Schéma stratégique multidisciplinaire du bassin versant de la Vesdre

The Vesdre Valley Schema aims at developing a multidisciplinary strategic schema for the Vesdre watershed, which has been severely impacted by the floods of July 2021.
Following the floods in Belgium and Germany in July 2021, the Walloon Region commissioned a study to envision the resilient future of the Vesdre river basin by 2050. The significant material and human damage are mainly concentrated in the valleys, with some municipalities in the catchment area recording up to 45% of buildings affected.
This work is carried out on the scale of 25 municipalities and articulated in two major phases: firstly, the realization of a diagnosis to understand and identify the causes and consequences of floods; secondly, the proposal in the form of a strategic plan of interventions to guide the coherent reconstruction of the Vesdre watershed and its adaptation to climatic risks.
The main objectives of the project are:
• To reduce the exposure of the valley floor and to fight against the artificialization of the plateaus in a logic of territorial solidarity between upstream and downstream, between urbanized and natural territories.
• To make the territory resilient against risk via the implementation of a green infrastructure integrating forest and agricultural environments ; and via the analysis of land potential and the identification of perimeters where urbanization must be more controlled.
The study is conducted in partnership by Studio Paola Viganò and the Team Vesdre ULiège, working hand in hand with local and regional operators. The ULiège team members come from multiple disciplines: engineering, architecture, urban planning, ecology, climatology, geology, hydrology, hydraulics, sociology, economy, tourism.... These crossed views on the same watershed allow to produce a shared, ambitious and prospective territory project.
Supervisors: LEMA is in charge of the project management with Studio Paola Viganò. The pilots of the Team Vesdre ULiège are Jacques Teller (LEMA), Joel Privot (LEMA), Martina Barcelloni Corte (URA), Bruno Bianchet (Lepur) and Clémentine Schelings (LEMA).
Researchers from LEMA: Ludovic Delrez, Andy Eme, Julian Jacquemin.
Funding: 1.099.254,75 € financed by the Walloon Region
Total project duration: 12 months (diagnosis and schema) + 6 months (plain language report and iterative adjustments)
Project start date: January 2022
Website: https://vallee-vesdre.be