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january 21, 2015 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ rEad morE at www.flandErstoday.Eu currEnt affairs \ P2

Politics \ P4

Street patrol

For the first time in 30 years, Belgian military personnel are patrolling the streets of Antwerp and Brussels

BusinEss \ P6

innovation \ P7

Education \ P9

art & living \ P10

SportS hiStory

re-learning to teach

Teachers across Flanders are being coached in strategies for teaching pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds

The largest sports exhibition ever to tour Europe focuses on local heroes Jacky Ickx and Eddy Merckx

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An uphill battle

© european union, 2014

flanders’ institute of tropical medicine is on the front lines of the Ebola crisis senne starckx More articles by senne \ flanderstoday.eu

A year after its initial outbreak in Guinea in December 2013, the ebola virus has killed more than 20,000 people, making it the worst outbreak of the disease in human history. While experts still can’t predict how the epidemic will evolve, local health officials have buckled down and pooled resources to prevent the virus from entering our region.

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ainstream media love to report on epidemics and pandemics of a deadly virus. The consequence of that over-reporting is that irrational fear often spreads more rapidly through local populations than the disease itself – just think of the recent swine and bird flu outbreaks and the Sars pandemic.

Last year, that familiar scenario repeated itself, with the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia in West Africa. Despite there being almost no Ebola deaths outside the three worst-hit countries, the virus still caused a certain amount of panic in Belgium.

Sometimes the result of the mounting fear felt surreal, like when I visited the small hospital in my hometown of Mol last October and noticed a sign next to the entrance reassuring visitors that the facility was totally “Ebola free”.

Dr Erika Vlieghe, head of the tropical diseases department at Antwerp University Hospital, laughs out loud when I tell her this story. Last October, Vlieghe was appointed the national Ebola co-ordinator by Maggie De Block, the federal minister of public health. “I’ve heard of some weird reactions since then, but that’s too crazy for words,” she says.

In the last three months, Vlieghe, who specialises in infectious diseases, has led a team of experts working on preventing the Ebola virus from entering Belgium and on readying all the concerned authorities for a scenario that would see one or more infected patients setting foot on Belgian soil.

There have already been a dozen false Ebola alarms, but only two of those made the news as they involved patients who were intercepted at Brussels Airport. In most cases, the suspected patients were suffering from malaria or some other tropical disease.

One woman was placed in quarantine at the Saint-Pierre University Hospital in Brussels after she vomited during a flight from Sierra Leone to Brussels – severe nausea is one of the key symptoms of Ebola. After 12 hours, a blood analysis showed that she was Ebola negative. continued on page 5

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Soldiers patrol city streets

armed paratroopers guarding potential terrorist targets in antwerp and Brussels alan Hope Follow alan on Twitter \ @alanHopeFT

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rmed paratroopers began security duties at the weekend guarding government buildings and embassies in Brussels and Antwerp. Military personnel were also stationed in the Jewish quarter in Antwerp, the Jewish Museum in Brussels and in front of the American and Israeli embassies.

According to justice minister Koen Geens, the deployment of troops is a temporary measure – intended to last no longer than one month – in response to the increased threat to the country after a terrorist attempt was thwarted last Thursday in Verviers, Wallonia.

The main Jewish schools in Brussels and Antwerp closed on Friday, amid fears of a terrorist attack in reprisal for a day of anti-terror operations across the country the previous day. Two armed men were killed by police in Verviers, Liège province.

The actions had been planned for some time, police said, and had no direct link with the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris the week before.

According to a spokesperson for the federal prosecutor’s office, the operation was in response to intelligence about a planned attack on a target in Belgium, who was to be kidnapped and then beheaded on camera. The identity of the target has not been revealed.

The operation was launched in Verviers, where occupants of a house fired on police who were carrying out a search warrant.

“Two suspects were killed and another seriously injured,” said spokesperson Erik Van Der Sypt.

“Neither police nor members of the public were injured.”

Searches were also carried out last week in the Brussels districts of Molenbeek, Anderlecht, Schaarbeek and Brussels-City, as well as in Vilvoorde and Zaventem in Flemish Brabant. Two men, believed to be returned Syria fighters, were arrested in Zaventem.

“Belgium is not Kabul” The government decided to deploy 150 troops to patrol the streets

© yves Herman/BelGa

soldiers are stationed in the jewish quarter of antwerp as Belgium’s terrorist alert level rises to three

in Antwerp and Brussels. “Our people are trained to protect sensitive locations,” said defence chief General Gerard Van Caelenberg, who pointed to experience in Afghanistan and Mali. The soldiers will be on static guard, authorised to use force only in self-defence or according to the rules of engagement established by the defence

ministry.

Coalition party Open VLD intends to hold Geens strictly to such a schedule, party chair Gwendolyn Rutten promised. “Having soldiers patrolling our streets cannot be considered a solution,” she said.

“Belgium is not Kabul. We cannot give way to fear.”

Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever

defended the use of military presence at terrorist targets. “There have been attacks on the Jewish community in Antwerp,” he told VTM news. “When you realise that they’ve used Kalashnikovs and such weapons and have targeted the police, then you see that more firepower on the ground is needed.”

For Ghent mayor Daniel Termont, however, the deployment of the military is not on the agenda. “In a modern democracy like ours, the military only appear in the streets in a war situation, and we’re a long way from that,” he said. Bart Somers, mayor of Mechelen, agreed. “The police take care of security here, and they’re doing a good job,” he said.

The military has been deployed on Belgian soil twice before: during the general strike in 1960-61, when four demonstrators were killed during clashes; and in the early 1980s, following a series of terrorist attacks by the so-called Fighting Communist Cells.

Event commemorates First World War chemical weapons attacks

Commuting to Brussels takes longer than ever

The province of West Flanders has announced details of Woordfront, the second of its First World War public commemoration projects. On 18 April, the event will mark the anniversary of the first gas attacks in Flanders, centred on the town of Tielt.

It was in Tielt that, in April 1915, the decision was made to allow the chief of German staff, General Erich von Falkenhayn, to carry out the gas attack he had been pressing for. The attack, on the Ypres front, was to be a trial run for von Falkenhayn’s plans for the Russian front.

The attack took place through an array of lead pipes at 17.00 on 22 April. One German soldier described it as “a hissing sound, as though a hundred pipes were letting off steam. As the cloud rolled forward it was yellowish-green, a hellish, sulphurous haze. As the sun broke from behind a

It is taking commuters longer to travel in to Brussels to work than in 2012, according to a mobility study by the technology industry federation Agoria. Nine out of 10 employers reported travel times increased by up to 25%; almost no companies reported an improvement in commuting times.

“This situation has major economic consequences for Brussels,” the federation said. “Two out of three companies have trouble finding or keeping staff, and six in 10 have considered leaving the capital as a result.”

Agoria represents companies employing some 31,000 people, with most member companies situated in the

cloud, this new and monstrously beautiful image was lit up before us.”

Some 1,150 soldiers were killed in that first attack, and chemical weapons would continue to be used throughout the rest of the war. Gas accounted for about 4% of deaths in the war, despite international treaties outlawing their use. All of the major countries involved in the war used them at one time or another.

For the Woordfront event, representatives of Tielt and other groups will read texts and 1,150 will march through the streets shouting slogans to music, each group representing one of four emotions: anger, fear, sorrow and hope.

The texts for the marchers will be provided by novelist Saskia De Coster and the music by Inne Eysermans of the group Amatorski. \ AH

€21.8 million

approved by Flemish mobility minister Ben Weyts for the creation and maintenance of cycle paths in Arendonk, Bree, Halle, Drogenbos and Ghent

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motorists involved in the massive 131-vehicle pile-up near Zonnebeke in West Flanders in December 2013 will face charges for their role in the chain collision, most of them for speeding

earthquakes were measured last year in Belgium, including those with epicentres in other countries.

The strongest was on Christmas Day, caused by a quake measuring 2.7 on the Richter scale, centred in Tiel, the Netherlands

outskirts of Brussels. “One in two is not easily accessible by public transport,” the report said. “The majority report no improvement on 2008, when the first mobility inquiry was carried out. Even accessibility by car has deteriorated, according to 80% of the companies surveyed.”

Among the remedies suggested by the report: regional co-operation between public transport authorities De Lijn, MIVB and TEC; extending metro and tram lines to industrial zones; smart traffic lights and a road toll system that takes account of the needs of users and the capacity of roads. \ AH

623,715

locations in Flanders where traffic lights are synchronised with each other to allow a “green wave”.

Antwerp province has the most (24) followed by West Flanders (14)

households supplied with electricity by the output of the three wind turbine parks in the North Sea. The 182 turbines together produced 2.2 million megawatt hours of power

january 21, 2015

WeeK in Brief Anderlecht midfielder Dennis Praet has won the Gouden Schoen, or Golden Boot, as Belgium’s footballer of the year.

The 20-year-old joined Anderlecht in 2010, and he has scored 21 times in 125 appearances for the team. He received his first international call up in November. The Golden Boot awards named Praet’s Anderlecht clubmate Youri Tielemans Talent of the Year, while their coach Besnik Hasi was elected Coach of the Year. Club Brugge’s Mathew Ryan took the prize of Goalkeeper of the Year, and Chelsea and Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois retained his title of Best Belgian Player Abroad.

