Collaboration between the City of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve and UCLouvain is at the origin of the Sustainable Development House (MDD) (MDD), founded in the heart of the city in 2007. Its mission: to be a living and dynamic place dedicated to encouraging society to accelerate its ecological, equitable, companionable transition. Since its creation, its message has been constant: let’s dare to turn things around..
At the MDD, all audiences meet: students, citizens, academics, children, actors in the transition, those who are just curious…the doors are open. And there are many opportunities to come together in shared thought and action. Workshops, exhibitions, forums, multidisciplinary debates, thematic events are all moments of engagement that stimulate individual or collective transition.
Building on its role as an ancillary, the MDD forges links with neighbouring schools, researchers, businesses, and even students. In particular, it is home to OLLN Energie Climat (“OLLN Energy Climate”) and contributes to initiative Ville Zéro Déchet (“OLLN Zero-waste Plan”), two schemes that bring together actors while at the same time engaging their long-term visions.
A veritable space for interaction, the MDD also attracts associative networks or groups dedicated to the solidarity economy. Among the actions that these collaborations take: the organisation of citizen cafés, a revaluation market, a seed exchange in the spring, a weekly repair café, and other workshops and meetings organised around the sustainability transition and its challenges.