On 15th June last, team members from Galway City Council travelled to Geel in Belgium as part of our Interreg-funded New European Bauhaus Academy (NEBA) project. Galway City Council’s Architect's Department staff were joined by local stakeholders from the University of Galway and the Atlantic Technological University (ATU), as well as two spatial planning graduate students.
The exchange in Belgium brought together the project partners and their stakeholders from Galway, Geel (Belgium), Panevezys (Lithuania), Turin (Italy), Elverum (Norway) and Stara Zagora (Bulgaria), to learn how the Geel team are embedding the NEBA values, Beautiful, Sustainable and Together, into their planning workflow and the wider city.
Geel is known as the "compassionate city" for its unique approach to mental health care, a tradition that traces back to the legend of St. Dymphna, the patron saint of mental health professionals and those experiencing mental health difficulties, an ancient Irish Princess who fled to Geel to escape her father's persecution.
Geel’s centuries-old family care tradition has since been recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. The group visited OPZ Geel, the public psychiatric care centre at the heart of this tradition, where individuals with mental health difficulties are hosted by local families as part of their care. The visit gave delegates insight into how this community-based model has shaped Geel's identity as the "compassionate city" and continues to inform its approach to inclusive urban design. Inclusion was visible in how people facing mental health difficulties are treated as full, valued members of the community rather than set apart from it.
Delegates toured several heritage and regeneration projects underway across the city, including the transformation of the former Bloemmolens flour mill into the De Bloemfabriek event venue, with residential lofts planned for the mill tower, and the redevelopment of the former Brasserie De Krümmel into a community space. They also learned about the emerging Innovatiecampus Geel, which will bring together education, research and entrepreneurship. Each is a practical demonstration of the NEBA values in everyday city planning.
Geel marked the final stop in the first round of NEBA educational exchanges, with Galway having hosted last October. Later this year, Galway City Council will host individual project teams seeking to explore specific projects and works in greater depth.
Read the Interreg Europe write-up of the study visit here.