Built on the former Waterschei colliery, Thor Park technology park is taking the concept of an innovative and creative knowledge city to a whole new level. The new manufacturing campus will be part of Flanders’ advanced manufacturing ecosystem, which connects companies, research facilities and government agencies to stimulate innovation.
THOR PARK
Thor Park is a 90-ha business and technology park specializing in smart energy and discrete manufacturing. By bringing different parties together here on this one site, it has established a collective approach to the longer-term development of each organization’s expertise in sustainable energy engineering, technology and innovation. Among other things, the site supports the Living Lab principle which allows research centres and companies to evaluate and simulate their new applications in 'real life' conditions.
ENERGYVILLE
Located in Thor Park, Energyville is a partnership between the Flemish research partners KU Leuven, VITO, imec and Hasselt University in the field of sustainable energy and intelligent energy systems. Government and industry are the beneficiaries of Energyville’s expertise on energy systems for a sustainable urban environment.
T2 CAMPUS
Thor Park’s T2 campus plays an important role in talent development. Two organizations involved in professional training - VDAB and SYNTRA Limburg – worked with the City of Genk to build a new educational facility to stimulate technical education in Flanders. T2 now runs 300+ courses to encourage young people to pursue a career in a technical profession.
THOR CENTRAL
The former main building of Waterschei mine has been given a new and meaningful use and a bright new future as Thor Park’s conference centre, known as Thor Central. The right-hand wing of this impressive building now boasts no fewer than 13 meeting spaces, an auditorium, a foyer, a multi-purpose room and a Food Plaza. In 2019 Visit Flanders added Thor Central to its select network of Flanders Heritage Venues.