Guidebook communities in Bloom

ugge.be
GROENDIENST
GUIDEBOOK
COMMUNITIES
IN BLOOM

MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR
On behalf of the council and the people of Bruges, I would
like to welcome the international judges, Mr Bob Ivison
and Mr Bob Lewis, to our beautiful city. This is our first
participation in the ‘Communities in Bloom’ competition.
When you visit our magnificent city, you will undoubtedly
notice the presence of numerous high-quality projects,
vibrant public spaces and historical buildings. The amount
of civic pride on display, highlighted even more through the
Communities in Bloom program, is remarkable.
THE FACT THAT BRUGES IS VIBRANT BUT
ALSO PLEASANT TO LIVE IN, IS THE RESULT
OF THE COMMITMENT AND HARD WORK OF
MANY TALENTED MEN AND WOMEN.
Enjoy your time in Bruges!
Kind regards
Renaat Landuyt
Mayor of Bruges

PROGRAM COMMUNITIES IN BLOOM
JULY 11 TH 2017
TIME WHAT WILL WE DO? LOCATION
15.00h Hotel Brussels, pick up
17.00h Boat trip Canals Brugge City Centre
19.30h Dinner
JULY 12 TH 2017
TIME WHAT WILL WE DO? LOCATION
07.30h - 08.15h Breakfast Hostellerie Pannenhuis
08.30h Public Market
• Community guards
• Local growers (veg./ fruit)
Market Square
09.30h Press Conference Town Hall
10.30h St.-Sebastiaansgilde Carmersstraat
10.50h Communal plant area Guido Gezellewarande
11.30h Tree Management Baron Ruzettepark
JULY 13 TH 2017
TIME WHAT WILL WE DO? LOCATION
07.30h - 08.15h Breakfast Hostellerie Pannenhuis
09.00h Green Cycling Belt Bruges Zeeweg
09.30h Herb garden / Nature Education Centre Beisbroek
10.30h Cemetery Brugs Kerkhofstraat
11.30h Hoeve Hangerijn Care farm Gemene Weideweg-Zuid
12.30h Lunch Café Vlissinghe
13.30h
De Bilk / De Garve playground renovation +
community garden and centre + grafitti
Pannebekestraat
14.30h De Tandem green school area L. Debruynestraat
15.30h Boer Bas local farm grocer Blankenbergse steenweg
16.00h Evaluation time judges
18.00h Lissewege
• Zwankendamme, community garden
• Medieval church tower / flowers
19.30h Dinner
Zwankendamme
Lissewege
12.00h New Park Design Hof Campers
12.30h Lunch Café Vlissinghe
13.30h Community Guard / litter Management City centre
14.00h Almshouses City centre
15.00h Community grocer De Kaba Prof. Sebrechtsstraat
15.30h Beguinage
17.00h Triënnale art festival Stationsplein
19.30h Dinner

GENERAL INFORMATION
SURFACE AREA OF CITY
138 km²
FINANCIAL INVESTMENT
BY THE CITY
73.117.137 euros
funding for
GREEN MAINTENANCE
6.151.904 euros
funding for
CEMETERIES
555.906 euros
funding for the purchase of
WOODS AND NATURE ZONES
448.913 euros
funding for
ROADS
6.151.904 euros
POPULATION
117.377 INHABITANTS
17,96% young people
funding for
LIGHTING
555.906 euros
OTHER
funding for
YOUTH WORK
448.913 euros
CAPITAL CITY OF WEST FLANDERS
INTRODUCTION TO BRUGES
Bruges is located in the north-western part of Belgium
and its northern boundary rests against the North Sea
coast. The city is the capital of the province of West
Flanders and has more than 117,000 inhabitants.
The total area of Bruges can be divided into three major
sections. 50% of the land use is devoted to nature, woods
and open agricultural land. These zones are indicated on
the map in yellow and green. 30% of the area is built-up
townscape, and is indicated in red. The final 20% in purple
is space for economic development, infrastructure and
industry, mainly situated to the north of the city in the
vicinity of the seaport.
61,60% middle aged
20,24% elderly
8.100 STUDENTS
engaged in further education
MAJOR EVENTS:
Holy Blood procession – Kookeet (cooking
festival) - Golden Tree pageant - Uitwijken
(community project) - Winter Sparks - Circus
Plus – Brutaal (literary festival) - More Music -
Anima Eterna - Bach Festival - Bruges triathlon
– Cactus Music Festival - …
The City of Bruges owns and is responsible for 786
hectares of public space in its 13 districts. This open
space consists, for example, of parks, sports facilities,
woods, cemeteries, playgrounds, etc. As can be seen on
the right, the city constantly monitors these facts and
figures through the use of GIS systems.

