Limburg named the world’s “most intelligent region”

Limburg has been named the world’s smartest region by the US-based think tank Intelligent Community Forum (ICF). The southern province, known for its hills and regional dialects, beat finalists from countries like Taiwan and Canada.

The award was presented to Brightlands, a network of four business and research campuses in the province that focus on health, AI, sustainable chemistry and food research. The ICF, a federation of 200 cities and regions, ranks areas around the globe each year on factors like economic and social development.

The jury praised the cooperation between government, business and research institutions at the campuses, as well as the way Limburg rebuilt itself after its coal mines closed half a century ago. After natural gas was discovered in 1959, “the region lost not only jobs but also security and hope,” ICF founder Robert Bell said.

Brightlands was set up in 2014 by the provincial government, education institutions and local businesses, according to L1 Nieuws.

The Maastricht campus focuses on health and is linked to the university hospital, while Heerlen, home to pension fund ABP and the national statistics office CBS, specialises in data and AI.

The materials campus is on the Chemelot chemical site in Sittard-Geleen, and Venlo’s food campus uses infrastructure left over from the 2012 Floriade horticultural expo.

Limburg beat six other finalists, from Brazil, Turkey, the US, Canada, Spain and Taiwan. Last year’s winner was Durham Region in Canada. The Brainport region around Eindhoven won in 2011.