Each year, Green Key runs a best practice competition to encourage its awarded sites to present their inspiring sustainability stories. And which day would be better than the World Tourism Day today to announce our winner Kasteelhoeve Wange! Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo (France) and Anderssons Guest House & Bakery (Finland) finished up second and third, respectively.
As 2017 has been designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the UN to "support a change in policies, business practices and consumer behavior towards a more sustainable tourism sector that can contribute effectively to the Sustainable Development Goals" Green Key decided to run this year's competition under the topic "partnership and local engagement for sustainable development". In total, 28 Green Key sites from 12 different countries took part in the competition.
Kasteelhoeve Wange is a seminar location for companies and organizations and holiday spot for families and friends. Partnership is the key word in all of the establishment's undertakings. Kasteelhoeve Wange depends on connections with the people of the village, social employment organizations, education, nature organizations, administrations and local farmers.
To Kasteelhoeve Wange , creating local partnerships is an attitude and a way of working. Five years ago, inspired by the history of the site, the establishment started a project on "sustainable kitchen and domain". Kasteelhoeve Wange is 300 years old and has always worked, since its origin, with local products, in partnerships, connected with the earth and its natural surroundings. It was a refuge and an important presence in the area. It had a cultural, social and economic function.
The project was set out along these key lines:
- Create partnerships with local producers of products for the kitchen according to the following criteria: organic production, social economy, animal friendly (pasture grazing), circular economy.
- Create partnerships with the aim of maximizing the production on the estate of Kasteelhoeve Wange itself to supply our kitchen and limit their waste.
- Inspire guests to eat less meat and healthier food.
- Convert the domain of 12 hectares of farmland around Kasteelhoeve Wange into an ecological natural area that can serve as a refuge for the surrounding animals, and as a source of inspiration for visitors, through partnerships with nature organizations / government institutions and local craftsmen
The main achievements of Kasteelhoeve Wange's sustainability work were creating partnerships with local producers that produce products that are organic, socially responsible, animal friendly and that support circular economy. All products of animal origin are sourced from local suppliers, and most meet all of the four points. Beverages from multinational producers can no longer be found at the Kasteelhoeve. Over the years, all the beers, soft drinks and fruit juices have been replaced by quality alternatives that meet the criterion of production and distribution within a 25 kilometer radius around the Kasteelhoeve.
In addition, Kasteelhoeve Wange is using its grounds for self-production in many ways, in a
continuous effort to involve the knowledge of local craftsmen and farmers:
- Kasteelhoeve Wange keeps three dual-purpose cows from the In de Zon farm which maintain the meadows but also provide meat and milk. The dual-purpose cows were used in the 18th and 19th centuries by small farmsteads in Flanders and today, themeat of this breed is recognized as 'living heritage' and as a "regional product of Flemish Brabant".
- In 2012, 21 standard apple and pear trees of old regional varieties were
planted in cooperation with Regionaal Landschap Zuid-Hageland (Regional
Landscape South Hageland) and De Winning (social employment organization) - In 2015, 15 additional trees were planted. They are maintained by Den Boogerd, Kasteelhoeve Wange's supplier of apple juice and sheep meat. Kasteelhoeve Wange plans to have sufficient production by 2020 to make their own apple and pear juice.
- Installation of beehives for their own honey production in collaboration with
Michel Asperges of the University of Hasselt. Result: year-round honey from
the Kasteelhoeve for their guests. - 300 m2 vegetable garden (+ conservatory) that covers the majority of the
vegetable needs in summer. The vegetable garden is maintained by one of the
chefs and a gardener from the village. An expansion of 200 m2 is planned for
2018. - A waste restriction project has been set up in cooperation with Kheiron (owner
of the 11 horses staying on the domain) whereby all the kitchen waste is mixed with horse manure. This helps create compost to fertilize the land and the vegetable garden.
Furthermore, Kasteelhoeve Wange is active in restoring and maintaining natural areas in the local surroundings:
- 2012: management contracts with the Vlaamse landmaatschappij (Flemish Land Agency) with regard to the construction and maintenance of 4 natural ponds, the planting and maintenance of 225 meters of hedges and 4.25 ares of wooded borders
- 2012: redevelopment of a poplar forest (0.75 ha) (so as to create more undergrowth and more species diversity) in collaboration with forest group Dijlelandand the province of Flemish Brabant
- 2012: collaboration with Jules Robijns of Natuurpunt. Jules hosts free nature walks for the guests. In return, Jules is given access to the domain at all times for guided nature walks with third parties.
- 2012-2017: placing of nest boxes for a variety of species: barn owl / little owl / tawny owl / common kestrel /swallow by Natuurpunt and Regionaal Landschap Zuid Hageland.
- October-November: 2012 work training internships for patients of the psychiatric clinic Psychiatrische Kliniek Broeders Alexianen in Tienen, with the approval of the National Health Service: hands-on tasks involving work on the domain (brush cutter, lawn tractor, weed pulling...) and work with horses (care, clearing of manure...)
- Since 2013: Partnership with Kheiron, the organization that houses its 11 horses on-site at Kasteelhoeve Wange, and with the Vlaamse Landmaatschappij and Regionaal Landschap Zuid-Hageland: planting of 1 hectare of grassland, with native trees and shrubs as wooded borders in the meadow. Horses have been admitted here since 2017. The wooded areas help promote the health of the horses . At the same time, this counters the
'horsification' of the landscape. The wooded borders were planted by De Winning, a social
employment project.
The local community is engaged in Kasteelhoeve Wange's projects in several ways:
- 2012: ’Bijen bloesemdag’ (Bee Blossom Day) by Regionaal Landschap Zuid-
Hageland: 800 visitors. - 2013: ‘Open monumentendag’ (Heritage Day). Theme 'natural stone'. In
cooperation with the city of Landen and the ‘Geschied- en Heemkundige Kring
van Landen' (Local Historical circle of Landen): 1200 visitors. - 2014: ‘Ontmoet je buren: Hageland – Haspengouw - Hesbaye-Brabançonne'.
(Meet your neighbors). The objective of the project is 'Mutual enrichment
through the exchange of experience and setting up of common rural
development projects': 1500 visitors. - Since 2013: Twice a year, Kasteelhoeve Wange puts its large barn and
courtyard at the disposal of the local festivities group of the village of Wange for
a neighborhood feast for all the residents of Wange: BBQ in the summer, and
'Pensen en glühwein' (white sausage and mulled wine) in the winter, tour of the
domain on Halloween, ... - 2017: development of a hiking trail with constructions from living willow
branches in cooperation with a local craftsman: Johnny Ceysens of wilgen.be. - 2017: placement of educational panels with texts on the animals that reside
on the domain
Green Key International and the Best Practice Competition Jury would like to congratulate Kasteelhoeve Wange on its outstanding local engagement!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all Green Key awarded sites that participated in this year's best practice competition for the impressive stories they submitted! As we don't want to withhold the inspiring best practices that have been sent to us, we will publish each story within the coming months.
#WTD2017 #IY2017 #TravelEnjoyRespect #SDGs