ACHIEVEMENTS
Each year, the City of Bruges takes part in a series of events and
activities that encourage the further public greening and the planting
of flowers and shrubs in our urban areas. Each year’s projects
are presented in the Public Space Yearbook, which is distributed
throughout Flanders.
With the organization of the Green Spring competition,
the Association for Public Green Spaces (Vereniging
voor Openbaar Groen or VVOG) focuses its attention
on recently completed projects in Flanders concerned
with local neighbourhood greening, city parks, traffic
infrastructure greening, floral enhancement and beefriendliness.
In 2012, Bruges took part in the international Livcom
for Liveable Communities competition and won first
prize in the category for medium-sized cities. A further
first prize was awarded in the category for ‘urban
communication’.
In 2014, the Province of West Flanders gave the city first
prize in the Coast Award competition for the
St. Donaas Park project in Zeebrugge.
TIDINESS
Everyone likes to live in a neat and tidy
neighbourhood. The City of Bruges thinks that it
is important to keep our urban environment clean
and counts on the support of every local resident
to achieve this aim. With this in mind, in 2017 the
city launched the campaign ‘Brugge oltied schoane’
(Keep Bruges Beautiful).
Where weeds are a problem, the city attempts
to combat them without the use of pesticides. In
addition to brush wagons that remove the weeds
mechanically, thermal methods are also used to
keep weed growth under control. Since the start of
this month, new machines have been employed that
fight weeds with boiling water: two high-tech units
with sensors detect leaf growth and a spray-lance
system applies water that can fatally damage the
weed foliage and even roots.
Every citizen is expected to keep the
pavement and the roadside gutter
in front of his/her home or business
looking clean.
In April of each year, the city organizes a ‘tidiness’
month. During this month, extra efforts are made
to keep our public areas looking clean, neat and
tidy. The city’s maintenance teams, supported by a
dozen or so specially trained technicians and a fleet
of 30 specialized vehicles, work harder than ever to
keep Bruges looking beautiful. Local citizens and
associations are also encouraged to collect rubbish
and sweep pavements.
WORKING
TOGETHER TO
KEEP OUR STREETS,
PAVEMENTS AND
GUTTERS CLEAN
Every resident in the city can find tips to
solve their own weed problems without the use of
pesticides on www.zonderisgezonder.be

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION
Our policy relating to environmental improvement
is mostly decided at a higher level
by the Flemish government. Strict regional
regulations are in place with regard to environmental
targets and sanitation standards.
However, the city has also been implementing
its own additional prevention and control
measures for many years.
From many years, Bruges has also been making great efforts
to improve the transport systems in and around the city,
by making them more sustainable. The ‘I Kyoto’ campaign
focused attention on the need to reduce individual car
transport and improve public transport, carpooling and
bicycle use.
Bruges was also the first pilot city in
Flanders for the use of a wireless charged
electric bus in the city centre. The city has
been investing for decades in small, environmentally-friendly
buses, both for the
city centre and for the outlying sub-municipalities.
On a regular basis, new
and temporary initiatives
are launched relating to
important issues that
affect the daily lives of
each and every citizen. One
recent instance was the
‘Bin It!’ campaign, which
aimed to combat illegal
littering. Fortunately, local
people already collect and
separate more than 71%
of their waste, but there
is still room for further
improvement.
Bruges has had its own
mobility plan since the
1970s. The pedestrianisation
of the Burg Square - the
ancient birthplace of the city
- shows that even 40 years
ago the local authorities had
a forward-looking approach
to traffic circulation issues.
As a result of this positive
approach, the Burg is now
one of the most beautiful
squares in Europe.
Another spearhead of local policy is the wish to
turn Bruges into a cycling city. Our thousands of
cyclists already have a choice of dozens of different
bicycle paths. Moreover, there is sheltered bike
storage throughout the city, like the one under
the railway station with 4,500 places, while others
prefer to rent an individual bike safe for 30 euros
a year. In addition, temporary storage is available
when major events take place.
The introduction or adaptation
of infrastructure
often involves a conflict of
interests between the protection
of the historic environment and the demands of the
modern world. A good example of how these interests can be
combined is the transformation of a medieval city gate into a
new pedestrian bridge. Another example in a more modern
context is this new bicycle bridge crossing a main highway.
A free energy scan
is offered to all local
inhabitants. It details
how to reduce the loss
of energy in private
houses and provides a
concrete action plan for
improvements.
At the same time, during the
past decade the plant stock
throughout the entire city area
has been amended to ease
maintenance and increase
biodiversity. For instance, we now
use a new mix of indigenous
planting in layers, from
groundcover and perennials
through to shrubs and trees.
This example contrasts the
former situation in a local
cemetery - dull, grey and almost
no colour - with its current
colourful floral planting, which
enhances visitor enjoyment and
offers interesting biotopes for
insects and birds. Hard paths in
cemeteries have been replaced
with grass, which again
reduces maintenance and
increases water permeability.
The city’s green
department has purchased
a number of freight
bicycles or tricycles for
transporting materials
and plants over short
distances in the city centre.
Most of the other vehicles
run on natural gas.
Environmental monitoring
is a key task. The city’s
environment department
constantly monitors
for water, air and noise
pollution. To make this
possible, we have our own
laboratory and a range of
other technical aids, such as
this bicycle based monitoring
device to control air quality.
One of the most important
contributions in the field of
environmental protection
has been the reduction and
complete stop of pesticide
and herbicide use. European
Union regulations
obliged all cities to reduce
their use of these chemicals
to zero by the end of
2014. Bruges has successfully
achieved this goal.
For the past ten years, we
have been controlling weed
growth with machines that
use steam, fire or brushes.

