Partnership between the City of Liège and the University: UNIC 2.0 as a framework

On Wednesday 18 October, the Collège communal de Liège invited the ULiège community to come and discover the exhibition "Vivre Liège Demain - Urbanisme et aménagement du territoire". It was an opportunity for discovery, discussion and the development of ideas for the future.

"The City of Liège wants to strengthen its synergies with the University. So we took advantage of the exhibition to have a discussion about the transition we are currently undergoing in Liège", explains Grégor Stangherlin, project manager with the City of Liège's Social Cohesion Plan. While the University is already working with the City of Liège and the Théâtre de Liège as part of "Rêvons Liège 2030", this new urban development project provides a vision of Liège that takes us forward to 2050. "In addition to Rêvons Liège 2030 and the new strategic plan that the University has just approved, the UNIC (European University) project, which deals with the transition of post-industrial cities, will also enable us to create new links," adds Grégor Stangherlin.

Listening and sharing

After a guided tour of the exhibition by the project leaders, the members of the ULiège community had the opportunity to express their views on the Projet de territoire, a framework document that sets out the guidelines for the development of the municipality up to 2050. "The aim of the evening was to strengthen the links between researchers and city officials, and I think we were really able to discuss the principles that should guide this transition, but also the risks we face. We can already see that there are many projects on which we can envisage future partnerships", concludes Grégor Stangherlin.

Where next?

As part of the UNIC project, a steering committee will meet in November to give concrete thought to the synergies that can be developed in research with the City of Liège, which has been a partner in the UNIC project since its inception.

Find out more about the exhibition