The Flemish Centre for Adoption is no longer accepting applications for adoptions of babies within Belgium. The organisation said the waiting list was now too long at 495 applications, and it did not wish to give new candidates “false hope”. Only 20 to 30 children are placed with adoptive parents annually. Applications received after 19 January will not be considered. Later in the year, VCA will hold information sessions across Flanders to explain to candidates on the list their real possibilities for the future.

Catherine De Bolle, commissioner-general of the federal police, has been named public sector manager of the year by the Flemish Association for Management and Policy. The jury said that De Bolle was “a model of how public leadership can function and make a difference in difficult circumstances and in complex organisations”.

De Bolle took over in 2012 after the police had undergone a difficult period at senior levels.

Belgium is on the verge of a flu epidemic, according to the Scientific Institute for Public Health. Last week, the institute reported, 121 per 100,000 resi-

face of flanderS dents, or just over 13,000 people, consulted their doctor reporting flu-like symptoms. The threshold for the declaration of an epidemic stands at 141 per 100,000 consultations per week for two weeks in a row.

Proposals are being accepting for the construction of a new annex to the Justice Palace in Brussels. One proposal, from local architects Jaspers-Eyers, would involve a building of 11 storeys, four of them underground, with a total floor space of 33,000 square metres – more than double the office space in the existing courthouse complex.

Kortrijk will this summer join the growing list of municipalities offering free wi-fi. The coverage will include Kortrijk proper as well as the seven districts.

Kortrijk already offers free wi-fi at 150 hotspots around town.

The extension will cost €12,705 to install, and €18,150 a year to run after that.

Animal rights organisation Gaia and other anti-fur protesters have succeeded in stopping the extension of a mink farm in Beveren-Waas, East Flanders, from 16,200 animals to 27,000.

Flemish environment minister Joke Schauvliege last week overturned a decision of the provincial authority, which had granted the farm a permit for an extension. “Mink are wild animals,” commented Gaia chair Michel Vandenbosch. “If they’re shut up in tiny cages, they display abnormal behaviour, throwing themselves against the walls of the cages and injuring themselves.”

The government of Flanders is retiring the umbrella term Vlaanderen in Actie (Flanders in Action), one of the projects of former minister-president Kris Peeters, who is now a minister in the federal government. It was

introduced to group together a wide variety of projects and targets that would, the government said, lead to Flanders becoming one of the major economic regions of Europe by 2020. The projects grouped under the name will continue to be a part of the long-term policy of the government.

The new general director of the Colruyt supermarket chain is Chris Van Wettere, the company announced. Van Wettere, 54, has been with the company for more than 30 years and is currently director of OKay, the chain of local mini-markets, as well as OKay Compact and BioPlanet. He takes over from Frans Colruyt, who stepped down last year and who is now COO of the retail division. Jef Colruyt remains CEO of the Colruyt Group.

TheBrusselsdistrictsOudergem, Vorst and Sint-Pieters-Woluwe will allow residents to sign up for a separate pick-up of their organic kitchen waste starting in April. The system already operates in Evere and Etterbeek, where 1,450 households, or 4% of the residents, now take part. The scheme will be extended to the entire Brussels Capital-Region next year. Organic waste makes up about half of the contents of the white bags used for household waste.

Residents of the area around the Chemoplast factory in Houthalen-Helchteren, Limburg, were ordered to remain indoors with doors and windows closed last week while fire services tackled a blaze in the factory, which produces cleaning products. The town’s mayor reported that no dangerous chemicals had been released. No-one was injured, but the warehouse and the main reception area were seriously damaged.

© Ingimage

erstwhile matrimonial home. In Belgium, that's the case for half of the approximately 22,500 divorces that happen every year.

Until the end of the year, the tax amounted to 2.5% of the sum paid

filip Balcaen Last week, Flanders woke up to the presence of a new billionaire. The lucky man is Filip Balcaen, CEO of IVC, a company that makes vinyl floor coverings.

Luck, however, had little to do with it.

Balcaen sold his company for about €1 billion to the American floor-coverings group Mohawk, confirmed by IVC in a statement following a period of speculation. Mohawk, which already owns Unilin, also based in West Flanders, now becomes the biggest flooring company in the world, with products ranging from vinyl to carpets, laminate, tiles and hardwood.

Balcaen set up IVC in 1997 and was the chief executive and principal shareholder. His share of the price brings his personal fortune over the €1 billion mark.

In 2004, he sold off his carpeting group, Balta, for €600 million, hiving off IVC for himself. That sale was already one of the biggest Flemish sell-offs ever.

Balcaen, 54, is the incarnation

of the stereotypical enterprising West Fleming. He became CEO of Balta at the age of 30, after only six years’ experience.

It was his father’s company, but, as he explained in an interview with De Standaard, “I got much more pleasure out of building up IVC, which I had set up against his advice in 1997. Building even a small company is better than stepping into your father’s major group.”

Now that both major group and not-so small company are out of his hands, he says, he plans to carry on with some form of enterprise. The IVC sale includes 10% of Mohawk stock, which allows him a seat on the board.

“I’m not going to play the market; I’m going to invest. I will carry on as an entrepreneur for as long as physically possible, and I hope that will be a long time. Preferably in Belgium because I still feel myself part of West Flanders. We always have such a positive attitude here, I think.” \ Alan Hope

flanders today, a weekly English-language newspaper, is an initiative of the flemish region and is financially supported by the flemish authorities.

offSide let no man put asunder The number of divorces in Belgium in the fourth quarter of 2014 decreased by almost half compared to the same period the year before, according to the Royal Federation of Belgian Notaries. Bad for business in the notary profession, but good news in general, you might think.

Not so much. The prime motivation for this Christmas Truce was financial. Couples put off their divorces until 2015 because of the much-publicised misery tax. The tax, you may recall, is levied when a couple split up and one of them buys out the other’s share in their

© courtesy De standaard

by the partner. Taking the average price of three-bedroom house as an example, that amounts to about €3,250 to be handed over to the government. On 1 January, however, the tax went down to 1%, or a considerably less miserable €1,300.

Meanwhile, the notaries have the shortfall covered: Thanks to a flurry of activity on the housing market in general, the number of transactions handled by notaries was up in the last quarter in Flanders by a whopping 16.8% compared to the last quarter of 2013. \ AH

The logo and the name Flanders Today belong to the Flemish Region (Benelux Beeldmerk nr 815.088). The editorial team of Flanders Today has full editorial autonomy regarding the content of the newspaper and is responsible for all content, as stipulated in the agreement between Corelio Publishing and the Flemish authorities.

Editor Lisa Bradshaw dEPuty Editor Sally Tipper contriButing Editor Alan Hope suB Editor Linda A Thompson agEnda Robyn Boyle, Georgio Valentino art dirEctor Paul Van Dooren PrEPrEss Corelio AdPro contriButors Daan Bauwens, Rebecca Benoot, Derek Blyth, Leo Cendrowicz, Katy Desmond, Andy Furniere, Diana Goodwin, Julie Kavanagh, Catherine Kosters, Toon Lambrechts, Katrien Lindemans, Ian Mundell, Anja Otte, Tom Peeters, Daniel Shamaun, Senne Starckx, Christophe Verbiest, Débora Votquenne, Denzil Walton gEnEral managEr Hans De Loore PuBlisHEr Corelio Publishing NV

Editorial addrEss Gossetlaan 30 - 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden tel 02 373 99 09 editorial@flanderstoday.eu suBscriPtions tel 03 560 17 49 subscriptions@flanderstoday.eu or order online at www.flanderstoday.eu advErtising 02 373 83 57 advertising@flanderstoday.eu vErantwoordElijkE uitgEvEr Hans De Loore

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5th colUMn security matters

In the mid-1990s, politics in Belgium was obsessed with reducing government debt in order to be allowed into the Eurozone. Too obsessed, then prime minister Jean-Luc Dehaene stated later, as the government lost sight of other matters, such as girls disappearing off the streets. Only when the full extent of the Dutroux child abduction case was revealed, did the police and justice system come under scrutiny.

Something similar seems to be happening now. While politicians at every level were debating budgetary issues, Belgium was rudely awakened to the idea of terrorism. As a ring of terrorists was dismantled last week, the political debate shifted to security.

Paratroopers are now guarding potential targets such as Jewish neighbourhoods and government offices. The army has not been seen on our streets since the 1980s, a bleak period when terror by leftist bombers and ruthless armed robbers dominated the headlines.

Opinions differ as to whether deploying the military is a good idea. Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever (N-VA), Flanders’ most influential politician, has in fact been asking for it for several months. “Antwerp is a favourite target,” he stated this weekend once more, referring to its large Jewish community and the presence of fighters returning from Syria. “The question you need to ask is if you have done everything to prevent an attack.”

In the wake of the shooting at Charlie Hebdo in Paris, the N-VA leader also accused the left of having been too soft on extremism. He echoed the words of his Rotterdam colleague Ahmed Aboutaleb, who said: “Anyone who does not appreciate our freedoms should just leave.”

