25 September 2025
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Building future-proof business parks together
On Wednesday, September 17, PVB Limburg organized the event Progress to Outlook at Pitground in Sittard. With the participants present, we looked back on the steps that have already been taken in Limburg and looked ahead to the challenges and opportunities that still lie ahead. It was an afternoon full of inspiration, concrete examples and valuable discussions.
.Why PVB Limburg?
The kickoff came from Renée Boesten of LIOF. She took us back to the beginning of PVB Limburg and reminded us why this program is so important. Business parks face major challenges: energy transition, climate adaptation, heat stress, flooding and the advent of zero-emission zones. Individual entrepreneurs can do a lot, but sooner or later they run into obstacles. Then cooperation is crucial. Renée emphasized that a solid degree of organization is key to making collective ambitions a reality.
The national perspective
Then Marisol Elisabeth of PVB Netherlands gave an inspiring insight into the national approach. She showed that sustainability is much broader than energy alone. It also includes biodiversity, circular entrepreneurship, mobility and climate adaptation. Her message was clear: entrepreneurs do not have to do this alone. PVB Netherlands brings knowledge and people together and supports regional teams to make a local impact.
Inspiring case studies
After these perspectives, we dove into practice with three Limburg examples.
- Beesel - Gilbert Idink: here it turned out that personal contact in particular can get entrepreneurs moving. By literally passing by with a cup for coffee, insight into the real challenges emerged. Safety came up unexpectedly often, but energy also proved to be a recurring theme.
- Maasgouw - Hedzer Kooistra: he light-heartedly showed that cooperation often starts with a common pain point. In Maasgouw that was road safety. It was precisely by acknowledging that problem together that space was created to take action and look more broadly at sustainability.
- Heerlen - Leo Crombach: on behalf of ON12 he showed how strong collectivity can be. With dozens of entrepreneurs they are now working together on circularity, greening and energy. The success shows that organizing pays off and that concrete results are within reach if entrepreneurs know how to find each other. This has come together in #verbinen in ondernemen.
Greener and more attractive
Next, Lara Klaassen of OML took us through the opportunities that greening offers. Not only for climate and biodiversity, but also for the people who work on business parks every day. Green spaces make a site more attractive, healthier and future-proof. Often it is small interventions that make a big difference, such as an insect hotel with the right fauna around it or more shade from trees. And doing this together creates a connection between entrepreneurs.
From plans to realization
In conclusion, Mike Ummels of the Province of Limburg and Jean Boumans of OML presented how the SPUK and LUPEH schemes complement each other. SPUK helps municipalities and local initiatives to identify opportunities, organize collaborations and strengthen organizational capacity. LUPEH builds on this by further supporting initiatives around energy hubs with feasibility studies, process guidance and business plans, enabling the step towards actual realization. Municipalities play a key role here, because without their involvement, no project can get off the ground. Together, SPUK and LUPEH offer a solid foundation to make business parks resilient for the future.
Feeling pain together, finding solutions together
The thread of the day was clear: collaboration is the key. Sometimes it starts with a shared problem or "pain point," but that is precisely what gives the power to get moving together. The energy in the room showed that entrepreneurs, municipalities and experts know how to find each other and want to build a sustainable future together.
PVB Limburg remains committed to supporting business parks throughout Limburg in their transition to sustainable, livable and future-proof places to do business. Interested in getting started as well? Contact pvblimburg@liof.nl