Leuven wins European Capital of Innovation Award
Following Amsterdam, Barcelona and Paris, it is now Leuven's turn to win the prestigious title of European Capital of Innovation, beating Valencia, Vienna and Milan, among others. But what is this award? Essentially, the award goes to the city that has incorporated innovation most effectively to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants.
The Brabant city owes its distinction to its daily efforts to take on and tackle a range of challenges in the areas of climate change, culture and quality of life education, as well as health and care. In all these areas, the city applies a system that includes all the actors of social and associative life in its objectives of improving general well-being: the inhabitants, organisations, companies and academic institutions. As such, regarding the environment, the ambition is to achieve a "climate neutral" city in the long term (by 2050). A range of pilot projects, among others in the fields of energy, transport, etc., are being implemented under this label. In light of recent events, Europe has also highlighted the local set-up of the citizen's aid platform "Leuven Helpt" (Leuven helps), in the days following the start of the coronavirus crisis. We have no doubt that the €1 million prize accompanying the award will be used to develop further initiatives to benefit all.