Greening and climate adaptation on business parks: how to take the first real steps today?

The event was a great success and even more crowded than expected. With more than a full house, plenty of energy and a clear common drive: this topic is very much alive. It was inspiring to see how many people want to work hard to make business parks greener and climate adaptive.

The kickoff was provided by Waterpanel Noord and PVB Limburg. Waterpanel Noord is committed to water and climate issues in North and Central Limburg and supports water partners to be smarter and better prepared for the consequences of climate change. PVB Limburg supports entrepreneurs, park management and municipalities in making business parks more sustainable and accelerating concrete steps in practice, among other things by increasing the degree of organization on business parks.

Renée Boesten (LIOF) immediately made it clear why greening and making business parks climate adaptive is not an "extra" but a necessity: "We are dealing with flooding, drought, heat stress and even water scarcity. Tackling this offers enormous opportunities: a more attractive business climate, better air quality, less noise and property value. The Netherlands has some 38,000 business sites, representing more than 98,000 hectares. And then comes the confronting part... on average only 1% of those sites is green."

In short, there is much to gain as well as much to do. The most important conclusion? You can't do this alone. Governments and companies must take this up together, because if one party keeps waiting for the other, nothing will eventually happen.

Then Lusanne Smink (Waterpanel Noord) took us through the Climate Impact Atlas and the monitoring map of stress tests, which showed where the greatest climate risks and opportunities lie in business parks.

And exactly that became tangible in a fun way afterwards in the EcoGame. Participants took on roles (such as entrepreneur, multinational, park management, water board and municipality) and together had to come up with solutions for heat stress and water problems on a fictitious business park. What happened was beautiful to see: people really started talking, learned to understand each other's interests and noticed how complicated, but also how promising, cooperation is. The groups came to surprisingly similar insights: a driving force is needed, money and capacity are often a bottleneck, entrepreneurs often lack knowledge and greening is still too often seen as "something extra". At the same time, it also became clear that it is not about green or water, but about green and water. And perhaps the most valuable eye-opener: health was missed by many as a reason, while that is precisely what offers an enormous opportunity and can involve new parties, such as insurance companies.

After the game, Mark van Mast, park manager in the eastern part of the Netherlands, took us inside the game. His story was honest, concrete and recognizable. He emphasized how important support is, but especially how crucial a joint course is. His message: an integral vision is the starting point, and you can always fall back on that when things get complicated.

Then Noï Boesten turned the room on its feet for a moment with a simple but pertinent question, "Who are we doing this for, anyway? I hear a lot about companies, but I hardly hear about the employee." He told of a process in which a company step by step created a green space for employees to eat lunch and confer. What started with skeptical reactions, ended with employees becoming the initiators themselves. His message was super practical and motivating: Start small. Plant a tree. Make it visible. Let people experience what greening does. And also beautifully honest: "If we had known beforehand what it would all require, we might not have started." But they did start, and that made all the difference.

In conclusion, Lara Klaasen (OML) challenged us not only to dream, but also to think about implementation. After all, everyone wants to go green, but how do we finance it smartly? She showed what possibilities there are when you combine public and private resources, and how programs such as region deals and restructuring can play a role. Manon Schouten of Interpolis connected this nicely with a practical example: by listening carefully to entrepreneurs, money often turned out to be the biggest obstacle, and a voucher approach helped to really get things moving.

Another valuable tip from Wouter Schik, just before the end: those who want to get started right away can find a lot of practical inspiration and tools via the page on green-blue business parks and the platform Collective Nature Inclusion for business parks.

We ended the morning with a conclusion that basically everyone recognized: we need to do this together, we need everyone, but we don't have to organize it perfectly right away. Start small. Make it concrete. Start the conversation. Let someone take the lead and plant that first tree. Build from there.

We look back on an inspiring and motivating day, full of energy and new connections. And fair is fair: this successful morning tastes like more. To be continued...