The twelfth and thirteenth stops of “In cammino” took place in the Netherlands, specifically in North Brabant: on September 13 and 14, our team visited the two Abbeys of Koningshoeven and Berne, located a few kilometers from the town of Tilburg.

The word that characterized these stops was: “Purity”.

The morning of September 13 began at 10 a.m. with a visit to the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Koningshoeven in Berkel-Enschot. This is a very picturesque Trappist monastic complex founded in 1881, a relatively recent construction compared to other monasteries we have visited, but important both as a spiritual center and for the production of “La Trappe” beer, which proudly holds the title of “Authentic Trappist Product (ATP)” as the only Dutch Trappist Abbey (the others are in Belgium). Another notable aspect is that “La Trappe” is an environmentally friendly beer, as the monks have adopted a natural system for saving and purifying water, thanks to a filtration greenhouse made up of seventy different species of plants and ferns: truly a unique feature in Europe.

This greenhouse, a striking cubical glass structure filled with lush plants, dominates one side of the building housing the brewery. “While praying seven times a day to thank the Lord for the wonders of Creation, we realized that we weren’t doing anything against the pollution of the planet –,said Abbot Father Isaac Major in an interview. – We were therefore forced to become more eco-friendly”.

The honey and jams produced in Koningshoeven are also labeled as “ATP”. The entire Abbey is surrounded by a beautiful park and a canal; the complex includes a bar-restaurant, a shop with monastery products, a guesthouse, and the Abbey Church, which was completely renovated in the early 2000s.

After the stop at Koningshoeven, we moved to Tilburg late in the morning, where at 12 p.m. we visited—guided by Conny van Rooij, manager of Seats2Meet Tilburg Spoorzone—the LocHal, one of the most unique and fascinating cultural hubs in the Netherlands today. This is a disused railway workshop where locomotives were assembled, renovated by a group of architects, and converted into a public library and multifunctional spaces equipped with cutting-edge technologies, boasting both innovative design and preservation of the industrial structure. A huge staircase, an internal café, convivial and gathering spaces are just some of the features of the LocHal, a flagship of the Spoorzone: an entire working-class neighborhood near the train station that has been revitalized and transformed into an “incubator” for projects for young artists and the community.

In this particular library, the partition curtains in the halls are 15 meters high and 38 wide, the tables are made from stacks of old books topped with an oak countertop, while the railway tracks from the depot have not been removed and remain clearly visible in the concrete floor, becoming useful again for moving the large tables on iron wheels that reach the outside of the LocHal, forming a stage for outdoor events in the summer.

Here, in the Werkplaats Hall, at 2 p.m., the conference “Places and Times of Sustainability: from the Recovery of Architectural Spaces to Agriculture, to the Purity of What We Eat and Drink” began, chaired by Livia Pomodoro, holder of the UNESCO Chair “Food Systems for Sustainable Development and Social Inclusion” at the State University of Milan.

“This is a magical place – began President Pomodoro in her introductory greeting – and my deepest gratitude goes to the director and the staff of this facility that hosts us, which I found beautiful, extraordinary, and in a certain sense ‘revolutionary’ in its way of being, even in relation to that purity to which we all aspire. A purity that is not only limited and concentrated in our daily lives but is also a purity of thought that allows us to become different and perhaps better every day”.

The floor was passed to Claudio Serafini, Director of Organic Cities Network Europe and coordinator of the debate, who, speaking about the Abbey of Koningshoeven and its natural water filtration method, recalled the Beer Purity Law: “A Bavarian law enacted in 1516 that established the ingredients that could be used for the production of bottom-fermented beer. According to this edict, beer could only be produced using water, barley malt, and hops. Other ingredients were not allowed, except for yeast, which was added to the list in 1857 after Pasteur discovered its importance for the beer fermentation process. Therefore, it seems to me that this twelfth stop is also important for the chosen word: ‘purity,’ a truly evocative term”.

