SDG's

The SDGs are 17 goals established by the UN to address global challenges by 2030. Together, the 17 SDGs form a sustainability agenda focused on:

• society
• economy
• environment
• human rights
• world peace

Through our sustainability initiatives, we are thus actively contributing to the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations. We additionally selected 6 material goals on which we are extra committed, because we can realize the greatest impact specifically from LRM in these 6 areas:

• SDG no.7: affordable and sustainable energy
• SDG no.8: decent work and economic growth
• SDG no.9: industry, innovation & infrastructure
• SDG no.11: sustainable cities and communities
• SDG no.13: climate action
• SDG no.16: good governance

LRM invests in innovative and impactful climate projects and eco-initiatives. LRM has the expertise and resources to realize strategic impact projects in green energy production: wind turbines, solar energy, energy storage... So we develop projects where economy and ecology go hand in hand.

Some realizations:

• Kristal Solar Park Lommel: 303.000 solar panels
• floating solar park Dessel: 7 acres of solar panels

In everything we do within the LRM Group, we pursue economic growth, additional employment and increased prosperity in the region.

Some of our accomplishments:

• By 2030, we want to expand our Corda Campus in Hasselt, located on the former Philips sites, from 14 to 23 hectares. The existing 250 companies on the Corda Campus would become 350 by then, and employment could grow from 5,000 jobs to 7,500.
   
• With LRM, we are investing in the transformation of the former industrial mining site Terhills into a sustainable tourist-recreational destination with international appeal and high experiential value. A total of 219 hectares of former industrial site were transformed into nature (100 ha) and recreation (119 ha). Viewed through an economic lens, the eye-catchers at Terhills are the Terhills Hotel, Terhills Cable Park, Elaisa Wellness and Terhills Resort, a sustainable vacation park with 250 vacation villas.

The LRM Group is changing the economic landscape by developing innovative real estate and infrastructure of its own.Furthermore, we provide venture capital to companies with promising projects, so that they too can increase their positive impact.

Some examples of innovative real estate:

• Thor Park in Genk, accounting for 93 hectares, is a global redevelopment project on the former Waterschei (Genk) mining site. It is a business, technology, training and science park that has the ambition to become the center of competence regarding three domains: energy transition, smart manufacturing and smart city applications.
   
• With over 250 companies and 5,000 people, Hasselt's Corda Campus is one of the largest business campuses in Europe. The mix of start-ups, scale-ups and corporate companies creates a unique ecosystem there. By 2030, LRM will expand the campus by 9 hectares, allowing more than 2,500 additional people to work there. And with the arrival of the Corda Arena in 2025, the campus will have the largest digital experience arena on the mainland. Ideal for events up to 4,000 people. 
   
• DronePort offers a state-of-the-art testing environment for drones. A vibrant ecosystem of researchers, start-ups and entrepreneurs in the drone industry is present, as well as a dedicated incubator for young companies. 

Some examples of venture capital:

• Investment of 4,400,000 euros for Hippo Dx innovative device for allergy testing in hospitals 
• Breakthrough loan of 250,000 euros for Recybuild, a family business specializing in sustainable, recycled plastic products.
• Investment of 2 million in start-up BlooLoc, specialist in the positioning of people and objects in buildings

LRM invests in experiential real estate to help increase the appeal and tourist potential of our province and to create sustainable jobs. For example, LRM is currently working on the redevelopment of the former mine site of Beringen under the name be-MINE and be-NATURE. We are making targeted investments in tourism projects that will have a positive long-term effect on the region. Just as we did with Terhills, we also want to transform be-MINE into a tourist attraction with numerous supra-regional attractions.

We also play a pioneering role in the field of mobility with our innovative mobility projects. At our Terhills site, for example, self-driving shuttles, without security stewards on board, have been running since the spring of 2023. That is a first for Belgium!

A totally different example that shows our ambitions to work on sustainable cities and communities are our incubators that specifically target sustainable businesses:
- Greenville: focus on circular economy
- IncubaThor: focus on Smart Energy, Innovation & Technology
- Agropolis: innovative companies in agriculture and horticulture

With LRM we realize impactful climate projects that contribute to the Flemish and international climate goals. We are strongly committed to making our own sites more sustainable. To ensure that everything runs smoothly and to effectively convert ideas into concrete realizations, we have also set up an internal 'LRM Climate' team. 

Some realizations:

• battery project at Terhills: 140 large Tesla batteries
• Terhills solar farm: 7,000 solar panels

With LRM we offer "smart money": in addition to a financial injection, companies can count on our expertise, experience and network to professionalize themselves even more. Furthermore, we also make our innovative real estate available to them and they can count on a strong community operation. 

To give you an idea: in 2022, we invested 58 million euros in Limburg companies and projects. Of this, 41 million euros was business financing for start-ups and scale-ups as well as for mature, family and industrial companies. 17 million euros we applied to real estate investments on campuses, incubators, mining sites and business parks.

UNITAR | CIFAL Flanders is a centre of expertise in Antwerp with an important social role to encourage sustainability thinking in governments, academic institutions, companies and non-profit organisations. CIFAL has a unique UN mandate to inform, raise awareness and inspire about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The main activities of CIFAL focus on trainings, projects and coaching trajectories about the UN Agenda 2030 and the SDGs.

A more sustainable world? Your organisation can help!
Available as from October 2023: the updated SDG Wegwijzer, a Dutch Start-to-SDG Guide with 90
FAQs on SDGs. An initiative of CIFAL Flanders, in collaboration with Flanders Chancellery and Foreign Office of the Flemish Government and with the support of Pantarein Publishing and Verso.
Get started with the SDGs in your organisation and download the updated online guide here.