HERITAGE CONSERVATION
Bruges is a cultural treasure with more than 1,000 years of
history. With no fewer than four UNESCO world heritage accreditations,
we are very proud of our architectural and natural
landscape. The city was once the birthplace of the first stock
exchange and in one of the 26 museums you can see a number of
superlative masterpieces by the Flemish Primitives.
The first UNESCO accreditation
was granted to the beguinage in
1998. This was followed by the
belfry tower in 1999 and the whole
of the medieval town in 2000. The
city’s most famous item of oral and
intangible heritage, the Procession
of the Holy Blood, was recognized
in 2009. This is one of the oldest
religious processions in Europe and
has taken place in Bruges every
year since 1255.
Bruges is a truly vibrant city with a wide range of sporting activities,
such as cycling and soccer (there are two top-class football teams
in Bruges), as well as numerous cultural festivals and events.
Sometimes, these events involve the dramatisation of the city's historic
past, such as the Pageant of the Golden Tree.
The oral and intangible heritage of Bruges is further captured and
recorded in two other valuable initiatives. For visual images, there
is a photo database (Beeldbank Brugge) on the worldwide web that
collects and archives photographs about historic Bruges. For the
written and spoken word, ‘Bruges tells its story’ (Brugge Vertelt) is a
website on which local people can tell their own stories about folklore,
great sporting moments, family history or recent community events.
In 2002, Bruges was the cultural capital of
Europe, an honour that gave a great boost
to the cultural life of the city. As part of this
celebration, a new concert hall was built on
one of the city’s main squares.

GREEN HERITAGE
Great attention is devoted to the green open spaces in the inner city. The city centre is a complex mixture
of civic buildings, historic monuments, public squares and areas of greenery. These green areas can
take many different forms: the garden of a private house, the walled park of a monastery or mansion, a
children’s playground. The city’s green heritage policy is based on a deep respect for the history of these
places and their natural or landscape design, whilst at the same time making them freely accessible, as
far as possible, for members of the general public.
URBAN FORESTRY
At the present time, the City of Bruges has no exact
knowledge about the number of trees growing on
its public land, nor is it always clear about who is
responsible for the maintenance of these trees (the
city authorities or one of its other public partners).
Work is in progress to draw up a detailed inventory
that will clarify both these matters. So far, the records
for more than 12.000 trees have been digitalized, but
there is still a long way to go: it is estimated that in
total there are more than 50,000 trees along public
roads and in public parks, excluding areas of open
woodland!
Each year, it is necessary to remove a number of
trees for reasons of safety, road works or disease.
Wherever possible, every effort is made to plant an
equal number of new trees in the best possible conditions.
In this way, 8,035 new trees have been planted since
1994, 305 of which were planted as recently as last
year (2016).
Nature zones and areas of woodland are administered
on the basis of a management plan, which is
implemented through the public authorities and by
the volunteers of various nature associations. As a
result, it has been possible, for example, to restore
areas of heathland, remove exotic species of plants,
and monitor the migratory habits of frogs and toads.
Each year, the city’s education service organizes activities
through the Nature Centre and also takes part
in initiatives like the Week of the Woods, the Week of
the Sea and Farmyard Days.

