OUR STORY

Back in October 2015, Congé launched a new event venue to revitalize a "neglected" site. It soon became clear that the focus should not only be on work but that increasing physical and mental health is equally important. This is how the collaboration with the team behind The Box, who offer innovative leisure facilities, came about. Through the Stadslab2050, supported by the City of Antwerp, the idea arose in 2017 to link Congé's hospitality know-how to a new circular center full of sustainable businesses located in a brand new part of the city. As part of the project team, Congé coordinated numerous actions for this purpose such as: • A C2C Expolab where innovative opportunities were highlighted across four themes: water, energy, materials and daily processes/products. • Organizing community activities that successfully involved the entire residential neighborhood and challenged them to develop a model of sustainability through experience, interaction and models of leasing, sharing, redesign, etc. • Testing vertical and horizontal solar panels together with VITO so that maximum solar energy could be used at all times of the day. • Placing of a container together with Water-link in which the water from the kitchen and hand-washers of the sanitary facilities was collected and purified into reusable water through an innovative treatment process. • Partnering with PLNT to install two containers for growing vegetables and herbs using pesticide-avoiding LED technology.

In 2021, Congé moved its greenhouse to the Blue Gate Antwerp site to build a circular, economic hub in a 900-square-meter courtyard surrounded by white shipping containers. The containers have since all been housed by sustainable and visionary entrepreneurs. Going forward, the containers will make way for a permanent, innovative and sustainable facility of approximately 8,000 square meters that will focus on circular and impact-driven entrepreneurship as well as the new way of working.

Since it will take several more years before the new concept will be completed, a new brand was developed that acts as an experimental arena to build an even broader network and gain more expertise and experience to ensure the success of the future project as much as possible. LOOP IMPACT represents a sustainable movement in which a community of partners with an interest in sustainable entrepreneurship work together to improve the future for themselves and others. LOOP IMPACT brings together and collaborates with innovative individuals and companies who value sustainability through circularity and believe in the power of a community striving for a better future. The organization regularly organizes events, individual programs and workshops around relevant entrepreneurial topics to promote sustainable and circular entrepreneurship. This way circular initiatives get more visibility, can exchange knowledge and get ideas for co-creation. In doing so, all activities reflect four core objectives, namely: 1. Inform (= to inform about existing opportunities/methods of working) 2. Inspire (= to inspire with novelties and scientific innovations) 3. Activate (= encouraging individuals and organizations to interact with each other) 4. Enjoy (= offering a unique experience in a distinctive setting)