De Wever’s opponents do not agree. They believe that his strong language only serves to further polarise the communities and incite fear. “If we go too far in giving up our liberty and privacy … then we are on the losing side,” opposition leader Bruno Tobback (SP.A) retorted.

De Wever’s coalition partners do not completely agree with him either. CD&V is irritated by his eagerness to see the army on the streets, while Open VLD president Gwendolyn Rutten has made it clear that the army can never replace the police. “It may be a solution for international targets such as embassies,” she said. “But the army patrolling our streets can never be a solution. This is not Kabul, after all.” \ Anja Otte

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Federal government introduces anti-terror measures opposition criticises plans to restrict privacy and deploy military derek Blyth More articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

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he federal government is rushing through a series of 12 measures to combat terrorism following the police shooting of two terrorists in Verviers last week. The measures include the deployment of troops on the streets of Brussels and Antwerp to back up police, following information that the Verviers terrorist cell planned attacks on police stations (see p2).

Federal justice minister Koen Geens wants the state to have additional power to revoke Belgian passports and residence permits from people who are seen as a threat to security.

Those imprisoned on terrorism charges will be prevented from gathering with other inmates, to prevent them spreading radical ideas, Geens announced (see related story, this page). They will receive extra monitoring and specialised counselling.

The government also wants to make inroads into privacy legislation to allow security services to monitor phone conversations and tap into Facebook posts, according to federal privacy minister Bart Tommelein. “We want to maintain the right to privacy, but we also have to respect citizens’ right to safety,” he said.

The government has added several new categories to the list of terrorist offences and adjusted legislation to make it easier to deal with terrorists in court. Interior minister Jan Jambon is also putting pressure on US-based internet

giants such as YouTube, Google and Microsoft to prevent the spread of extremist propaganda and hate speech.

Opposition politicians have criticised the measures as too extreme. Flemish socialist leader Bruno Tobback argued “it is wrong to answer extremism with extremism. … We have to be absolutely clear that the use of the military as well as the limiting of privacy and basic rights will only be temporary. If we don’t, then we have allowed the terrorists to change our society.”

prime minister calls for “united front” Belgian prime minister Charles Michel, meanwhile, called for a “united front against hatred and radicalism” in a meeting with the country’s religious and ethical leaders last week, stressing the importance of upholding “universal values”.

“Belgium is an open, tolerant and welcoming country,” he told the gathering, “and there is no place here for terrorism, radicalism or preaching hatred.” The group agreed to meet regularly to maintain a permanent dialogue with the justice and security ministers and to discuss the measures needed to protect vulnerable places and people from terrorist attacks.

Flanders’ minister-president, Geert Bourgeois, told the Flemish Parliament last week that his government would act on every level to fight the

© eric lalmand/BelGa

Belgian defence minister steven Vandeput (foreground) and state secretary for migration Theo Francken arrive at parliament for emergency meeting last Friday

threat of extremist violence. He called on everyone – “established and new Flemings, believers and non-believers – to join together to protect the fundamental values and freedoms of a democratic society”.

In related news, the first issue of Charlie Hebdo since the attacks on its Paris office on 7 January went on sale in Belgium last Wednesday. Newsagents sold out the 20,000 copies earmarked for Belgium almost immediately. Four newsagents in Jette received pamphlets threatening them if they sold the paper, which bore a cartoon of Muhammad on the cover. In Antwerp, three newsagents reported similar threats.

New policies to prevent radicalisation in prisons

Anti-Islam movement plans march in Antwerp

Justice minister Koen Geens has announced new measures aimed at preventing jailed extremists from converting other prisoners to their cause.

The new measures mean that extremist prisoners will be carefully assessed before they are sent to a particular facility. The process will give a greater role to Islamic consultants. “We hardly have any contact with the consultants at the moment,” said Geens (pictured), “but the idea is to give them a crucial role in the process.”

The government faces a tough choice in placing extremists in prison. Some argue for concentrating extremists in one place, while others say it is better to

Vlativa, a new Flemish anti-Islam movement, has announced plans for its first march in Antwerp. The organisation, modelled on Germany’s Pegida, wants to hold a march on Monday, 26 January, in protest at what it sees as the growing influence of Islam in Belgium.

The aim of the march is to show “solidarity with Pegida in Germany, solidarity with the victims of Muslim terrorism in Paris and in protest at the growing presence of Islam in our society,” said a spokesperson.

Vlativa, also known as Pegida Vlaanderen, still has to obtain permission from the mayor of Antwerp, which normally requires a six-week period of notice.

Meanwhile, Muslims joined Jews in a memorial service in a synagogue in the Brussels district of Ukkel last week held for the victims of the attack

© Francois lenoir/reuters/Corbis

spread them between different prisons. Opponents of concentration say it could lead to the formation of radical cells, while critics of dispersal argue it could result in more prisoners being radicalised.

“It’s clear that we aren’t going to lock up charismatic figures, like the French-Algerian terrorist Djamel Beghal, in the same jail as young Islamic prisoners,” Geens said. \ DB

© arno Burgi/dpa/Corbis

a Pegida march in Dresden earlier this month

on the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, which left 12 people dead. The service was attended by about 300 people as a mark of “friendship between different religions”.

“We have come here with our Jewish friends to show that there is no difference between a Jew, a Muslim, a Christian and an atheist,” said Noureddine Smaili, chair of the Muslim executive.

“A human being is a human being, and you don’t kill a human being.” \ DB

Liberals scrap plan to reduce dangerous driving penalties Two members of the Flemish liberal party (Open VLD) have abandoned a proposed measure to reduce the maximum sentence for causing a motorway death from five years to three.

The motion was tabled by liberals Sabien Lahaye-Battheu and Carina Van Cauter but was quickly withdrawn following a

storm of protest from road safety campaigners, who said it showed a lack of respect for accident victims and their families.

Open VLD said that the measure was intended to bring sentences for driving offences into line with sentences for other offences. It was illogical, they argued, that “a law-abiding housewife” who killed

someone accidentally would receive a more severe sentence than someone who used a knife.

But they were strongly criticised for the timing of the proposal, as road deaths are at a record level.

“I am quite shocked,” Leuven magistrate Katleen Stinckens told Het Nieuwsblad. “At the very time when road deaths have reached

record levels, they suddenly decide to reduce the sentences. I think that drivers who kill while driving under the influence of drink or drugs should get heavy sentences. Magistrates are often criticised when we hand out very lenient sentences in these cases.”

\ DB

\ COVer sTOry

january 21, 2015

An uphill battle

Ebola co-ordinator targets multiple fronts to prevent virus from entering country www.info-EBola.BE

continued from page 1

A man who travelled to Guinea and returned to Brussels with a high fever in October was also taken to the Saint-Pierre University Hospital. But here too, a blood test indicated that he simply had a viral infection. “It could well be that we are preparing ourselves for a patient who will never come,” Vlieghe says. “But we simply can’t afford not to be prepared.”

Although no Ebola patient has ever entered Flanders, the virus has important historical significance to the region. In 1976, a number of Belgian missionary sisters in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, suddenly died from a strange disease. Blood samples were sent to Antwerp to be examined by the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITG).

It was there that Peter Piot and Guido van der Groen, two young virologists, glimpsed the mysterious killer through their microscopes for the first time. They decided to name the wormlike virus after the Ebola River, which ran through the region in northwest Congo where the sisters were based.

Today, the Antwerp institute plays a major role in the ongoing international efforts to halt the spread of the Ebola epidemic. It is currently leading an ambitious clinical study in which Ebola patients are being given blood plasma from survivors of the disease.

“The antibodies produced by the survivors’ immune systems can reinforce the immune response of patients who have just been infected with the virus,” Vlieghe explains.

When the epidemic first broke out, only about 35% of infected patients survived. With patients being diagnosed much earlier and treatment centres being better equipped, the current survival rate is 60%.

So is an effective therapy underway? According to Vlieghe, it’s too early to see results just yet. “But we are hopeful that it will work,” she says. “In 1995, during an Ebola outbreak in Kikwit [Congo], seven out of eight patients survived after having received blood from patients who had been cured.”

Besides carrying out fundamental medical research, ITG also acts as a reference centre for Ebola diagnoses in Belgium. In its highly protected laboratories, blood samples can be quickly tested.

Should a patient be diagnosed with the disease, he or she would be taken to one of three reference hospitals in Belgium – the university hospitals of Leuven, Antwerp and Brussels. Doctors, nurses and other medical staff at these facilities have been trained to treat Ebola patients.

Another measure Vlieghe is currently working on is the rollout

© courtesy ITG

national ebola co-ordinator erika Vlieghe has helped ready local authorities for possible domestic ebola cases

of a dedicated ambulance service for Ebola patients and others with highly contagious diseases, one that would cover the entire country.

In the prevention strategy to keep Ebola out of Belgium, all eyes are on Brussels Airport, as it is a major hub for direct flights to and from West Africa. Every airport stakeholder already has its own plan to deal with crisis situations like a virus epidemic. “It’s our task to put the plans of Brussels Airlines, all the luggage carriers and airport management together and adjust where necessary,” Vlieghe explains.

