The Municipality of Mook and Middelaar is launching a sustainability initiative at the Korendal business park

As the smallest municipality in the province, how do you take steps towards a more sustainable business park? For the municipality of Mook en Middelaar, this began with one key starting point: engaging in dialogue with business owners. With the support of PVB Limburg, concrete steps are now being taken in this regard at the Korendal business park.

New issues

In Mook and Middelaar, the main focus is on the tourism sector, but the Korendal business park also plays an important economic role. Various companies are based at the site, including heavy industry.

“We have a galvanising plant here that uses a lot of gas, and businesses that require large amounts of electricity for their production,” explains Rodoe. “At the same time, we’re seeing that businesses themselves are also thinking about how they can make their production processes more sustainable.”

These developments raise new questions. For example, companies want to reduce their reliance on natural gas and organise their energy use more efficiently. But that is not always easy. “If companies make their production more sustainable, it may also mean that they need even more electricity. This raises the question: how are we going to deal with this together?”

Understanding opportunities and challenges

In collaboration with PVB Limburg, an initial exploratory study was carried out amongst the businesses on the site. Lidy visited business owners and held discussions based on a comprehensive questionnaire, in which sustainability was one of the topics. “Based on those discussions, we received a report outlining opportunities, aspirations and challenges,” explains Freek Collé, sustainability policy officer. “We discussed this internally and used it to identify areas where we, as a local authority, could take further action.”

The findings give the local authority a better understanding of the issues facing businesses. Some companies are already actively working towards greater sustainability, whilst others are still in the early stages. “What we’re seeing above all is that there are certainly companies that want to take steps in this direction,” emphasises Rodoe. “And that is an essential starting point.”

Learning together and looking ahead

For the municipality of Mook and Middelaar, the partnership with PVB Limburg is also a way of learning from experiences elsewhere in the province. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” concludes Rodoe. “PVB Limburg sees what is happening at other business parks. That knowledge and those best practices can be very valuable to us.”

In the coming period, the council intends to further expand its discussions with business owners. A possible next step is to enter into a joint Green Deal with companies on the site. “In doing so, we are jointly declaring that we genuinely want to take steps towards a more sustainable business park,” says Rodoe. “And in the long term, we want Korendal to remain a future-proof location for businesses, right up to 2050.”

According to the councillor, the key to this lies in collaboration. “As a local authority, you can provide guidance, but real change comes about when entrepreneurs themselves are involved. With the support of PVB Limburg, amongst others, we hope to really get that dialogue going now.”