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The change towards a more liveable city of Ostend has begun! The Energiehuis and the City of Ostend are together kicking off a process that will make Ostend a climate-neutral and more liveable city by 2050. Transition Stories was co-appointed as a member of a consortium as a knowledge partner to assist the city of Ostend in this.

City of Ostend wants to be a climate-neutral and more liveable city by 2050. To this end, a climate plan is being prepared. It will be an ambitious and integrated plan in which all core climate-related themes will be examined.

The port of Ostend has expanded over the past decade to become the leading offshore cluster for wind turbines at sea, the city is investing heavily in new cycling infrastructure, the Energiehuis has already provided energy advice in 7,500 homes and Belgium’s first cooperative heat network has become a reality in Ostend with BeauVent and IVOO. But although the average CO2 emissions of a household in Ostend are 35% lower than the Flemish average, the work is not yet finished.

Therefore, Ostend is working on a plan to make Ostend a climate-neutral city by 2050. The year 2030 is an important intermediate step in this regard. Concrete and decisive measures will also already be launched in the next decade and in this administrative period.

Together with Ostend citizens, businesses and organisations

Ostend’s new climate plan should be ready by spring 2021. Immediately after that, we will set up the new actions. There will also be smart cooperation initiatives between the city and Ostend citizens, businesses and organisations.

This assignment has been carried out since May 2020 by the Kelvin Solutions/Transition Stories consortium, together with Kapho consulting and Createlli. The drafting of this plan also counts on close cooperation with the people of Ostend. Since 2019, ‘Ostend climate pioneers’ have been actively exchanging knowledge on how best to tackle climate challenges. The group also helped shape the terms of reference for the drafting of the climate plan.

Appointment of climate manager

To keep everything on track, Kris Derveaux was appointed in June as climate manager at Energiehuis Oostende. In this position, he will manage the preparation and implementation of the climate plan. Kris is an Ostend native, has a background at the water company FARYS and has also been a visiting professor of Mobility and Ecotechnology at Vives/KU Leuven. He combines his interest in environment and climate with his love for the city of Ostend.

More info on a climate neutral and liveable Ostend can be found here: https://www.oostende.be/nieuws/thema/419/leefbaar-oostende.

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