According to Vlieghe, that co-ordination effort has not been an easy feat “as it brings many people around the table – all with different needs and concerns,” she says.

“This is the first time I have experienced personally how complex our country is, with its countless layers of competences. But, on the other side, I also realised that, thanks to the goodwill and high degree of professionalism, a lot is possible in Belgium.”

Since October, every passenger from the Ebola-hit countries in West Africa has been screened for fever and their luggage thoroughly scanned. Leaking luggage is removed by a specialised firm, since fluids could indicate that the bags may contain contaminated meat.

With the Is dotted and the Ts crossed for Brussels Airport,

Vlieghe says it’s time to look at other ways in which the Ebola virus might enter the country. “We are currently fine-tuning measures concerning international shipping,” she explains. “International trade can transport products or illegal refugees carrying the virus.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been 13,021 laboratoryconfirmed Ebola cases in the current outbreak, with 7,894 of those ending in death. The unofficial count, however, has already exceeded 20,000.

Moreover, it looks like the epidemic in West Africa still hasn’t reached its tipping point. This outbreak, says Vlieghe, will last for another several months.

“The graphs are clear – we are not yet at the end of the epidemic. Last summer, WHO warned that there would be 10,000 cases of Ebola by November or December – if no additional measures were taken against the disease. Well, we have exceeded that number. Every five to six weeks, the number of cases double.”

Of the three afflicted countries, Liberia seems to be recovering the best. “The number of infections is really stagnating there,” says Vlieghe. “If the local authorities succeed in maintaining this situation, it seems that the epidemic won’t grow further there. In Guinea, the situation is less optimistic; we see a growth of the number of

cases, but it is a gradual growth.

But the problem child remains Sierra Leone, where the growth is still exponential in certain places.”

Numerous private and governmental labs around the world are combining forces to come up with an Ebola cure and, more importantly, an effective vaccine. Given the urgency of the situation, agencies like the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency are fast-tracking clinical trials on experimental Ebola vaccines, with animal tests, for example, being skipped.

Several experts have even called for the experimental vaccines still in the clinical pipeline to be given to medical staff in the afflicted areas.

Doctors Without Borders staff could, for example, volunteer to be part of a larger phase 1 trial.

In an interview with Flanders Today, van der Groen, who identified the Ebola virus back in the 1970s, suggested that Doctors Without Borders provide their personnel in West Africa with TKM-Ebola, an antiviral drug.

“By using this drug, these doctors can also show the local population that Western science indeed has a solution for the epidemic,” he said. “And it would address local resistance to the administration of experimental drugs in the population – which could feel like being treated like guinea pigs.”

Meanwhile, Piot, van der Groen’s former colleague, urged for exper-

© courtesy ITG

Flemish virologist Guido van der Groen in yambuku, Congo, in 1976

imental treatments and vaccines to at least be administered to the inhabitants of the densely populated capitals of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

According to Vlieghe, the high number of Ebola cases in the afflicted countries is giving the medical community the opportunity to perform real clinical studies for the most promising treatments and vaccines. “But we should really consider who’ll be treated or vaccinated in this study,” she says. “Maybe we’ll have to choose between people. Shall we treat family members of patients – who are at high risk – or only the health workers? We mustn’t treat this question too lightly.”

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\ BusIness

WeeK in BUSineSS air Brussels airport The Zaventem-based airport registered a record year in 2014, breaking the previous record from the year 2000.

The airport has plans to invest up to €1 billion over the next eight years to cope with growing traffic with a further 10,000 jobs, according to the airport’s CEO. Meanwhile, Brussels Airlines carried some 6.6 million passengers last year, 13% more than in 2013.

Banking Credit europe Bank

The Dutch-based financial institution has decided to close its local operations from April 2016. The bank, which operated from Antwerp, has decided to invest in other European markets.

Cinema kinepolis

The Ghent-based operator of multi-screen cinemas, with 36 complexes throughout Europe, is building a 10-screen cinema in Bretignysur-Orge, 35 kilometres south of Paris. The new complex, to open in June 2016, will be the company’s eighth development in France.

Fashion svnty

The Antwerp-based Fashion Club 70, distributor of highend labels and accessories, is launching a range of sneakers through some 60 outlets in Flanders and the Netherlands. The company is seeking to capitalise on the fastgrowing chic athletic market.

Floor Covering IVC

The Avelgem-based Imperial Vinyl Company, a worldleading producer in floor covering, has been sold by its owners, the Balcaen family, to the US-based Mohawk group for €1 billion. IVC also operates a fast-growing production unit in the US state of Georgia.

Media Home TV

The Brussels-based real estate brokerage firm Universal plans to launch Home TV, the first TV channel devoted to the property market. The agency, with some 30 offices in the Brussels area, hopes to be on air by 1 April.

retail Mer du nord

The ailing Brussels-based up-market fashion group, with outlets in Hasselt, Ghent, Leuven, Aalst and Kortrijk, has been rescued by the French ready-to-wear group Les Bourgeoises. It will maintain existing stores and expects to open additional outlets in Bruges, Antwerp and Knokke.

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Acquittals in Ghent buildings agency corruption trial Prosecution to lodge appeal in first of several related cases alan Hope More articles by alan \ flanderstoday.eu

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ive functionaries of the federal buildings agency in East Flanders and four contracted companies have been acquitted en masse by a court in Ghent on charges of corruption.

The civil servants were accused of accepting bribes, including cash, expensive restaurant meals and free building work on their own homes, in exchange for awarding government building contracts to the contractors.

The Ghent case is part of a larger investigation of corruption allegations started in 2006 and concerning the buildings agency in Brussels and Leuven.

In the current case, the civil servants were accused of coaching the four contractors – based in SintGillis-Waas, Wachtebeke, Beveren

and Wortegem-Petegem – to unify their bids and then taking a “commission” of 10 to 15% from the contract price. They were also treated to meals at top restaurants or had work carried out at their own homes or those of family members at a reduced price or for free.

The prosecution had called for sentences of one year suspended, but the court returned not guilty verdicts in all cases, arguing the evidence did not prove systematic corruption. The charges were too general to allow the accused to present an adequate defence, the court said. Also, the period of the alleged offences, it said, was too broad – covering a period of 2000 to 2009 – to allow a decision to be made as to whether the offences

© wiktor Dabkowski/dpa/Corbis

might not be too old to prosecute.

“We had argued that the case was so vague and generalised that

Tri-colour touchscreen pen voted best Belgian souvenir A touchscreen pen in the colours of the national flag has been voted the winner of Belgian Beauties, a competition to find the country’s best souvenir. The competition was launched as part of the Handmade in Belgium programme, which is sponsored by Unizo, the organisation that represents the self-employed.

The stylus, designed by Alain Bontinck of AB Wooddesign in Avelgem, West Flanders, comes in a wooden case and costs €52. The competition, which was co-sponsored by DHL Express, was organised because “tourists so often head home with a souvenir ‘Made in China’ even though there are so many worthwhile, unique and craft products that represent our country as well,” a Unizo spokesperson explained.

The touch-pen is for use with tablets, smartphones and laptops using touchscreen technology and is made of three types of wood providing the colours of the Belgian flag: wenge for black, oak for yellow and African coralwood for red.

AB Wooddesign makes and renovates wooden furniture, as well as creating wooden decorations and small gifts. The company received a cash prize of €1,000 for

© Courtesy unizo

winning the competition, handed over by Queen Mathilde.

In second place came Floral, a silver pin in the colours of the flag, designed by Karin Carmeliet from Rumst, Antwerp province, which refers to the Belgian tradition of giving flowers. Third place went to Ceci n’est pas une lampe, a candle that opens up like a flower as the wax melts. The design, by IngeLise Vermeire for Bika Kaarsen, resembles a lamp, with a non-functioning wire and switch in the form of the letter B. \ AH

we couldn’t present an adequate defence,” Jan De Winter, lawyer for the civil servants, said later. “The charges covered a period of almost 10 years, without ever saying which of the accused did what at which time.” The prosecution has the option to lodge an appeal.

The main buildings agency case is still going on in Brussels, alleging similar practices and involving 12 civil servants, 35 contractors and 24 companies. Contractors in that case have alleged they were forced to pay commissions of 3 to 6% of a contract value to be allowed to enter a bid in the first place. The prosecution in that case is asking for sentences of six months to three years.

VIL prepares sectors for arrival of collaborative robots The Flemish Logistics Institute (VIL) has launched the project Cobots in Logistics to examine the added value of integrating collaborative robots, or cobots – flexible robots designed to work with humans – in logistics processes. Ten Flemish enterprises, including the federal postal service bpost, are participating in the project.

According to VIL, cobots are increasingly common in production environments, but the possible applications for the logistics sector are still largely untested.

VIL, a Flemish government agency, thinks cobots could support staff in warehouses with certain activities, like packaging and sorting, which could see an increase in productivity per employee and a decrease in overall operational costs.

Liesbeth Geysels, the general director of VIL, said that she doesn’t expect the flexible robots to have an effect on employment opportunities. “On the contrary, they will help to keep logistics activities here that we would otherwise possibly lose to regions with lower wage costs,” she said. “The virtual assistants can make Flemish companies more competitive, which can create additional jobs.”

