This is a story of how local and regional authorities work together to protect and manage valuable landscapes, heritage buildings and sites. The events take places in the province of Antwerp in Flanders, Belgium. Many heritage gems are to be found in these parts: fortresses, abbeys, castles, wind mills, historic parks and landscapes. All off them beautiful heritage sites that deserve to be taken care of and transmitted to future generations. This is the quest of Kempens Landschap, a small nonprofit organization fighting against the neglect of cultural heritage sites since 1997. The organization preserves over 60 sites and invites people to discover and enjoy them. A small team of 11 enthusiastic coworkers are the driving force behind the organization. Kempens Landschap develops (inter)national projects to assure a sustainable future for cultural heritage, supported by the province of Antwerp and more than 60 municipalities. In 2014 the organization received a European Prize for Cultural Heritage or Europa Nostra Award and Grand Prix in the category dedicated service for its efforts. The Jury could hardly conceive a more powerful example of the implementation of the European Landscape Convention.

Kempens Landschap’s first rescue mission was already a daunting one. In the North of the province a vast historic landscape was threatened: the colonies of benevolence of Wortel and Merksplas. Unknown to many, this landscape is the key witness of a large scale social experiment that took place in the early 19th century. Inspired by ideas of the Enlightenment, the Dutch general Johannes van den Bosch had the ambitious plan to eradicate poverty in the Netherlands. Poor people would be given the opportunity to become farmers. The private Society of Benevolence founded seven agricultural colonies: five in the Netherlands and two in areas that are currently Belgian. The experiment was however not successful. From 1870 onwards the Belgian State used the colonies of Wortel and Merksplas to shelter vagrants since vagrancy was prohibited by the ‘Act on Vagrants’. However, in 1993 this act was abolished and therefore the colonies itself had become redundant. The area of 1000 hectares of land was then threatened to be fragmented and the monumental buildings were suffering from neglect and vacancy. In 1997 the sites were listed as on the 100 most threatened monuments in the world by the World Monuments Fund. This is when Kempens Landschap stepped in! With the help of many partners and several regional, national and international subsidy projects, the complete area is now protected and looking towards a sustainable future. Tourists are welcomed and can explore the history of the area in a freely accessible visitor center located in a renovated monumental stable with modern interactive exhibits and movies. Moreover, together with other colonies in the Netherlands, the colony of Wortel is nominated to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a cultural landscape. In July 2020 the World Heritage Committee will decide on the possible inscription of the Colonies of Benevolence. After this first success story, more and more municipalities joined forces with Kempens Landschap. Nowadays the organization coordinates projects throughout the province of Antwerp and completed many challenging restorations of monumental heritage buildings and landscapes. This effort is only made possible with the help of many partners: local, regional and national public bodies, over 150 volunteers, private partners who invest in new businesses in heritage buildings, contributing companies and so on. Every year, sites of Kempens Landschap welcome visitors during the European Heritage Days. However, many of the cultural heritage sites owned or managed by Kempens Landschap are permanently accessible to the public. During the year people can visit exhibitions, follow guided tours or participate in recreational activities such as railbiking, bike rental, eTuktuk rental, a two-yearly corn maze, a clog trail in the forest and so on. Everyone should be able to enjoy and explore the outdoors and learn more about the history and identity of the places they visit. Kempens Landschap manages a vast range of cultural heritage sites: from rural to religious to industrial, military and residential heritage. In the past years, mainly residential estates are prone to neglect and threatened with fragmentation. These estates were often founded and managed by noble families during decades. The management of the monumental buildings and large parks has however become too challenging for its owners. Parks are left unattended and buildings slowly decay until the sense of urgency is inevitable. The owners often want to share their heritage with the community and are willing to hand over their domain to local authorities and/or Kempens Landschap. Again Kempens Landschap sets to the task to restore, reuse and open up the domains to the public!

Kempens Landschap adopts good practices inspired by international organizations such as the National Trust in the UK or the Landscape Foundations in the Netherlands. Kempens Landschap is eager to experiment with innovative approaches towards cultural heritage. Recently, the organization developed a new approach to energy efficiency solutions with regard to monumental heritage buildings together with the Dutch province of Brabant in the Interreg Fanders-Netherlands project DEMI MORE. The organization not merely focusses on the preservation of either nature or heritage but implements an integrated approach in all its projects. In order to cooperate and learn from others Kempens Landschap developed multiple partnerships with (inter)national organizations in the Netherlands, France and UK throughout several European subsidy projects. This way the organization worked together to tackle common issues concerning for example European military heritage and religious heritage. After all, heritage professionals from different countries share similar types of monumental buildings and the mission to preserve this heritage and open it up to the public. Kempens Landschap aims to involve local communities to create sustainable projects that are well supported. Over 150 volunteers engage themselves to guide visitors or help with the site management. Were possible, visitors are informed on the history and identity of cultural heritage. Often European events or movements impacted the heritage sites. From the parks that were influenced by the English garden movement to military forts constructed in times of European conflicts to the experiment of the Colonies of Benevolence that formed an international inspiration for poverty reduction. In a way all monuments are related to European history and culture.