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The Belgian partners consist of OVAM and 11 inter-municipalities (Haviland, IOK, WVI, Interleuven, IGEMO, IGEAN, ICWAAS, VENECO, LEIEDAL, DDS, SOLVA). The main services provided were initially waste collection and treatment and a wide variety of public works for the municipalities. These activities became so important that a new site was created in Drogenbos where all the executive staff of about 80 persons with about 50 trucks has been located separately. Construction of a land policy in consultation with the spatial development plan of Halle-Vilvoorde became a priority for the creation of housing projects and of industrial estates. The main intention was to intervene in the private market of land for reasons of prize regulation in the strongly suburban areas of the Brussels agglomeration. Environment also became a major concern of inter-municipal cooperation both in the fields of environmental sanitation and of nature protection, conservation and development. A wide variety of environmental services are offered to the municipalities both in the fields of administrative and technical support. Emphasis on Spatial planning which ranges from active involvement in the conception of the original spatial plan for Halle-Vilvoorde and the provincial Vlaams-Brabant structure plan to the services offered to the municipalities in the fields of structure planning, detailed zoning plans and local spatial implementation plans has been evident from the beginning. A common service for prevention has been established among municipalities, local social services, police zones, etc in order to organise training in the fields of prevention of fire, dangerous products, safety, risks, evacuation, medical supervision, industrial medicine, etc. Community Development Haviland covers a wide variety of social services as child care, neighborhood services, anti-graffiti team, maintenance of monuments and tourism routes etc. Together with the administrative services and the services for information and communication technology (ICT), they constitute the eight main departments of Haviland.
OVAM stands for Openbare Afvalstoffenmaatschappij voor het Vlaams Gewest (Public Waste Agency of Flanders) and is responsible for waste management and soil remediation in Flanders. It is a public Flemish Institution, established after the decree of July 2nd, 1981 covering waste management and prevention. Waste removal and soil remediation were included as well. In 1995, Flanders got a more specific legislation on soil remediation: the soil remediation decree. The Flemish Minister of Environment is responsible for waste management in Flanders. Ovam works out and implements its policy. The soil remediation decree provides the Flemish government with a powerful instrument to fight historical as well as recent soil pollution. One of its objectives is to remediate historical soil pollution within a period of 40 years. The soil remediation decree equally offers a range of possibilities to prevent new soil pollution or to remediate right away. OVAM participates in the strategic project called "Brownfield Development". This project was initiated by the Flemish minister of environment with the support of the Flemish minister of economics and urban planning. A steering committee was established in which different governmental administrations are cooperating to investigate how the policy of the government can contribute to the development of brownfields in the Flemish region and which structural measures need be taken to stimulate the brownfield development. For more information visit www.ovam.be
 WVI is an association of municipalities in the coastal province West Flanders of Belgium. Associations of municipalities (inter-municipalities) have a legal basis, last changed by decree of 6 July 2001. The reasons for creating inter-municipalities are: municipalities are too small (5,000 - 15,000 inhabitants) to perform all tasks by municipal staff. Municipalities do not have enough skilled people for these tasks and not enough financial means. Inter-municipalities exist in different sectors (energy, water, household waste, economic development) WVI is specialised in economic development. Our fields of competence are: industrial development, housing projects, town and country planning, environmental planning. Established in 1964, we group 54 municipalities, employ 70 people. We have realised more than 70 industrial sites for 2000 companies, together 2300 ha. Last year we were working on 50 projects: local, regional and dedicated industrial sites. We buy land, do the infrastructure works, sell it to individual companies and do some controls. During the presentation, it will be explained how this is done in practice and how we as a public actor stimulate in this way economic development For more information visit: www.wvi.be
IGEMO was founded in 1973 and supplies consultancy services to its stockholders only, which are 10 communities within the province of Antwerp (Belgium) covering a population of approx. 230.000. Its mission statement and all services are related to environmental policy, urban planning and implementation, including Brownfield management, with strong emphasis on sustainable development. Because of our latest project "Het Zegel", an abandoned industrial site in the city centre of Mechelen, heavily polluted due to the activities of the former stamps printing factory of the national Post offices in the 19th and 20th century, IGEMO joined BERI in order to exchange data and experiences in this field of common interest. For more information visit www.igemo.be
IGEAN Dienstverlening was founded 1969 by 15 municipalities in the North of Antwerp, in an effort to combine their strength and knowledge in the implementation of property development policies and projects. Now, more than thirty years later, all the municipalities from the Antwerp district have joined IGEAN Dienstverlening. This way the company represents a total of 940.000 inhabitants. The number of tasks has also grown considerably over the years. IGEAN Dienstverlening is now consulted in projects regarding property development, urban and spatial planning, traffic control and safety, housing projects and the development of industrial and agricultural areas. IGEAN Dienstverlening only intervenes or carries out these projects on the explicit demand of a municipality and performs these tasks at cost price. Finally, there is also a sister company, IGEAN Milieu & Veiligheid, which coordinates the municipalities' waste management and which has a division that assists the communities with issues concerning health and safety in the workplace. For more information visit www.igean.be (in preparation)