The robotics technology could also “offer support for heavy and non-ergonomic work,” she said, reducing “the number of errors in repetitive tasks”. \ Andy Furniere

Flemish entrepreneurs and CEOs lecture in classrooms Over the next few weeks, 350 Flemish entrepreneurs and CEOs will give about 550 lectures to students in Flemish secondary education.

The annual initiative, Entrepreneurs in the Classroom, is organised by the non-profit Flemish Young Enterprises (Vlajo) and the entrepreneurs’ platforms VKW and VKW Limburg.

The programme started earlier this month at the Koninklijk Lyceum Aalst, with a guest lecture

by Herman Van de Velde, founder of the lingerie group of the same name. Van de Velde told about 35 students in the final year of general education (ASO) about the significance of entrepreneurship. He talked about his own experiences as an entrepreneur and managing director.

His successors in the coming five weeks include Bart Claes of clothing chain JBC, Martine Reynaers of aluminium building materials

producer Reynaers Aluminium, Patrik De Haes of biotech company ThromboGenics and Fons Leroy of the Flemish employment agency VDAB. Entrepreneurs in the Classroom has a double purpose, according to Vlajo spokesperson Nathalie Roels. “We want to increase awareness among youngsters about the importance of entrepreneurship,” she said. To that end, the initiative should encourage students to

consider starting their own enterprises. “But not everyone has to become an entrepreneur,” noted Roels.

“Intra-entrepreneurship inside a company is just as important – like thinking of solutions, being critical and taking initiative.”

The project also hopes to increase mutual understanding and co-operation between employers and future members of staff. \ AF

\ InnOVaTIOn

january 21, 2015

Ready, steady, game

WeeK in innovation

global game jam means 48 hours of intense programming across flanders andy furniere More articles by andy \ flanderstoday.eu

gloBalgamEjam.org

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his weekend, game enthusiasts from all over the world will team up to create new game concepts in just 48 hours. They’re taking part in the Global Game Jam, an event that’s increasingly popular in Flanders with activities this year in Brussels, Antwerp, Genk, Kortrijk and Roeselare.

The Global Game Jam is a free event, held in almost 500 places around the world, that welcomes game aficionados from all ages and backgrounds to develop games together over two intense days. Participants have to work around a certain theme, which is only announced just before the event begins.

Both board and digital games are the subject of the event, but the majority of the participants choose to create a digital game. The idea is not to develop finished products – that would be impossible in such a short time – or to set up a competition. The organisers’ philosophy is that events should be fun and encourage game lovers to experiment freely together.

The ultimate goal is to foster an innovative spirit among participants, which can lead to the development of prototypes that form the first stage of a commercial product or provide inspiration for new products.

For students, it’s an ideal opportunity to gain practical experience and make contact with professional developers and other representatives of the game industry, which can prove helpful as they begin their career.

When the Global Game Jam was established seven years ago, Antwerp game studio GriN immediately joined in by setting up the first event in Flanders. “We had about eight participants back then,” says GriN CEO Wim Wouters,

last year’s Global Game jam in Genk

who is also the chair of the Flemish Games Association (Flega), the sector organisation for the game development industry.

Things have changed since 2008.

The Antwerp event draws about 60 participants each year, and three other events are held in Flanders.

“It’s a sign that interest in game development is increasing steadily and that the industry is growing,” says Wouters.

Flega’s role in this evolution is to distribute information on various aspects of the business, including available subsidies, representing Flanders at international fairs and lobbying the government. The priority is the introduction of a tax shelter for game productions, so that international companies can benefit from a tax exemption for their investment in Belgian audiovisual works.

The tax shelter for the Belgian film industry is one of the reasons why the Flemish movie scene has flourished in the last decade. During the Global Game Jam, Flega hopes to set up networking activities at all

local events, in the form of a “Flega cafe”.

Wouters believes that the establishment of the Flemish government’s Game Fund, through which the Flemish Audiovisual Fund supports game development projects, is an important asset in the development of the game industry.

“Specialised schools are also becoming more and more professional,” he says, “with the Bachelor’s degree in digital arts and entertainment at the University College West Flanders a prime example.”

The Level, the university college’s 3D competence centre in Kortrijk, is one of two locations in West Flanders where a Global Game Jam will be organised this year.

The other is a secondary school in Roeselare, the Burgerschool, where the local CoderDojo club will host the first edition of the event. CoderDojo is a global network of free and volunteer-led programming clubs for youngsters.

The only entry requirement in

Q&a

www.gocamPr.com

Sebastiaan Schillebeeckx and Wim Vanhorenbeeck are about to launch Campr, an online platform that offers unique camping accommodation around the globe How did you come up with the idea for Campr?

Last year, Wim and I were finalyear students in multimedia design at the Thomas More University College in Mechelen. This platform is actually our thesis project.

We wanted to create something new in the sharing economy. Also, we are fanatic travellers – campers, that is – and we regularly encounter the same problem: finding a nice, unique camping spot that has more to offer than just some square metres of grass and a shower block. It’s hard to find campsites that don’t fall short of

Roeselare is that participants must be at least 14; they don’t necessarily need to have any experience. The participants will form small teams of three to five. “The CoderDojo coaches can help them if they need assistance with programming, for example,” explains organiser Baptiste Ghesquiere. “The teams can also talk to each other; it is not a competition.”

Although the Global Game Jam is open to anyone, with or without any related background, Wouters’ experience in Antwerp is that it mostly attracts those with a clear idea of what they want to do. “The participants have various backgrounds: both professional and amateur programmers but also graphic artists and writers,” says Wouters. “Writers can help create an interesting game story.” Musicians also join in sometimes, to create a soundtrack.

In Genk, the Global Game Jam will be integrated in the Crib Game Days at Crib, the service centre for creative innovative businesses at the business and leisure complex C-Mine. The project’s partners are the game development companies C-NUI, LuGus Studios, the Microsoft Innovation Centre and animation studios like Walking the Dog. The event in Genk will start with presentations and workshops by experts on aspects that can help developers extend their activities, such as marketing and communication techniques. “There is a lot of talent in Flanders, but most game developers don’t know how to reach potential clients, the press and the public,” explains organiser Jochen Derwae.

The Brussels event is being organised by the private school Ludus Académie, in the Elsene district, which specialises in game development.

our expectations. So we chose to create an online platform where campers can easily find unique – and sometimes luxurious – campsites.

What is the difference between Airbnb and what you’re offering?

Our idea is based on Airbnb. But we’ve tried to broaden the service.

Ideally, a user should be able to find a camping space in a garden in the middle of New York City.

But this is not just a platform on which travellers find only that. In the first place, we aim for comfort-

able campsites in unique spots.

But we’ve also been in touch with a company that refurbishes old VW vans and turns them into perfect travel trailers. We want them to find clients on our platform as well. Last but not least, we want people with spots to offer something extra. The local touch is so important when you travel: tips and tricks, good bars, maybe even a barbeque in the garden. That’s something regular campsites hardly ever offer. This platform, more than anything else, should become a community of campers.

When is this going online?

On 28 January. The mobile version will be released a few weeks later.

At the moment, we have about

100 camping spots in 25 countries, and 600 users have already signed up. Current campsite locations include ones in in the US, Australia, the UK and Croatia. \ Interview by Daan Bauwens

windmills provide energy to 600,000 homes

The three wind farms in the North Sea produced more than 2.2 million megawatthours of electricity last year, or enough for 623,715 households, according to state secretary for the North Sea, Bart Tommelein. It’s an impressive result, said Tommelein, because 2014 was not an optimal wind year and the third wind farm only came on stream in May. There are 182 windmills active off the Belgian coast, spread over three wind farms operated

by C-Power, Northwind and Belwind. Their production equals that of a small nuclear power plant.

“GMOs have large market potential”

Consumers are willing to pay extra for genetically modified crops with increased vitamin and mineral levels, according to a market potential study carried out by Ghent University (UGent) and published in the magazine Nature Biotechnology. According to a UGent statement, researchers have already created several crops with health advantages through genetic modification.

The best results were achieved through the increase of multiple micronutrients in a single crop. This method leads to crops that contain more nutritional benefits at a relatively low cost, according to the university. The study shows that consumers would be willing to pay up to 70% more for GMOs with nutritional advantages. GMOs with only agricultural advantages would only be acceptable to consumers at a lower price.

Flemish firm launches “spotify for students”

Antwerp-based Signpost België has created an online platform where students can buy the software they need for their studies, legally and cheaply. Known as “Spotify for students”, the platform was developed to deter students from downloading cheap or free illegal software, such as engineering or graphic design programmes. Students pay €29 a year for access to software via Signpost, an enormous saving on often expensive software programmes. The service has already been tested by 5,500 students at the University College West Flanders (HoWest). HoWest general director Lode Degeyter said: “It ensures youngsters don’t give up a certain study, such as graphic design, because they are afraid they can’t afford the software.” \ AF

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\ eDuCaTIOn

january 21, 2015

Helping at-risk students

WeeK in edUcation

teachers trained in education techniques for underprivileged pupils andy furniere More articles by andy \ flanderstoday.eu

www.tinyurl/PiEoProjEct

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o improve the study performances of disadvantaged youngsters, researchers are proposing measures to ensure that the best teachers are available for them.

