A gift from the Walloon Region and unique in Belgium due to its size, the Rio + 10 fountain, inaugurated in March 2003, symbolises the sustainable development of the planet. It is a homage by Verviers to the summit devoted to the future of the planet which was held in Rio de Janeiro (in Brazil) in 1993. On the globe, the natural blue stone represents the seas and oceans, whilst the continents are depicted in white. They were coloured with a special resin considered to last forever. The monument is 2 metres tall. The globe is 1 metre in diameter and stands on a base from which it rises by a few centimetres via the action of water jets that form a cushion. With a simple hand movement, passers-by can easily turn the globe despite the fact that it weighs one and a half tonnes.