In the coming years, we want to continue working toward a climate-neutral, inclusive and just city where it is good to live and prosper for everyone, including future generations.


Climate city 🌍

We continue to build a climate-neutral city. In doing so, we are doing our part to address the climate crisis. We owe this to our children and grandchildren. A green and sustainable Leuven is also the best guarantee of a pleasant and prosperous city tomorrow, where it is good to live.

Our proposals

  1. We are making Leuven climate neutral. This is a priority guideline in everything we do. That means reducing CO2 emissions in our city by at least 80%. In doing so, we are already making a big leap by 2030, because time is pressing: the next six years are crucial for the climate. A socially just and inclusive approach is necessary to succeed in this.
  2. We double the number of solar panels by 2030, extract sustainable heat from underground or from watercourses and distribute that heat to Leuven residents. We establish a local energy company for sustainable heat. We create the most sustainable heat ourselves, own it thanks to a heat company and distribute it to the people of Leuven via local heat networks.
  3. We are making Leuven a truly circular city where fewer raw materials are used and materials are reused to the maximum extent. Today, we recover 200 tonnes of building materials annually via the Materials Bank. By 2030, we will turn that into 8,000 tonnes by maximising the reuse of materials in all development projects.
  4. We will ensure more soil softening, water and green in the city and more robust nature in and around the city. Trees and plants remove CO2 from the air. More green, biodiversity and water in the city protect us from the effects of climate change, both heat and flood risk. We will turn the de Becker Remy square in Kessel-Lo, the Vismarkt, the Jeanne Dormael square in Wijgmaal and the square at the Heverlee town hall into green meeting and play areas.


City of solidarity and justice 💚

We continue to build a city where everyone can live fully and feel safe. We stand up against inequality and radically opt for real solutions for those who are struggling. The Green Party works for a city where human rights are key. We leave no one behind and care for young and old. We want to guarantee fundamental rights such as housing, education and healthcare for every Leuven citizen.

Our proposals

  1. The free market cannot guarantee the right to good housing for everyone. It is necessary for the local government, together with citizens themselves, to take control of a substantial part of the housing supply. We work towards 15% social housing by 2050 and 500 additional budget rental homes by 2030. These are homes that the city rents out at a lower rent. We ensure that a new Community Land Trust project starts up every year: affordable owner-occupied housing where you only buy the house and not the land.
  2. We are stepping up the fight against poverty. We guarantee fundamental social rights and ensure automatic entitlement. This means that anyone entitled to support automatically receives it. We ensure that every Leuven citizen has a tailored budget to live well. We scale up Housing First, where those who are homeless first get a home before counselling is started, so that we put an end to long-term homelessness.
  3. We take further initiatives to welcome and support newcomers. There will again be a local refuge initiative in Leuven and we will introduce a contact card for people without legal residence papers. The contact card entitles them to urgent medical assistance, winter shelter and other facilities.
  4. Leuven caring city: living where you feel at home is essential for your health and well-being. That is why we want to ensure that you can continue to live in your own neighbourhood, even when you become ill or older. We work on caring neighbourhoods and ensure that professional caregivers come to you when you need care.


City where it is good to live 🏡

We continue to build a city where it is good to live. With safe and high-quality pavements and cycle lanes, extra bicycle parking spaces and substantially more shared cars and shared bicycles. But also with safe school environments and green neighbourhoods where you can meet your neighbours, friends and family and children can play happily. We take away concrete from streets and squares where possible and make them greener and ensure that all Leuven residents can enjoy urban green spaces close to their homes.

Our proposals

  1. Stand up for your city: we make 1 million euros available to Leuven citizens for projects that contribute to a quality urban environment and to living together in our city.
  2. Vive le vélo! We continue to work on high-quality bicycle connections, including the construction of a bicycle bridge over Geldenaaksebaan. We will create 10,000 places in new bicycle parking facilities for different types of bikes.
  3. Leuven is already the leader in Flanders when it comes to shared mobility. In four years, the number of car-sharing users rose by 80%, the number of users of shared carrier bicycles increased fivefold and nowhere is Blue-bike, the blue shared bicycle, as popular as in Leuven. We are doubling the number of shared (cargo) bikes and aiming for 3,000 shared cars by 2030.
  4. Every Leuven resident has a right to green space. We opt for the 3 - 30 - 300 rule of thumb: from every home you should be able to see three trees, a neighbourhood should have 30% foliage (trees or parks) when viewed from above, and every resident should find a park or green space within 300 metres safe walking distance.
  5. For a city on a human scale. With the strong and desired growth in the number of cyclists, pedestrians sometimes feel abandoned. We ensure safe routes for pedestrians and separate pedestrians and cyclists where necessary. Children, the elderly and people with disabilities are the norm when redeveloping streets, squares and neighbourhoods. We choose neighbourhoods with plenty of space for meeting, safe school environments and walking routes with sufficient rest and seating areas.