The PIEO project will send coaches to these schools, to help staff deal with challenging situations.

Several studies demonstrate that students with an underprivileged socio-economic and non-Dutchspeaking family background have more academic problems. The issue was among problems highlighted by the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), a global study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Every three years, Pisa assesses the performances of 15-year-olds in maths, science and reading.

The latest Pisa report showed that the gap between the bestand worst-performing Flemish pupils was directly related to their socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds. The researchers also pointed out the gap between schools with mostly disadvantaged students and schools with students who have better social opportunities.

A new study now shows that disadvantaged pupils make major progress in their learning, significantly more than their fellow pupils, if they are taught by teachers who use the right methods and maintain order in class. The research was carried out by the Steunpunt Studie- en Schoolloopbanen (SSL), or the Policy Research Centre for Educational and School Careers.

The researchers examined the learning progress of pupils in maths in the fifth year of primary school. Using data gathered from nearly 5,000 students in close to 300 classes, assembled during a previous SSL study, they analysed

Teachers in antwerp are coached to help them support students from disadvantaged backgrounds

the link between pupils’ performances and the answers they gave to surveys about their lessons.

The study shows that the performance gap between disadvantaged pupils and their classmates is reduced if teachers focus strongly on “active learning”, “metacognitive training” and a “co-operative learning environment”.

“Active learning means that the teacher makes sure that students understand why they have to do something, such as carrying out long division, instead of just obliging them do it,” explains SSL researcher Bieke De Fraine.

Metacognitive training, she continues, “can be translated as ‘teaching children how to learn’ and includes teaching pupils certain strategies to solve problems and advising them on how to reflect before giving an answer and how to evaluate their answers.”

A co-operative learning environment, meanwhile, is a class with a positive atmosphere, where students are encouraged to collaborate.

So why do these aspects have a more positive effect on disad-

vantaged students than on their fellow pupils? “Our hypothesis is that students from a strong socioeconomic and Dutch-speaking background can also rely on a supportive network outside the classroom,” says De Fraine. “This support can compensate for a lack of quality teaching.”

In concrete terms, this support often consists of extra help from educated, Dutch-speaking parents. These families also tend to have the financial means and knowledge to send their children to the library or for them to take part in extracurricular activities, like music courses or additional private lessons. “Disadvantaged parents often don’t have the budget or time for all of that,” explains De Fraine.

To try to get the best teachers into the schools with the highest percentage of disadvantaged pupils, the researchers advise providing extra training and pedagogical assistance to teachers there. “The working situation in these schools should also be made more inviting, both financially and concerning workload,” says De Fraine. “Higher wages could

attract the teachers with the best qualifications, just like the prospect of having smaller classes or fewer working hours.”

One of the practical projects dealingwiththeimprovementofteaching in schools with a lot of disadvantaged pupils is PIEO, short for Project Innovating and Excelling in Education. PIEO was launched by former education minister Pascal Smet and is co-ordinated by the King Boudewijn Foundation. Originally, it was supposed to last five years, but the period has been reduced to three years because of budget cuts. The closing event will take place in June.

As part of PIEO, eight experts are coaching the staff at 12 schools in Brussels and Flanders. “Many teachers there received extra training and have participated in projects before,” explains Jan Blondeel of the King Boudewijn Foundation. “But the knowledge they gained was never integrated into the overall functioning of their school.”

According to Blondeel, the challenge is to turn the schools into “learning communities” where there is a continuous exchange of experiences between teachers and a constant dialogue between school directors and teachers.

“As part of PIEO, teachers follow certain lessons given by their colleagues,” explains Blondeel.

“This way, they can pick up practical ways to help children with language deficits, for example, or learn to take a child’s home situation into account when assigning homework.”

The PIEO coaches will also focus on making sure that school directors share the leadership of the school with their staff while at the same time co-ordinating a clear policy.

Teachers asked to be alert for signs of radicalisation Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits has asked theology teachers to be alert for signs of radicalisation among their students. “They are already doing this in a number of schools,” she told the Flemish Parliament, “but it should happen everywhere.”

Bahattin Koçak, who teaches Islam at schools in Heusden-Zolder, Limburg province, told De Morgen that the request is a step in the right direction. “Finally, the government is looking to the people on the work floor,” he said. “Finally, they are listening to us.”

Koçak (pictured) hopes that Crevits’ plans will not just focus on secondary education. “You can already see radicalisation in primary education,” he said. Koçak has noticed a change from a decade ago in the attitudes of many Muslim

© Courtesy TVl nieuws

children. “It is often ignorance, but when someone says that his father mentioned that you can kill certain people according to the Koran, you have to be able to take action and show that that doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

Flemish Parliament member Nadia Sminate,

who will chair a temporary commission focusing on violent radicalism, responded, saying that the signs are not always explicit. “The radicalisation process is very complex and is often demonstrated by subtle signs,” she said. “You cannot expect teachers to recognise them just like that.”

Sminate said that teachers need to be trained and also be offered a help line where they can ask questions. Lieven Boeve, director-general of the Catholic education network (VSKO) told De Morgen that the role of education is important but should not be overestimated. “Other pedagogical environments also play an important role,” he said. “Education alone will not solve this problem.” \ AF

science journals too expensive SciencemagazineslikeNature and Science are considered indispensable in university libraries, but subscriptions are becoming more expensive each year, according to De Morgen. Every year, universities negotiate prices with publishers but often have to cancel their subscriptions.

Ignace Lemahieu, research director at Ghent University, said subscriptions increased by an average of 8% a year.

Popular magazines are often sold by publishers as a package that includes a number of other titles. To get the weekly Nature digitally and in print, UGent must take out a subscription for €15,793 a year, compared to €8,871 eight years ago. Increasing prices are leading to more support for “open access”, or free access to information, within universities.

kits to help teachers recognise poverty

A number of university colleges in Flanders have presented students in preschool teaching education with kits to help them recognise signs that toddlers are living in poverty. “Closing the gap a little: Social emancipation via school life” is an initiative of the nursery school studies departments at Odisee Brussel, Artevelde University College in Ghent and Karel de Grote University College in co-operation with several partners. The kits were developed in reaction to a call from the government of Flanders to respond to the needs of small children living below the poverty line.

west Flanders has highest pass rate

West Flanders has the highest pass rate of students in Flemish higher education, according to statistics assembled

by Flemish MP Koen Daniëls.

According to the figures, 40% of students studying in the province succeed in completing their Bachelor’s degree in the minimum period of three years, while the Flemish averageis34%.StudentsataDutchlanguage university or university college in Brussels do the worst by far, with a 21% pass rate in three years. In Flemish Brabant, the figure is 34%, in East Flanders, it’s 33%, and both Antwerp and Limburg check in at 32%. The figures are decreasing, however. In the 2005-2006 academic year, 48% of students in West Flanders earned their diploma in three years. \ AF

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\ lIVInG

WeeK in activitieS Brafa It’s the 60th edition of the Brussels Antiques and Fine Art Fair, with 130 dealers from 12 countries selling high-quality authentic pieces. Find everything from tribal art to jewellery, comic books to old master paintings. 24 January-1 February, 11.00 to 19.00, Tour & Taxis, Havenlaan 86C, Brussels; €20 \ www.brafa.be

Poetry walk For two weeks, a 4km walking trail in Puyenbroeck nature reserve will have poems posted along the route. The poems were written by park visitors in the past year about their experience with nature. 23 January-6 February, Provinciaal Domein Puyenbroeck, Puyenbrug 1, Wachtebeke; free \ www.puyenbroeck.be

lili Hop Party For fans of Lindy Hop and swing music: a Saturday evening dance party with live music courtesy of The Shirt Tail Stompers from London, DJ battles and dance contest. 24 January, 20.30, De Centrale, Ham 74, Ghent; €20 \ www.lilihop.info

Guitar workshop American country music star Johnny Falstaff will give a free honky-tonk guitar workshop. Bring your own instrument and be ready to jam. Followed by live concert with Mark Sprex of the Rhumba Kings. 25 January, 14.00 (workshop), 15.30 (concert), Cowboy Up Steakhouse & Saloon, Kortrijksestraat 350, Waardamme; free \ http://cowboyup.be

Manneken-Pis walk DidyouknowthatGeraardsbergen also has a statue of a peeing boy? And that it’s older than the one in Brussels? Learn about this and more during an organised walk of 7, 10, 16, 22 or 32km with free jenever and hot chocolate along the way.

25 January, starting between 7.30 and 15.30, De Spiraal, Zakkaai 29, Geraardsbergen; €1.50 \ www.padstappers.be

jumble sale One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Secondhand clothing, housewares, toys and more. Also (new) crafts for sale, children’s activities, food and drink.

24 January, 11.00-17.00, GC Den Hoek, Hoekstraat, Kortenaken; free \ www.facebook.com /tweedehandsbeurssariemarijs

\ 10

Beer and the City

crowdfunded Brussels Beer Project attracts both ire and attention julie kavanagh More articles by julie \ flanderstoday.eu

www.BEErProjEct.BE

B

ehind an innocuous shopfront in the heart of Brussels, a few steps from the canal, a new project is taking shape. The Brussels Beer Project has moved into 188 Antoine Dansaertstraat with plans to transform it into a modern community brewery.

