The Great Transformation

Portraits: #9 Simon
© Mieke Debruyne, 2020

UPDATES

agenda 11 Dec '24
Operation Energy Neighbourhoods: A small exhibition and programme for a great transformation

What do you see in this picture: cobblestones, a pink children’s bike, or just another residential street? Now, take a closer look at the houses in the background. The one on the right stands out, a symbol of sustainability amid the weathered walls of tradition. And you are right to notice. It is a striking image of the way we try to realise the energy transition in our neighbourhoods today. The owner of this house insulated the roof and the façades, replaced the old windows by double-glazed ones, and installed a heat pump. But here is the catch: that owner is one of the lucky few. The transformation is unfolding house per house, progressing slowly and leaving many households behind. To achieve a fossil fuel-free society by 2050, we need to renovate 95,000 homes every year – that's 11 homes every hour. Yet, the house-per-house approach fails to meet these ambitious goals. Realising the energy transition collectively is more cost- and material-efficient, benefits both higher- and lower-income households alike, and enables us to combine multiple processes and technical solutions simultaneously: that is the promise of the neighbourhood approach. Operation Energy Neighbourhoods leads you from promise to practice. The small exhibition brings together the work-in-progress of pioneers committed to the energy transition in neighbourhoods, and formulates and connects the fields of action to improve and accelerate. Throughout a series of workshops and debates in the space, you are invited to reflect and collaborate with other stakeholders on the fields of action that add up to an integrated neighbourhood approach. Operation Energy Neighbourhoods is the first edition in a series of ‘Open Workrooms’ organised by Architecture Workroom Brussels. From late 2024 to late 2026, AWB is opening its doors to support the cities, experts, designers, businesses and policymakers working on the strategic transformations that the organisation is committed to: energy neighbourhoods, sponge landscapes, and societal infrastructure. Each of these tracks features a public programme and a small exhibition, contributing to a great transformation. [b]VISIT THE EXHIBITION[/b] Free individual visits every Thursday from 9 January until 27 February 2025 (10:00-20:00), no registration needed. Guided tours on demand (via this form). Adress: Pachecolaan 34 (6th floor), 1000 Brussels [b]PUBLIC PROGRAMME[/b] - Opening Night Operation Energy Neighbourhoods (Wednesday, 11 December 2024) - The Energy Company 2.0: A Public-Private-Civic Collaboration (Thursday, 12 December 2024) - Measuring the temperature: Architecture and regulation for new climate regimes (Thursday, 6 February 2025) - Everyone on board: A collective renovation programme (Thursday, 20 February 2025) - One step at a time: An integrated action plan for every neighbourhood (Thursday, 27 February 2025) - Towards an operation: A supra-local framework for energy neighbourhoods (date to be confirmed) Get more details and register for free on the [[https://www.architectureworkroom.eu/en/agenda events page]] of Architecture Workroom Brussels.

Ambitious objectives are more than abstract points on the horizon. Every house, every street, every neighbourhood and every landscape is important. The Great Transformation
The Great Transformation 2020–2030 is an independent learning environment, incubator and public programme. Enterprising citizens, governments, businesses, financiers, scientists and organisations work on actual breakthroughs and achievements. Using design and the power of the imagination, we are forming coalitions and formulating strategic sites that can be achieved between now and 2030. The Great Transformation is a non-profit and future-oriented initiative by a growing and diverse group of actors possessing different expertise and occupying a range of social positions: economists, designers, sociologists, administrators, policymakers, financiers, transition experts, consultants, entrepreneurs, marketers, project developers, and many more.
project works on actual Future Places. If we can develop them in many locations simultaneously, they will constitute the greatest transformation project of our time and we will succeed in the necessary transition of our living environment. Can we bundle our strengths to replicate change?

Discover the mission of The Great Transformation

Action Plan

For each strategic site we collect the insights and breakthroughs developed by local initiators, entrepreneurs, researchers and policymakers. We bundle this expertise, puzzle out the stubborn challenge and formulate an agenda for follow-up steps. We do this through calls for practices and projects, workshops and walks, and present the resulting insights in the display cases and library of strategies.

We stand on the shoulders of existing knowledge and practice. A core group decides to work on this site and collaborate with stakeholders to triumph over the stubborn challenge. We formulate and visualise concepts for future places. We outline and underpin a scenario, forge the necessary coalition and build the required practice and capacity.

By learning from existing initiatives and practices, we gather knowledge in the form of Building Blocks that feed and reinforce current and new projects. We jointly initiate and design the necessary acceleration strategies to subsequently implement the transformations on the ground.

Learning environments arise from existing and new practices for each transition theme. We exchange knowledge and establish learning networks of actors around Building Sites that collectively result in Future Places.

By learning from each other, we can accelerate and replicate. This is achieved through adapting policy frameworks, financing resources and laws and regulations. To do so, we set up Investment Programmes and increase awareness among the general public to work on the greatest transformation project of our time.

