La CITE s'invente

La CITE (Centre d'Initiatives et de Traitement de l'Environnement – Environment Hub with focus on initiatives and care) s’invente (this is an intended pun because it can also be read as « the city invents itself ») is a non-profit organisation which was founded in 2009 by a group of young people with backgrounds in the environmental and cultural sectors. The main aims of La CITE s’invente have been the creation and constant development of an eco-centre on a scenic mountain slope bordering the St Leonard quarter in the old town of Liege. The idea for the eco-centre had been nourished by inspiration drawn from eco-centre projects around the world. An eco-centre is a space where the wider public can become aware of, and learn about, the environmental challenges our society is facing, as well as possible (alternative) solutions. It was important to us at La CITE s’invente that the eco-centre would exist in a multicultural urban space, to ensure that a diverse audience could be reached, and that patterns of sustainable lifestyles could be offered and demonstrated to such an audience. In 2009, we began to ecologically renovate an old degenerated building which used to be home to working class families whose members typically worked in the nearby hard coal mines. We wanted not only to talk and teach about ecological and sustainable building methods, but practice and demonstrate them. The building was thus restructured, renovated and enlarged, and now it allows us to welcome visitors and learners in a friendly, bright and fully functional environment overlooking Liege, the very walls of which are fully aligned with our sustainability values. The size and structure of our space has also allowed us to welcome a steadily growing number of members of affiliated organisations as well as visitors and learners. We welcome them as protagonists and co-creators of our project, whose vision and implementation techniques we are constantly trying to refine and improve. For this reason, we are driven to make and keep our space as open, well-known and accessible as possible. The activities we propose can be grouped into, on the one hand, information and sensitisation events and, on the other, the promotion of more sustainable relationships between humans and the environment. Specifically, we focus on our four main topics: energy, habitat, biodiversity and nutrition. The formats of events we have been offering regularly include visits, animations, courses, workshops, conferences, screenings and guided nature walks. During our educational events, we prioritise a playful, interactive, experimental, innovative and pragmatic approach which best allows us to demonstrate the interaction and interplay between different environmental issues. All of them are generally open to educational institutions and also to the public, individuals or groups, regardless of their backgrounds or prior knowledge and experience. In fact, we especially seek and value inputs from people who might not consider themselves familiar or interested with ecology and sustainability, because they usually add a richness of perspective. Stemming from our initial inspiration of eco-centres around the world, we pursue a global and interconnected approach and aim to continuously develop our means, infrastructures and capacities for action. We do so by connecting with organisations with different aims as much as we can. Another priority of ours is the exchange, sharing and spreading of skills and expertise, following a logic of a continuous learning process.