Fresh from a trip to Switzerland to check out the microbrewery culture in Lausanne, beer entrepreneurs and Brussels Beer Project co-founders Olivier de Brauwere and Sébastien Morvan buzz around preparing for the next day’s beer-tasting event. De Brauwere takes a break to host an impromptu tasting of their latest offering, Babeleir de Bretagne.

“It’s an oyster stout with a hint of cacao,” he explains and, sure enough, a vague salt-tinged taste of chocolate lingers on the palate.

The mix of influences that combine to create the Babeleir reflects the approach of the Brussels startup. “We want to blend Belgian know-how with inspiration from further afield,” explains de Brauwere. “The Babeleir is inspired by oyster stouts popular in Ireland and New Zealand, and we sourced our oysters from Brittany where Sébastien grew up. We brewed a limited run of 6,000 bottles.”

Native Brusselaar de Brauwere met Morvan during a study exchange programme in Canada. After working for several years – one in finance, the other in marketing – they decided to take a leap of faith and make their passion for beer their profession.

In the summer of 2013, the Brus-

sébastien Morvan (pictured centre) and Olivier de Brauwere say they have been more than open about their decision to outsource the brewing

sels Beer Project was born. It was an atypical brewing venture from the outset, eschewing traditional financing in favour of the modern entrepreneur’s boon – crowdfunding.

The pair came up with a simple formula to stand out from the crowdfunding crowd – beer for life. This catchy pitch guaranteeing a dozen bottles of beer per year ( for life) in exchange for a one-off payment almost seems too good to be true.

“Everybody’s a winner,” says De Brauwere. “Our customers go away with 12 beers a year and a 5% discount in the micro-brewery, and on our side, we’re happy to have people making noise about our beer and following the project.”

Rather than clients and consumers, the Brussels Beer Project talks about a community of beer fans and a spirit of co-creation. The development of their 500-square-

metre brewery on the fringe of Brussels’ most vibrant Flemish quarter is central to that.

“This place actually used to be part of a brewery,” explains de Brauwere, gesturing to the large open room dotted with pallets and barrels. “We found out when we looked over the deeds. We think it closed in about 1914. We were already interested in the space for its location and accessibility, but knowing that it had previously housed the Bredael brewery is a nice coincidence.”

Buoyed by the success of their first wave of funding that saw 369 beer fans-cum-investors help them develop and market the beers Delta, Dark Sister and Grosse Bertha, a second crowdfunding drive is in progress to sign up a further 1,000 to their Beer For Life community.

This second phase will see them fit out the premises in Brussels

with brewing equipment from Germany. This small-scale operation in the capital is on schedule to begin by July.

Just as with Delta and Grosse Bertha, the public will rate the star prototypes, and the favourites will join their expanding range to be brewed at the Anders brewery in Halen, Limburg.

The outsourcing of the chosen Brussels Beer Project prototypes for mass brewing has earned de Brauwere and Morvan the ire of some in the beer community who insist brewing should be in-house.

At the Brussels Beer Project, beer prototypes and small-scale quantities are developed at their Brussels offices, while the actual beers sold in-store are brewed in Limburg.

De Brauwere has no hard feelings towards the critics. “Everyone has choices to make,” he shrugs. “You have to do what works for you.

We’ve chosen to concentrate on the creation of small batches of beer, and we’re open about working with a partner for the largescale brewing. We’re happy with the way we’re doing things.”

With their willingness to mix it up and experiment, an inclusive approach to their customers and a knack for nifty marketing, they are on target to hit their crowdfunding goal well ahead of the mid-February deadline. As well as opening their Brussels community brewery this summer, the duo are looking forward to consolidating their distribution across Flanders in 2015, so expect to spot the eyecatching, pop art labels in a bar or beer shop near you.

Bite know your dogfish If you’ve never tried dogfish, you’re not alone. A study by Flanders’ Agricultural Marketing Board (Vlam) shows that a mere 3% of Flemish households ever put the fish on their dinner table.

While most Flemings are aware of the health benefits of consuming fish on a more regular basis, many get stuck buying the same old trusty piece of salmon or cod week after week.

That’s why, 27 years ago, Vlam launched its first Fish of the Year campaign, a proven way to get consumers to try different varieties of fish. For 2015, Vlam has chosen dogfish to bask in the spotlight, a relatively unknown but no less tasty sort of fish that could do with a little extra attention.

Scyliorhinus canicula, or hondshaai in Dutch, is also known as small-

spotted dogfish, small-spotted catshark, rockfish and even Sweet William. This last name was probably used to distract customers from the fact that they were being sold the lowly bottom dweller that is dogfish.

Let’s face it, the fish may belong to the shark family, but it looks more like an eel. And that’s no coincidence. The fillet of this shark is also often sold as sea eel, as it looks quite similar to eel once skinned and chopped.

And the two are even prepared the same way, preferably stewed in a green herb sauce, pickled or fried.

However, unlike eel, dogfish is lean, with about 0.7g of fat per 100g. (Eel contains about 20g.)

Vlam has come up with several ways to promote dogfish throughout the year. In co-operation with North-

www.vlam.BE

© Vlam

SeaChef Philippe Claeys (pictured) of famed fish restaurant De Jonk-

man in Bruges, the organisation put together a collection of dogfish recipes, to be distributed freely at fish shops and markets.

It’s also working together with a number of culinary magazines and radio and television producers in a campaign to encourage consumers to get creative with dogfish in the kitchen.

And, like every year, Vlam will hold a national competition for the title of Fish Chef of the Year. The competition calls for Flanders’ best chefs to place a unique dogfish recipe on their restarants’ menus. The chef with the best and most original dish will be crowned Fish Chef of the Year 2016 during Horeca Expo Gent, the annual restaurant industry awards ceremony in November.

\ Robyn Boyle

january 21, 2015

Living legends

largest sports exhibition ever in Europe celebrates two giants of local sport daan Bauwens More articles by Daan \ flanderstoday.eu

www.mErckX-ickX.BE

The largest sports exhibition ever held in Europe has come to Brussels, using authentic objects to celebrate the careers of legendary Flemish cyclist Eddy Merckx and Brussels-born racing driver Jacky Ickx.

E

ddy Merckx and Jacky Ickx are without doubt Belgium’s most legendary sports heroes. With 525 victories over the course of 12 years on the professional circuit, Flemish road and track cyclist Merckx is the most accomplished rider cycling has ever known. And as six-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, eight-time Grand Prix victor and winner of the Dakar rally, Brusselsborn racing driver Ickx can look back on one of the longest and richest careers in motorsport.

On the occasion of both men’s 70th birthday, sports publisher Kannibaal and production team Pièce Montée present a spectacular exhibition about their careers.

“It’s important to be the best during the time you’re a professional, but you cannot compare generations,” said Merckx at the opening of the exhibition, modestly downplaying his accomplishments. Ickx agreed: “In any profession, you have to try to do the best you can, and, it’s true, sport is becoming more and more important in today’s world.

But we certainly shouldn’t overestimate its significance.”

In stark contrast to this humility, the exhibition speaks only in superlatives. Following a winding parcours, we encounter almost every detail of their professional careers, in pictures, video and original gear from private collections.

“All the bikes Merckx used for his victories in the Italian Giro and the Tour de France are lined up here, as well as his original shirts,” curator Gautier Platteau tells me. “We even got hold of the bike on which he won his first championship for amateurs in 1964. This is a dream come true for cycling fanatics.”

Motorsport fans can’t complain either: Undoubtedly more appealing to the eye, the retrospective shows nine authentic cars that played pivotal roles in Ickx’s career.

© andre Van Bever/nicole englebert

jacky Ickx and his Ford Cortina lotus in 1964 at Circuit Zolder, near Hasselt

There’s the blue Gulf GT40 he won his first 24 Hours of Le Mans with in 1969, the spiked Ferrari 512S he competed with in 1970 and – his personal favourite – the Porsche Spyder 936 in which he won Le Mans in 1977. Charts specify technical details and maximum speed.

Platteau admits that putting together the largest sports exhibition ever held in Europe wasn’t without its headaches. “It took us two years to retrieve and collect the pieces. Most are in the hands of museums and sports fanatics,” he explains.

For instance, “the bike Merckx won his 1964 amateur championship on is in the possession of an oil sheik and had to be shipped over from Qatar,” Platteau contin-

© Presse sport

eddy Merckx in action in the Paris-roubaix race in 1974

ues. “Race cars were brought in from the Porsche museum in Stuttgart and private collections from British and Swiss collectors.

In fact, the cars are still sporadically being used for staged historical races.”

about victories, no matter how grand. But they’d rather keep hold of the cups themselves than give them away to collectors. Hence the attic.”

It would be an injustice to say this exhibition is only for sports fans.

It’s unbelievable but true: Merckx’s five Tour de France trophies all lay hidden in his attic Kristien Van Damme, the exhibition’s researcher at Pièce Montée, agrees: “We only managed to get the most exclusive pieces here thanks to international mediation by both men themselves,” she says.