A Future Place
The strategic projects for our society that we can develop in many places between now and 2030 to simultaneously strengthen flourishing ecosystems, economic chains and local well-being and prosperity. We start from a common indignation and a shared commitment to one or more themes and translate them into a project proposal.
is the workspace around a strategic site where opportunities for change are hammered out. Future Places inspire and enthral, they make the future real and tangible. They invite you to participate in elaborating a positive scenario for change.

Discover all Future Places

Future Places

Food Land

Healthy food production in a climate-resilient landscape.

Food Land

Energy Districts

Towards the collective renovation of our housing stock.

Energy Districts

Climate Streets

Liveable, safe and healthy streets.

Climate Streets

We are creating a repository of Building Blocks
By mapping innovative practices, we pool insights and refine strategies that can be replicated. The Building Blocks form the necessary ingredients for the realisation of the various Future Places.
: an online platform full of insights and expertise gathered from the most diverse sources. This means we do not need to start from scratch each time, but build on what is already available. The online platform is a constantly growing tool for interdisciplinary cross-fertilisation.

Discover the map with all the Building Blocks

Building Blocks

Naar alle bouwstenen

We approach the social and spatial challenges from eye level. For and with those involved in the implementation, and for whom it matters. Only when we combine all the individual forces, averse to the issues of the day and individual interests, can we all make progress. Everyone's contribution matters.

Portraits

Portraits: #1 Rony
© Mieke Debruyne, 2020

videoupdate: 31.03.21

Portraits: #1 Rony

CSA farmer Ronny reveals how the Community Supported Agriculture model already guarantees his income at the beginning of the harvest season – his private customers pay a membership fee and jointly bear the risks. However, rocketing land prices in the outskirts of the city represent a significant obstacle for new farmers, regardless of the earnings model.

Portraits: #4 Kurt
© Mieke Debruyne, 2020

videoupdate: 31.03.21

Portraits: #4 Kurt

Livestock farmer Kurt has succeeded in establishing a number of win-win partnerships with nature organisations and fruit growers in the area, based on a vision that farming practices are part of a multilayered landscape.

Portraits: #3 Yannick
© Mieke Debruyne, 2020

videoupdate: 31.03.21

Portraits: #3 Yannick

Cultureghem stands for a fundamental social approach to food for urban dwellers, based on a simple key principle: access to healthy and affordable food for all. Under Yannick’s leadership the organisation contributes to a vibrant public space in one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods of Brussels.

Portraits: #2 Bernadette
© Mieke Debruyne, 2020

videoupdate: 31.03.21

Portraits: #2 Bernadette

A group of local residents in the Ghent district of Rabot won their battle against the construction of a car park in their area and set up a communal garden on the site instead. The inner area containing 24 kitchen gardens now forms a green space for neighbourhood encounters, explains Bernadette, catalyst behind the project.

videoupdate: 18.05.21

Portraits: #7 Koen

The Rolling Climate Fund provides low-threshold loans to citizens so they can make their homes energy efficient in a single process. Economist Koen explains that because monthly savings on energy bills are higher than the repayments, a comfortable home is also within reach for people on a lower income.

Portraits: #6 Sophie

videoupdate: 18.05.21

Portraits: #6 Sophie

Sophie is a Hero for Zero: she advocates for zero road fatalities and serious casualties in the streets of Brussels. It not only involves road safety, but also laying claim to the public space. To create a city that prioritises soft road users and social life above the flow of vehicles.

videoupdate: 18.05.21

Portraits: #8 Koen

Commons Lab is an Antwerp citizen initiative set up in 2018, involving shared use without ownership, but with proper agreements. A common, Koen says, which started with a communal rain barrel - but now has a portfolio that extends to the city level.

videoupdate: 18.05.21

Portraits: #5 Els

Solar panels and local green energy for any budget, big or small. In Sint Amandsberg, near Ghent, the Buurzame Stroom city programme makes it possible for Els and her fellow residents to benefit too - without boosting gentrification.

videoupdate: 02.06.21

Portraits: #9 Simon

Electrician Simon takes a practical look at the energy problem. What is needed to heat a home sustainably? He highlights the challenge that lies ahead of us to make society energy-neutral on a large scale. His conclusion: the right individual choices make a difference, but even more important is that those choices are made as soon as possible and by as many people as possible at the same time.

videoupdate: 09.06.21

Portraits: #10 Lieven

The fact that the green spaces in the city, such as at the foot of trees in the street, have to be neatly and professionally maintained is something that few people think about. Lieven provides an insight into the impact of the greening of streets on the management activities of the Parks Department - and the way in which citizens can enjoy this 'self-evident process’.

videoupdate: 14.10.21

Portraits: #12 Luc

videoupdate: 14.10.21

Portraits: #11 Nena

videoupdate: 14.10.21

Portraits: #13 Marie

videoupdate: 18.01.22

Portraits: #14 Roel

videoupdate: 18.01.22