In 2021, immediately after the floods in the province of Liège, Martina Barcelloni Corte from the Faculty of Architecture and Jacques Teller from the Faculty of Applied Sciences, Department of Engineering and Architecture at ULiège, joined forces and, in collaboration with the Faculty of Agro-Bio Tech in Gembloux, set up the ‘Task Force Vesdre’. This is a transdisciplinary research group that aims to develop a series of scenarios to tackle the hydrological crisis in the Vesdre Valley through design-based research based on a prospective territorial approach.

The term ‘task force’ immediately emphasises what is at stake: an urgent situation in which the team wants to take concrete action that will have a real impact on the area and its resistance to future flooding. From the outset, all parties are involved, including the mayors, aldermen and residents of the affected municipalities, as well as regional and provincial policymakers. Thanks to funding from ULiège, this task force can develop themes and ambitions that, on the one hand, fuel public debate and, on the other hand, provide arguments to support political and territorial decisions.