The city of Bruges takes the lead towards a future of smart water management
Introduction
As a UNESCO World Heritage City with water flowing through it as a beating heart, Bruges faces growing risks from floods, droughts and water stress. Blue4Green aims to tackle these challenges by improving the quality and quantity of water, creating a holistic green-blue strategy for the city. Acknowledging the inner canals are vital to make the city climate-change resilient.
The B4G-team assembles
In the kick-off meeting on the 16th of december 2024 the Blue4Green team assembled for the first time with members from each of the eight partners. Together they outlined the main paths towards a Blue4Green digital twin for Bruges. The ambitions on the climate plan of Bruges to tomorrow ‘BruggenaarMorgen’ are the guide to the future implementation. Blue4Green is a collaboration of the city of Bruges, Universiteit Gent, Waterland vzw, Sumaqua, iFLUX, KYTOS, Farys en De Vlaamse Waterweg nv.
Primary drops of action
- December 2024: the first project meeting brought together the eight partners to outline the roadmap for Bruges’ digital twin and get the stream of this project flowing. The partners are the city of Bruges as Main Urban Authority, Ghent University, Waterland vzw, Sumaqua, iFLUX, KYTOS, Farys, and De Vlaamse Waterweg nv.
- Spring 2025: during the Week of Water, Bruges introduced the project to its citizens as Waterwijs. As a landmark for the sensoring network the first Treewatch sensor was introduced by Ghent University, enabling real-time monitoring of tree health. Follow the tree on Treewatch.net.
- Workshops: partners started mapping data needs and identifying essential applications for a sustainable water-smart city.