The inter-urban cooperation Leiedal sprang up in 1960 following an initiative by the municipalities of the judicial district of Kortrijk, for the purpose of promoting environmental planning, economic expansion and re-conversion of the Kortrijk region. Now, 45 years later, Leiedal has expanded into a multifaceted and dynamic intermunicipal collaboration group, which oversees the socio-economic and environmental development of the twelve affiliated municipalities and of the South West Flemish region as a whole. The key notion in our approach is development organised on a local level. By stimulating cooperation between the municipalities, we help them to create new opportunities and impulses for the entire region. Leiedal guarantees an integrated approach to local and regional development. As a consequence, our tasks are as extensive as they are varied, which is reflected in our team of over 40 members. D.D.S is an intermunicipal Union of the Dendermonde region in Flanders, Belgium. It refers to the "Dender, Drume en Schelde" which are the three most important rivers/streams crossing the working area. D.D.S was created in 1970 and collects and removes domestic waste from approximately 160,000 citizens in 10 communities. It sets out waste processing measures which are described in the policy plans on waste products. D.D.S owns a dumping ground for domestic waste products that was used from 1973 until 1998 to dump waste out of the working area. The main difference between this dumping ground and a standard one is that D.D.S dumped the waste in a "controlled" way. For example, waste was collected, dumped temporarily into a big dumping bunker, shredded by machines and pressed to bricks of waste (1m x 1m). D.D.S has also been involved in the composting of organic waste products and in 1996 a modern and fast installation was built to aid this process. Bulky refuse is collected door to door twice a year in the municipalities and DDS owns eight container park sites in the working area where citizens can leave domestic waste. In order to ensure waste prevention, DDS carried out a study into different domestic waste streams. It concluded that implementation of various measures such as "the polluter pays" principle may prove effective. DDS provides a mailing folder to all citizens which inform them of current activities and projects. For more information visit www.dds-verko.be
Interleuven is referred to as a "service organisation", which means that it is a public company offering different services to the member municipalities. The 30 municipalities are located in the North eastern region of Brussels. A wide range of services are offered to the municipalities. For example, economic expansion and management of industrial sites includes the building of new industrial areas, renovation of old areas and the acquisition and sale of industrial brownfields and buildings. Soil policy and accommodation signifies engineering housing projects (acquisition of grounds, building infrastructure, sale of building areas) on new areas as well as on used areas in cities and villages. Public works is the responsibility of the engineering department of Interleuven. Designing roads, public buildings, controlling during construction works and ensuring safety during construction works are examples of some typical activities. The Planning department is dedicated to the planning of land development, creating different kinds of spatial plans, mapping and offering GIS-service to the municipalities. The company also assists the municipalities by ensuring safety in the workplace. Coaching of workers and workplace and equipment check ups are often carried out. Interleuven enables the municipalities to implement an environmental policy in order to treat the domestic waste problems, water problems and soil polution. The company is also concerned with the policy of allowing development permits, controlling development and introducing "sustainability" in future developments. Website: www.interleuven.be
ICW is an association of 8 municipalities in Eastern Flanders, Belgium. The municipalities are situated in the north east of East Flanders, near Antwerp. ICW was established in 1968 as a cooperative association for the implementation of regional development and to support the small municipalities with the development of the Left Bank Area, a part of the port of Antwerp. The Left Bank Area forms the newest extension of the port. Its development started in the early seventies and is still going on at the moment. The area is ruled by the Society for the Land and Industrialisation Management of the river Scheldt Left Bank Area in cooperation with the city of Antwerp. ICW has been active in the field of land policy for housing and industrial estates, environment, public works, and other services as required by members of ICW. The headquarters of ICW are located in Sint-Niklaas. For more information visit www.icwaas.be (in preparation)
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Haviland is an intercommunal organisation of 35 municipalities covering the administrative arrondissement of Halle-Vilvoorde with more than 500.000 inhabitants. It is located in the western part of the Province of Vlaams-Brabant in the region of Flanders around the Brussels Capital Region (see map in annex). Haviland was established in 1965 as a cooperative society for the implementation of regional development with only public partners being the 35 municipalities and the Province of Vlaams-Brabant. The Board of Haviland is composed of the representatives of the shareholders, the elected members of the 35 local authorities and of the Province of Vlaams-Brabant. There are more than 120 employed people in eight departments, serving the needs of their members and the 35 local authorities. Haviland has been active in the fields of waste collection and treatment, environment, public works, land policy for housing and industrial estates, spatial and land-use planning, prevention, community development and other services as required by the members of Haviland. The headquarters of Haviland are located in Asse-Zellik. 
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