Birsstadt honoured with the Wakker Prize
Der Wakkerpreis 2024 geht an den Verein Birsstadt. Der Heimatschutz ehrt damit die Bemühungen der zehn Gemeinden in Baselland und Solothurn, den Agglomerationsraum lebenswert zu machen. Dazu gehören die Weiterentwicklung der Industrieareale und die Sicherung des baukulturellen Erbes.
The Swiss Heritage Society is awarding this year’s Wakker Prize to the Birsstadt association. It honours the cooperation between nine municipalities in the canton of Basel-Landschaft and the Solothurn municipality of Dornach in solving the challenges in the agglomeration. This cooperation lays the foundation for repairing the uncoordinated growth of the area at the gates of the Basel metropolis.
In its press release, Heimatschutz praises in particular the upgrading of the natural and living space along the Birs, the careful further development of important industrial sites and the safeguarding and strengthening of the architectural heritage. However, Birsstadt also addresses overarching strategies in the areas of landscape, settlement, mobility and adaptation to climate change.
The Birsstadt association was founded in 2018. In addition to Dornach, it includes the municipalities of Aesch, Arlesheim, Birsfelden, Duggingen, Grellingen, Muttenz, Münchenstein, Pfeffingen and Reinach. Together, the ten municipalities have a population of around 94,000. The association sees great opportunities in being honoured by the Heritage Society. It wants to use this opportunity to make the Birsstadt better known throughout Switzerland, it writes in its own press release. It also intends to launch a project this year on dealing with building culture in the region.
The award will be presented on 22 June as part of a Wakker Prize celebration on the Domplatz in Arlesheim.