisation phase, the city of Arnhem and local partners of the city of Liège shared their experiences as panellist. More details about the conference can be found here.
On the second day, the partnership visited the building of the shopping centre “Médiacité”, which invested a lot in the sustainable development to reduce the centre’s eco-footprint. Green roofing, waste sorting, rainwater collection and solar energy production are some of the actions the centre implemented to became a key player in sustainable development. Latest activity was the installation of beehives on the roofs. The partnership was able to visit the roof with its photovoltaic panels (more than 2,500!) which were combined with an extensive green roof and the facilities necessary to run the shopping centre.
During the last Working Group Meeting, the partnership discussed the overall results and the next steps. Although the co-funded project CAN SME comes to an end, the partners expressed their will to organise regular online exchanges in future to exchange on updates of partners’ activities as well as to discuss potential future collaboration ideas.
Copyright: Ville de Liège
