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Project

Quality of the living environment in action (VLMOMIA)

Main research question/goal

The aim of this project was to further concretize and adapt the concept of the quality of our living environment, which is central to the functioning and operations of the Flemish Land Agency (VLM). This was done by applying the ecosystem services approach and the tools developed within the IMAGO and ECOPLAN project. The results of the project have lead to a substantive deepening of the concept of "Quality of the Living Environment" and its relation to the ecosystem services approach. 


Research approach

An internal learning path was set up, whereby three VLM projects were supported in their operation and familiarized with the concepts and tools. These pilot projects were supervised, based on a participatory, flexible, interactive, tailor-made approach.  Available tools (such as IMAGO and ECOPLAN tools) were deployed deliberately and tailor-made in each of these four pilot projects.


Relevance/Valorisation

The concepts 'quality of our living environment' and ecosystem services were apllied in three VLM projects. The findings of these case studies were combined with the results of an internal VLM trajectory on the concept. This has led to 15 learning building blocks. 

These building blocks are interrelated and the implementation of all the different building blocks will have a synergetic effect. By targeting only a few building blocks, the objective of VLM to stimulate the use of both concepts will likely not be reachd. 

Finally, this project also resulted in a list of practical tools which can be used for the different steps in project management. This should help VLM-staff to translate the concepts and use them in their daily practice. 

OmiA will not deliver yet another roadmap, but chooses to integrate the existing knowledge into practice. The lessons learned from the internal learning path will contribute to building the necessary capacities to further integrate environmental quality, ecosystem services and the IMAGO tools within the daily operations of VLM.

Date:29 Mar 2018 →  28 Mar 2019