Atelier Groot Eiland aims to support as many Brussels residents as possible who are seriously distanced from the labour market in their search for work and professional (re)integration. The organisation offers work experience, pre-training, employment support and job coaching in learning workshops in order to further develop the skills of its employees. Local production and sustainability go hand in hand with social entrepreneurship. The initiators of Atelier Groot Eiland are using this approach to tackle the high rate of unemployment and to combat poverty from their home base in Molenbeek.

Since 2012, Ghent has been experimenting with the Living Streets programme on how an alternative street layout can create a stronger neighbourhood feeling. In 2020, the temporary living streets were expanded to include three living gardens. A living garden, just like a living street, is always created at the initiative of the local residents. The living garden at Borluut, a social housing block on Watersportbaan, was supported by the city in cooperation with Samenlevingsopbouw vzw.

Broei is an open ‘thinking and doing’ place for the new generation: a breeding ground where young people have the chance to develop their talents. Young people looking for opportunities are given a place here to 'try something' and experiment together in the historic Duivelsteen. Broei vzw aims to bring a new dynamic to Ghent city centre.

The conversion of a former textile factory into the Buda Factory represents the final chapter of the transformation of Buda Island into an arts island. The Buda Factory is an economic-artistic workshop and operates at the interface between art and design, economy and education, and science and technology. Entrepreneurs, students, artists, scientists and active citizens come together to meet and work (collaborate) on artistic projects or innovative products.

The residential development project by Den Dries vzw provides an ideal location in the city for people with severe support needs. The inclusive and mixed housing project in an urban setting will provide homes for people with and without disabilities in the same residential district in Evergem. The housing project focuses on the extensive socialisation of care and thus abandons the concept of a traditional care campus as an island adrift from everyday life.

Planned sewerage works prompted a total revamp of the Edegemsesteenweg, including a park and two school zones. Water that was previously drained invisibly underground is now afforded a very prominent place in the street scene. A number of obstacles had to be overcome to achieve this.

In the 'Vlaanderen Breekt Uit' programme, Evence Coppéelaan was the only entry in which a concrete road was completely desealed. The road will be transformed into a pleasant, experiential and traffic-safe environment. No less than 10,000 m2 of asphalt will disappear in the process.

Garden Streets Antwerp is part of a broad vision to turn the city into a climate-resilient, high-quality environment. The garden street also promotes social interaction in the street. After an initial phase of pilot projects, the city is elevating its ambitions to the permanent green-blue transformation of streets in five Antwerp districts.

Today, Lijnbaanstraat, an extensively paved and unattractive car park in the commercial centre of Ostend, is being transformed into a green oasis. The street thus not only serves as an appealing garden for city dwellers, but is also an important asset for combating heat stress. The project is part of the European Cool Towns project.

The City of Lier and OCMW Lier built a care campus around Het Schoppeke local service centre in the urban centre of Lier: the site combines large educational facilities, adapted housing for the elderly and other services. OCMW and the City of Lier wanted to create a part of the city where the demand for care for the elderly and the care provided by students would come together to provide informal and intergenerational neighbourhood care.

The Elzestraat in St. Katelijne-Waver is the village’s central street, with a church, parish hall, catering establishments and a school. The public space largely focused on the flow of vehicular traffic, with school-aged children navigating their way in the margins. A large-scale renovation of the village centre revamped the school environment and transformed Elzestraat from a transit area to a residential area.

In the district of Selwerd in Groningen, various innovative initiatives are underway aimed at the district’s social and physical renewal. The Selwerd District Company takes on a special role in this respect by focusing on care in the broad sense of the word. The District Company stands for an approach to care provided by and for the district’s residents.

The T2 Campus on the Thor site in Genk is a hub for engineering and technology of the future with a practice-oriented range of training courses, activities and infrastructure for students, employees, entrepreneurs and jobseekers. T2 campus profiles itself as an incubator of technological know-how and connects talent, education, innovation and the business community with each other, and with the city.

Villa Voortman is a meeting place in Ghent for people with a combined problem of substance abuse and psychological difficulties. This group of people with dual diagnosis often falls between the cracks in the range of standard support on offer. By focusing on a safe space for meeting, creativity, communal care and local anchoring, Villa Voortman lowers the threshold to support this group.

Wattson is a Belgian ESCO (Energy Service Company). The company focuses on the integral renovation of projects, which combine several energy-saving measures with installing renewable energy. Wattson makes the investments, which are repaid using the budget freed up as a result of the lower energy bills.

In the Netherlands, the options available to young people aged between 16 and 40 who require intensive or palliative nursing and medical care include the traditional hospices outside the city, where the average life expectancy is three months and the average age is eighty. Or... the Xenia House, a guest house and hospice for young people in the centre of Leiden.