LANDSCAPE
There are five main landscape types within the territory of
Bruges. From the north to the south, these are:
THE COASTLINE
with its beach and sand dunes, including a nature reserve of 22 hectares;
THE SEAPORT
with its industry and infrastructure (although significant efforts have been made
to introduce biodiversity); the seaport is an international hub where more than
16,000 people work each day;
THE POLDERS
(a Dutch word signifying low-lying, flat and open agricultural land, with its typical
vegetation of rows of poplar trees, hedges and orchards; it is a government
policy to stimulate the introduction and preservation of this kind of vegetation);
FURTHER INLAND TO THE SOUTH ARE THE FORESTS AND HEATHLANDS
the city authorities are seeking to create a green belt around the urban
centre of Bruges by connecting the different green areas; an example
of this is the creation of a 60 km-long cycling network;
To further improve and protect the quality of this green
heritage and its natural landscape, the city authorities
are purchasing as many green areas around the city as
is possible within budgetary constraints, as an effective
way to enhance and preserve the natural environment of
Bruges as a whole.
This environment also contains many castles, abbeys,
monuments, etc. These architectural elements, whether
in public or private ownership, are subject to strict rules
relating to urban planning and streetscaping, with the
aim of securing a correct balance between the built and
natural landscapes and between our historic heritage
and the needs of future development.
last but not least,
THE MEDIEVAL CITY CENTRE
which contains more than 55 hectares of green space in its
total surface area of 483 hectares (more than 10%); the old city ramparts
surrounding the centre are 8 km long and form an inner green belt.

FLORAL DISPLAYS
EACH YEAR, 43,600 BULBS ARE PLANTED
THROUGHOUT THE CITY IN COMBINATION WITH
MORE THAN 50,000 ANNUAL PLANTS, IN
SPRING AND SUMMER BORDERS. IN ADDITION,
IN 2016 A FURTHER 19,878 PERENNIAL PLANTS
AND 12,000 SHRUBS AND TREES WERE ALSO
PURCHASED.
IN PARTICULAR, THE BULBS AND THE
ANNUALS GIVE AN EXPLOSION OF COLOUR AT
SIGNIFICANT LOCATIONS IN THE CITY AND
ITS SURROUNDING SUB-MUNICIPALITIES:
PUBLIC BUILDINGS, MONUMENTS, PARKS AND
GARDENS, ROUNDABOUTS, ETC.
YOUTH – SPORT AND A
HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
The ‘Brugge Kindvriendelijke Stad’ (Bruges Child
Friendly City) campaign has a clear mission.
The aim is: to create child-friendly public spaces
where it is possible to play sports and games; to
connect and provide access to these playing areas
in a safe manner that also encourages physical
activity; to provide effective water management at
the different sites; to promote social control in and
around the play areas. Each year, the city invests
2,000,000 euros in its existing 120 playgrounds.
A good example of this policy is the collaboration
that has been set up between the city and a private
school. During the weekends and the school
holidays, the school allows people from the local
neighbourhood to play on its playground, which
was paid for by the city authorities.
Every child is Bruges has been given a play map,
which shows the location of all 120 playgrounds
and gives details of what sports and games can be
played at each site.
Bruges takes a holistic approach to physical, mental
and social health. The city also regularly launches
initiatives to improve community life.
Mention has already been made of the almost 2,000
hectares of public green space, where young and
senior citizens can play sport or take part in other
recreational activities. The city has 284 officially
recognised sports and recreation clubs, with a total
of more than 16,000 members, equivalent to about
10% of the population
Local people and visitors can also make use
of more than 500 km of cycling paths, safely
separated from motor traffic. The city provides a
free cycling map with 11 signposted routes from
the outlying districts to the city centre.
In addition to these initiatives, the city is working
together with the European Union to develop a
connected cycle path through 60 km of woodland,
nature reserves and agricultural land. This will
form the Bruges green cycling belt.

