Garden policy: BELGIUM - Flanders

 Institution(s) in charge

Public bodies:

  • Agentschap Natuur en Bos (Nature and Forestry Agency):
    Dag van het Park (Parks Day), mainly public parks and gardens (always held on a Sunday in May, for the past 19 years). 
  • Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed (Flemish Heritage Agency):
    Open Monumentendag (Heritage Day), among the properties open to the public there are always a number of privately-owned gardens and parks (always held on the second Sunday in September, for the past 28 years).

Private organisations:

  • Open Tuinen van België / Jardins Ouverts de Belgique, (non-profit-making association)
    Between early April and the end of November,196 privately-owned gardens (109 of them in the Flemish region) open their doors to the 4,640 people who sign up to the scheme by purchasing the latest guide.
  • Landelijke Gilden
    214 public and privately-owned gardens are open to the public from 15 May. The guide is on sale in the shops runs by AVEVE (a company that is part of the Organisation Agricole Chrétienne)
  • Arboretums
    Arboretum Kalmthout (member of the Morton Register of Arboreta), a famous arboretum formerly owned by the De Belder-Kovacic family and which now belongs to the province of Antwerp. 
    Arboretum Hemelrijk in Essen (Antwerp province): a famous arboretum owned by the De Belder-Kovacic family. Open to groups of 20 people or more for guided tours.
  • Arboretum Herkenrode in Wespelaar (Flemish Brabant): (member of the Morton Register of Arboreta) a famous arboretum owned by the Spoelberch family. Open to groups of 20 people or more for guided tours. 

 

 Other actors

Park van Beervelde (www.parkvanbeervelde.be): Courson-style open days the first weekend in May and the first weekend in October. 

Tuindagen van Hex (www.hex.be): Courson-style open days the first weekend in June and the first weekend in September.

 

 Relevant legislation

  • Onroerenderfgoeddecreet van 12 juli 2013 (Heritage Decree of 12 July 2013): maximum protection 
  • Vastgestelde Inventaris van Tuinen en Parken van Vlaanderen (the inventory of Flemish parks and gardens is re-published every year) minimum protection 

 

 Protection measures

Status of gardens (protected or not): public/private 

Statutory protection as heritage (monument, landscape or urban or rural site) under the Heritage Decree of 12 July 2013 

615 are protected as monuments, 439 as urban or rural sites and 165 as landscape (as of March 2016)

 

 Existing inventories

The inventory of Flemish gardens and parks is still being compiled and features 989 sites to date.

 

 Online information

 

 Specialised training

Tuin- en landschapsarchitectuur (garden and landscape architecture)

Vocational bachelor’s programme

In-service training: no

Other opportunities for specialised training:

 

 Awareness-raising actions

 

 Terminology tools

 

 Documentation