At the end of May 2024, Leuven organised its 4th Local Stakeholder Workshop. Over 40 residents of the Constantin Meunierstraat attended, and together with the JUSTNature team, they brainstormed around what could be done with the space that became available in the street, after we introduced one-sided traffic earlier that month. This measure changed the dynamic of the entire street, providing more space for greenery and water infiltration. It was therefore key to the project's co-creation process to also engage residents into the decisions concerning this new space, which was deliberately left "free", for citizens to provide their design inputs and ideas, connected not only to their daily uses and life but also to their desires.
Working on the Nature Building Community
The participants of the workshop made collages together with artist Lieselotte Vloeberghs to design a street art work to be installed in the new area. Furthermore, in June, on a very hot Wednesday afternoon, the street art was painted and the ‘Trees Please’ forest of BOS+ arrived. This mobile forest will stay in the Meunierstraat during the month of July, providing information to bypassers about the benefits of trees in cities. In August, the forest will be moving to the city of Bree. One thing is definitely sure: our pilot is ready for summer!
