Provincial Parks of the Antwerp Region

In Belgium, the Provincial Parks of the Antwerp Region oversees five regional parks—lush, family-friendly spaces featuring everything from hiking trails and bike paths to education centers and petting zoos. These popular public spaces are supported by a large, behind-the-scenes team responsible for daily maintenance, facility rental, public programming, and finance.

Until recently, much of that work was held together by emails, PDFs, spreadsheets, and a lot of manual effort.

That changed when the Provincial Parks of the Antwerp Region started using Claris FileMaker to develop custom operational apps. What started with a single maintenance app grew into an ecosystem of custom applications — called DIGIPARK — that now supports nearly every part of park operations.

“What made the difference was how quickly we could take an idea and turn it into something useful. With FileMaker, we don’t wait months for development to finalize. We get custom apps we can use in a matter of days or weeks,” said Werner Marinus, head of administration for the Provincial Parks of the Antwerp Region.

A customized maintenance app started a continuous partnership.

Recognizing the need for a simple reporting tool, Werner brought in ClickWorks, a Claris Platinum Partner, to collaborate on a custom solution for maintenance issues.

ClickWorks proposed a QR-code-powered solution using FileMaker, so staff could use an iPad to scan a code posted on playgrounds, fences, or vending machines to report a problem. The app would then log the location, assign the issue to the appropriate team or contractor, then track maintenance progress through to completion.

“Once the staff saw how valuable the first custom application was, they asked, ‘Can we do this for bookings? For internal billing? For events?’” ClickWorks developer Thomas Smedts explained. “That’s how the set of custom apps grew—solving one problem after another.”

A full ecosystem of custom apps.

While the team at the Provincial Parks of the Antwerp Region has collaborated with a development partner on some projects, Werner has invented and built several of the DIGIPARK apps himself, expanding the FileMaker solutions across the organization. Today, the DIGIPARK has more than 14 connected FileMaker applications across its parks. Each custom app was designed to match real workflows and improve efficiency for teams in the office and in the field.

DIGIPARK includes digital solutions for:

Maintenance and issue reporting:

• QR-code driven interface allows field teams to log maintenance issues instantly.
• Automated task assignment and progress tracking.
• Audit trail and history for recurring issues.

Facility rental management:

• Digital calendar and booking system for classrooms, meeting rooms, and event spaces.
• Auto-generates invoices and routes approvals to the right teams.
• Replaces email-based coordination and spreadsheet tracking.

Visitor tracking and insights:

• Integrated visitor counters provide real-time attendance numbers.
• Enables the parks team to report on impact and secure budget renewals.
• Dashboards allow leadership to make data-driven staffing and funding decisions.

Internal logistics and billing:

• Facilitates internal recharging of services between departments.
• Routes cost approvals, logs receipts, and supports financial transparency.

“Every time we deliver something new, it creates ideas for the next thing,” Thomas said. “That’s the beauty of FileMaker—solutions are never static.”

Community engagement powered by the unified Claris platform.

One standout example of agility came when the Provincial Parks of the Antwerp Region team proposed a creative campaign: Let families “adopt” animals from the petting zoo—symbolically—during a public-engagement event. The campaign needed a digital sign-up experience that was easy to access, quick to deploy, and visually engaging for the public.

The development team built the web-based solution in just a few days using Claris Studio, a tool on the Claris platform.

By leveraging Claris Studio’s web-first development features, the team created a modern, user-friendly web form that’s accessible on any device. The solution handled sign-ups, tracked “adoptions,” and funneled data directly into the Provincial Parks of the Antwerp Region’s internal FileMaker system for follow-up and reporting.

“This was our first project using Claris Studio,” said Joris Aarts, ClickWorks co-founder. “It let us build a fast, clean web interface that looked great and worked smoothly—without needing to bring in a front-end developer.”

The solution’s responsive design made it ideal for families on-site, while behind the scenes, Claris Connect provided real-time sync with FileMaker, ensuring staff always had up-to-date participation data. The solution also generated downloadable lists and tags for event logistics, all hosted securely in the cloud.

According to Werner, “Pet adoption felt like a small idea, but it became a template for future events. We can now reuse that setup for any kind of campaign requiring public participation.”

The success of the web-based solution validated Claris Studio’s potential—and sparked interest across the organization in applying it to other citizen-facing experiences.

Technical capabilities behind the scenes.

The operational impact of the suite of custom apps has been significant. Manual tasks that once took hours are now handled in minutes. Empowered teams act on real-time data rather than waiting on emails or paper reports. Communication is faster, decisions are better informed, and public services are more responsive.

Using Claris FileMaker, the team can deploy each custom app quickly, ensuring rapid iteration with minimal overhead. Plus, their applications have several technical advantages:

• Cross-device deployment using FileMaker Go.
• Barcode and QR scanning to trigger location-specific workflows.
• Role-based access control to ensure users only see relevant functions.
• Built-in dashboards and visualizations for real-time operational insights.
• API integrations that connect apps to existing systems or external services.

“The parks are calmer on the outside because behind the scenes in DIGIPARK, everything’s faster, more organized, and more connected,” Werner said. “It’s like switching from an old typewriter to an iPad.”

Staff adoption has also been extensive, thanks to a focus on usability and continuous feedback. By involving end users in the discovery and application design processes as well as iterating quickly, each custom app feels tailored—because it is.

A platform for continuous digital innovation.

What began as a single maintenance app has become a strategic platform for digital transformation. The Provincial Parks of the Antwerp Region has a solid approach to growth: Start small, deliver quickly, and scale what works.

With Claris FileMaker as the foundation and ClickWorks as a trusted development partner, the Provincial Parks of the Antwerp Region isn’t just maintaining its parks more efficiently—it’s building a modern, digital infrastructure that can grow with the needs of its staff, visitors, and places.

This success story illustrates a clear path for other organizations looking to optimize their workplace operations. The Claris platform helps teams address a specific pain point, then build, iterate, and rapidly deploy tailored solutions. These solutions unlock valuable data insights, empower teams, and ultimately lead to significant gains in efficiency and service delivery. An agile approach fosters a culture of continuous improvement, transforming daily tasks and laying the groundwork for ongoing digital innovation.

Interested in what a FileMaker solution can do for your organization? Talk to a Claris expert and find out.