Raismes Eco-hub

2021
Team point of view
The Eco-hub Raismes project builds on an ambitious vision for a ‘European Wildlife Park Hainaut’ as an answer to the accelerating decline of biodiversity on our planet. The park encompasses a strategic region in Belgium and France with unique and diverse habitat areas where nature can be actively cultivated and experienced. Within this framework, Raismes becomes an important hotspot to experience nature and a laboratory for new, nature-inclusive, templates for recreation, food, nature management, education, research, etc. Nature becomes a catalyst for new activities and opportunities for the region in which the unique mining history can also take up a new role. The Eco-hub will be further developed with a clear ecological framework and a focus on sustainable mobility, local integration, and natural capital.

Jury Point of View
The emphasis on the transborder scale was unanimously judged as highly relevant, in particular in a European competition of ideas. However, the project is subject to interpretation regarding the relationship to nature and prompted contrasting reactions. Part of the jury supported this proposal: rather than treating nature as a sanctuary, the project proposes to experience rather than exploit it, and contributes to creating a positive imaginative identification. Some jury members criticised modes of representation that suggest the atmosphere of a tourist park, which does not fully reflect the variety of the landscapes.