SOCIAL CARE
Bruges devotes considerable resources and
attention to the care of the physically and mentally
disabled. For example, this abandoned farmhouse
has been transformed into a centre where people
with a limitation can now experience farm life, feed
the animals, make bread, etc. The project relies on
the help of volunteers and effective interaction with
the neighbourhood, but at the moment it is a great
success (see picture below).
Bruges is known as a leading city in the field of
expanded care. In particular, Bruges is known as
a dementia-friendly city. Recent initiatives include
the setting up of a choir for dementia sufferers and
the distribution of an information brochure to the
local business community with advice about the
correct way to deal with people with dementia in
shops, bars and restaurants.
The system of neighbourhood vouchers or
community cheques is a way to promote
community solidarity. This allows local committees
to organise street parties, celebrations and a wide
range of other activities. The city provides financial
support amounting to 200 euros per cheque.
COMMUNITY AND
YOUTH INVOLVEMENT
The City of Bruges yearly organises more
than 50 public participation moments. These
info-moments deal with subjects like spatial
planning, playground creation or the economic
development of the harbour. As far as this last
issue is concerned, a mobile trailer was used that
made it possible to give local people a clear visual
representation of precisely what the proposed
major changes to the harbour area would involve.
The city also sends out annually information
letters on over 500 different subjects.
Further communication with the local community
takes place via the city website and you can also
find us on Facebook and Twitter. In addition, a
city magazine is delivered to every household
in Bruges, providing the latest news on events,
culture and major themes.
In turn, our citizens can communicate with the
city via the so-called hotline. This can be used for
complaints, such as excess noise pollution, or to
report problems, such as damaged or dangerous
public infrastructure.
A major community event in recent years has
been the ‘birth forests’. During the past 15 years,
some 3,700 children have planted their own tree
commemorating the year of their birth, which has
resulted in an additional 115 hectares of woodland
in Bruges.
Recent independent research conducted by
the Flemish government and the University of
Ghent compared 13 major cities in Flanders. The
results revealed that no fewer than 79.9% of the
inhabitants of Bruges are satisfied with the
general appearance of the city and its public
parks, monuments and buildings. More than 86 %
of the citizens are positive about the liveability of
their neighbourhood and the city in general. This
rating is 10 % above the Flemish average.
Bruges and contemporary art and culture: it is a
perfect match. With the Bruges Triennial, the city
invests heavily to display the finest contemporary
art in the city’s magnificent historical setting.
As part of the preparations for this three-yearly
event, a pop-up bar is set up at a unique city
centre location during each of the preceding
two years. Bruges also hosts several other topquality
cultural festivals that are among the very
best in their diverse fields: Bru-Taal (literature),
the Cactus Festival (contemporary music), the
Lissewege statue route (sculpture), We Can Dance,
Kookeet (gastronomy). The city’s different culture
houses also have much to offer throughout the
year.

WILDLIFE
Insects are an essential element in every private
garden and public park. They not only help with
pollination, but also provide food for other species.
Local people can give insects a helping hand by
setting up an insect ‘hotel’ in their garden. The city’s
Nature Centre organizes courses each year to show
how this can be done.
However, it takes more than nest boxes and insect
hotels to turn a garden into a paradise for wildlife.
It is equally important to lay out your garden in the
most natural way possible, using indigenous plants
and shrubs that provide food for insects, which in
turn provide food for birds.
Considerable attention is also devoted to local fauna
and flora in the city’s public green areas. In recent
times, heathland has been restored on the sandy
soils near the coast, pools have been dug in the
polders and orchards planted further inland. When
works of this kind are carried out on private land, it
is possible to obtain public subsidies.
One of the most successful recent actions was the
placing of nest boxes specifically to encourage the
breeding of the common swift. Dozens of boxes,
financed by a local authority subsidy, have been
made and positioned.
The improvement of city and community life starts
with the education of the youngest generation. This
is one of the main aims of annual events like the
Week of the Sea and the Week of the Woods. The city
also has a permanent pets’ zoo and there is a kids’
laboratory at the Nature Centre.
THE GARDENING COMMUNITY
The public allotments in Bruges all have an educational
corner with information about composting and ecological
gardening. This includes the maintenance of gardens without
the use of pesticides and the regular demonstration of
composting techniques by a team of volunteers. If gardeners
can be encouraged to apply ecological principles, it will be
possible to create a closed biological cycle that works to the
benefit of both the climate and the environment.
Local anchoring and neighbourhood support are very
important for the success of these allotments. Volunteers and
the city’s community workers spend many hours maintaining
the gardens and giving training to other users. In St.-
Jozef, the allotments are next to the parish hall and a large
playground. As a result of this combination, there is activity
at this site at almost every moment of the day: children play
while their parents garden, before retiring to the parish hall
for refreshing drink.