During the last century Genk was known for his high concentration of coal mines where thousand of immigrants, especially Italians, went to work.
The living conditions for the workers and the citizens where critical, the level of air, soil and water pollution where at its maximum.
When in the 80s the government decided to close the mines Genk invested little by little in a sustainable development and started to convert the mines space into green places in order to increase the number of bees that were drastically reduced due to the pollution.

Now the city of Genk has 69 gardens where everybody can grow it’s own organic food and help bees to spread in the area.

Moreover the entire project support the Global Goals for Sustainable Dlevelpment.