The next speaker was the “host” Peter Kok, director of the Central Brabant Library Foundation, who—after welcoming everyone—described the history of the architectural recovery that brought the LocHal to life.

“Since 2010, I have been directing the Bibliotheek Midden-Brabant Foundation, which employs 200 staff members and 170 volunteers and has 16 library locations across six municipalities, serving a population of about 350,000 residents. Our main site is the LocHal in Tilburg: a 10,000-square-meter building, two-thirds of which is designated as a library. However, it is not just a container of books where silence must be maintained. It is also a place of creativity, where dreams can become reality. This all began in 2019 in this formerly industrial neighborhood: here, locomotives were assembled, and around 150 workers were employed. Now it is a place where different generations meet: and thanks to the LocHal, the role and relationship between students and teachers have changed. Experimentation takes place here, and those who work here are enthusiastic. Sometimes, even visitors suggest ideas to us, as this is a place that inspires and helps people meet and bring out the best in themselves”.

A representative from the Municipality of Tilburg then intervened from the audience, adding to Peter Kok’s account by explaining how the Spoorzone neighborhood was used by the railways for the maintenance and repair of trains. It was left abandoned until it was purchased by the municipality: a total area of 10 hectares inaugurated at the end of June 2019. The LocHal depot, built in 1932, was a workshop for repairing the largest locomotives until it was decommissioned in 2011. The initial idea was to demolish it or to create multi-story parking. Finally, the municipality collaborated with private entrepreneurs for the recovery of the entire Spoorzone. And this is where artists came in: “This is the library of the future, a place that lives within society addressing the issues of people”.

Next was a video connection with Maximilian Felix Schupp, regional councilor of the Hanseatic City of Bremen and Senator for Development, Climate, and Science.

Schupp emphasized how the bio-city of Bremen, which currently holds the presidency of Organic Cities Network Europe, has been part of this network since 2015. It is also part of the Bio Cities in Germany (Biostädte), which includes thirty German metropolises and one hundred small municipalities that have opted for organic practices. Schupp also explained Bremen’s 2025 Plan of Action aimed at sustainably improving community catering to provide healthy and accessible food for all citizens. With this plan, the city commits to ensuring that community facilities such as schools, daycare centers, company canteens, and hospitals become places where healthy and sustainable eating practices are adopted by 2025, through the use of organically grown food, the introduction of certified quality standards, the promotion of regional products, and the reduction of food waste.

Anne van Strien, author of the essay “Regenerative Water Management”, spoke in her intervention about purity in relation to water management, which must always consider the regenerative power of this element.

“Just like the earth, water also possesses its own force that we feel when we touch it, leaving an imprint on us. This is a concept that must go beyond the important issue of sustainability. It’s not just about management, but about how we can all collaborate to preserve that regenerative force… Different people work creatively with water: for example, in ‘dialogues with water’, where participants sit in a circle, leaving an empty chair, and talk to the water, seeking to know it better”.

Given the topics discussed at the conference, a video by Veronica Manfredi, Director of Zero Pollution and Green Cities in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment, was shown again. This video was made during her participation in the “In cammino” stage on April 22 in Scoumont, Belgium, which focused on water.

Finally, to conclude the debate, a video from Livia Pomodoro made for World Water Day was presented. “This is not only an occasion – emphasized President Pomodoro – to celebrate the importance of water for the development of life on Earth, but also to renew our commitment to promoting peace and justice through responsible management of water resources”.

At 4 p.m., the engaging notes of the Dutch quartet Jazzy Combo The Buddy’s echoed in the LocHal of Tilburg. The group, consisting of Frie Kremers (guitar and banjo), Theo Brok (clarinet and sax), Jan van Bergen (drums and vocals), and Pieter de Lange (double bass), closed the day with expertly performed New Orleans jazz, blues, and swing, creating a dreamy, enchanting atmosphere.