Circular City Ports - Workbook 1, Circular initiatives in the Delta

1 Toile Industrielle Dunkirk A tool for synergies and territorial development
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Location
Scale
Tag
City Port
Delta Region
Platform
Industrial
Symbiosis
base for interaction scheme
delta
company
company
hinterland
company
company
tool document
TOILE
INDUSTRIELLE
industrial port
company
company
city port
company
policy maker/
public actor
company
city
flow of goods flow of knowledge or influence industrial symbiosis other
What’s happening? How does it happen?
Designed in the form of a flow diagram, the Toile
Industrielle® maps the productive ecosystems in the
Flanders-Dunkirk region with the goal of creating industrial
links inside the region and between it and
the neighboring regions. It describes companies by
showing the inputs and outputs, their functional linkages
and the extent of their local roots. This approach
has many advantages: to understand better the interdependencies
at play among companies; to identify
the potential for territorial development; and to anticipate
the impacts of changes on economic markets.
“By connecting companies to each other, it is possible
to avoid impairment losses, optimize the process
of industries already established, reduce their
costs and ensure their sustainability.” Jean-François
Vereecke, general director of AGUR.
Why is this an interesting circular initiative for
circular harbours?
“Why does this company, based on our territory, work
with the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam - represented
on the web - and not with Dunkirk?” For AGUR
(Urban Planning and Development Agency of the
Flanders-Dunkirk Region) this is the kind of question
that should be asked when analyzing the productive
ecosystems. The Toile Industrielle® helps indeed the
decision-making process by simulating the foreseeable
impacts that some decisions would inflict upon
the territory. The Toile Industrielle® is used to look for
new circular economy opportunities. In particular, it
served as a basis for reflections on the use of iron
and steel residues.According to the development
agency, “it is the ideal tool to present the industrial
ecosystem and the potential prospects of circular
economy in the Dunkirk region”. It is therefore mobilized
during meetings with economic partners likely
to invest locally.