“On the other hand, a large number of medals, shirts and cups were found at their homes. It’s unbelievable but true: Merckx’s five Tour de France trophies all lay hidden in his attic. His most famous shirts were in the cupboard.”

Van Daame says that such seemingly prized possessions being hidden away “shows something of the dualism in the mind of a sports hero. They will hesitate to boast

Not only do we follow the course of the two local heroes’ lives, we also relive the recent history of design, media and photography. Moreover, in side rooms visitors can experience the sounds and adrenaline rushes of real championships.

“You’ll have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to race against Merckx or walk into a vintage F1 pit stop,” Van Damme says. Other rooms feature a 1969 supporters’ cafe – a dip into the smoky atmosphere of longgone Flanders – and a three-screen

until 21 june

video that puts you in the cockpit of a car while speeding and swerving to the tunes of Flemish electro band Goose.

But the most impressive side room is also the simplest. On a lit pedestal under dim lighting, the “helmet of Jarama” is displayed. “It’s one of our most exclusive pieces,” says Van Damme. “In part melted, the front broken, it’s the one Ickx almost died in after a crash in 1970.”

A small screen shows the accident and an interview from the archives, while luminous walls around the pedestal carry the names of all motorsport casualties since 1964. “Thousands,” Van Damme estimates. “Especially during Ickx’s time: On average one man per race was killed.”

The exhibition ends with a scoop: Renowned Flemish photographer Stephan Vanfleteren has made his first two short films especially for this exhibition. “He crawls into the minds of both men,” says Platteau, “and depicts the one thing that most awes them, the thing that influenced them most.” Merckx describes the unforgivingly steep climb up the Tre Cime mountains in the Dolomites. Ickx guides us through the enchanting Mali desert, where he now spends six months a year.

“What you get is much more than just a sports exhibition,” says Van Damme. “It’s a sketch of two grand personalities, with their similarities and differences. Ickx lives in the desert and regards his career as something from the past. He has started a new life. Merckx is different. By manufacturing and selling his own line of bikes after his career until very recently, he remained closely connected to that world.

“Ickx is the francophone charmer.

Merckx is the Flemish cobblestone. I spent eight months researching their lives, and I can tell you: Faced with the extreme vigour they share, you’re inspired to get the maximum out of whatever you’re doing.”

Trade Mart

Atomiumsquare 1, Brussels

\ 11

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EU studies - international studies - business - law

Saturday, 7 February

Friday, 6 February

Committee of the Regions • • • •

6-7 February 2015

Guided student tour of the European institutions Academic seminar on EU studies & international relations Academic seminar on business & law Networking lunch

Brussels

Hotel Crowne Plaza Brussels ‘Le Palace’ • • • • • •

16th EU Studies Fair featuring top-level universities Opening speech by director-general Xavier Prats Monné (DC EAC) University spotlights Orientation seminar on career opportunities (EPSO) Orientation seminar on EU studies (UACES) Career corner and CV check

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EUstudiesfair

www.eustudiesfair.com

With the participation of: European Union

@EUstudiesfair

\ arTs

january 21, 2015

Art vs entertainment

jan martens’ new show questions how far dancers should go to entertain an audience débora votquenne More articles by Débora \ flanderstoday.eu

www.janmartEns.com

J

an Martens’ work is introduced as an homage to “the beauty of the incomplete human being” on his website.

He writes that perfection is boring, and yet his works continually strive for absolute flawlessness.

“The striving is the interesting part,” the Flemish dancer and choreographer explains. “Actually reaching perfection is basically just dull.”

When I meet the rising star of the contemporary dance scene at his cosy home in Kiel, one of Antwerp’s more popular neighbourhoods, he begins by making apologies about the state his house is in. While making tea and generously filling a plate with cookies and chocolates, he says that he has been renovating the place for some time, but, what with being on the road all the time, it’s taking a bit longer than planned.

“It’s been crazy. We spend a lot of time on tour. We rehearse at different locations, and I am artist in residence at Tanzhaus in Düsseldorf until 2016,” he says, referring to the international contemporary dance centre in Germany. “Obviously, there is not much time left for decorating,” he adds, laughing.

Martens is 31, young for the amount of work he has realised so far. He graduated from Antwerp’s

© renate Beense

jumping to keep up: jan Martens

© Piet Goethals

THe DOG Days are OVer addresses the increasing pressure on artists to entertain audiences

Artesis Conservatory for Dance in 2006, having previously taken classes at the Fontys Dance Academy in Tilburg, the Netherlands.

He debuted as a choreographer three years later with i can ride a horse whilst juggling so marry me, a 2010 work focusing on a group of women living in a world dominated by social networks.

Today, Martens performs throughout Europe and further afield, and, though things moved very fast for him, he says it’s hard out there for young choreographers. “In Belgium, talents like Jan Fabre, Wim Vandekeybus and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker were dominating the scene at that time.

Which was great, of course, but it left fewer opportunities for beginners like me. That’s why I went to the Netherlands to get started.”

Still, when he returned to Flanders, he was able to benefit from the strong reputation these masters of contemporary dance

had managed to build up for local artists. “Belgium had become a quality label for the contemporary dance scene,” he explains.

His own success, he says, can probably be attributed to his focus on staying close to his audience. If you want to see one of Martens’ works, you don’t necessarily have to travel to one of Flanders’ premier cultural temples. You can just as easily watch his shows at small cultural centres throughout Flanders.

“Iwanttobeincontinuouscommunication with my audience,” he explains. “I can learn from what they see and think; how they react.”

And although he’s convinced that there’s nothing wrong with a bit of elitism in dance, he is not going to be the one to create performances only a happy few actually understand. “My work is not about perfect technique; it’s about telling a story people can relate to, about being understood.”

Martens pushes this logic to its

extremes in one of his latest works.

In THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER, eight dancers sporting brightly coloured workout clothes basically jump up and down for 65 minutes. But, of course, there’s more to the performance than that.

“Jumping is a basic movement,” Martens explains. “But in this highly complicated mathematical and geometrical choreography, it is truly exhausting the dancers to the extreme. It’s almost inhuman how hard it is for them. Inevitably, they will fail. And the audience is witnessing that.”

For Martens, the process is akin to watching bullfighting, or modernday gladiators. “We are all voyeurs, watching the dancers reach the extremes of what is physically possible. At times of severe austerity, also in the cultural sector,

30 january, 20.00

artists feel the pressure to entertain a broad audience. The question then remains: ‘How far should we go along in this philosophy?

When is it too much?’ That’s also what DOG DAYS is about.”

Martens’ message might be stern and critical, but, in person, he’s friendly and generous. He answers my questions passionately but thinks them over carefully. And he stays humble, although he admits that the success has changed him.

“Now, it’s for real,” he says. “We are running a business. I used to have one production after the other, but now we are on tour with different performances at the same time.

We have moved up a gear. People need to be paid; money has to come in; playtime is over.”

When I ask him if that gets in the way of the creative process, he assures me he still has plenty of ideas. “It’s the physical part I miss,” he says, though he adds that he hasn’t stopped dancing. “At times, I pick up a dancing part in THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER, and I’m on tour with my solo ODE TO THE ATTEMPT. But, still, I do spend a lot of time behind my computer.”

But, he says, he tries not to open his laptop before noon. That leaves his mornings free for training and yoga. Or, to be more precise, he tries to block out his mornings for exercise – much like he strives for perfection in his shows.

Martens is touring several of his choreographies across Europe over the next few months. THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER is being staged as part of the eighth annual Antwerpse Kleppers festival. With its showcase of Antwerp’s diverse performance scene, this monthlong festival, a project of Toneelhuis, has built a strong reputation for itself by bringing together the city’s finest stage artists.

Bourlaschouwburg

Komedieplaats 18, Antwerp

More perforMance thiS Month ivanov

Horror festival

angelena

The Tielt-based Theater Malpertuis’ artistic director, Piet Afreuille, has given us his unique interpretation of Shakespeare, Ovid and Greek drama, and now he’s moved on to Chekhov. His version of the four-act play catapults the overworked, stressedout Ivanov into the present day, where no one ever stops talking, but nothing is really said. Is the problem with Ivanov, or with everyone else? (In Dutch) 24 January, 20.30, Theater Malpertuis, Tielt; tours across Flanders thereafter

If you’re into chainsaws, zombies and oldschool horror, De Warande is the place to be later this month. A proper Horror Festival offers fans of the genre a programme that includes scary movies, bloody performances, dark workshops and risqué comedy. Until 1 February across Turnhout

Mieke Dobbels is best known as the co-creator of the stage play The Broken Circle Breakdown Featuring The Cover-Ups of Alabama, which led to the award-winning movie The Broken Circle Breakdown. Her new solo show Angelena (pictured), which she also wrote, tells the story of a woman who was interned for four years. Not knowing when she will be released and without receiving appropriate treatment, Angelena tries to cope through humour, making for both an emotional and an amusing show.

(In Dutch) Until 31 January across Flanders

theater malpertuis

\ www.malPErtuis.BE

de warande

\ www.warandE.BE

compagnie cecilia

\ www.comPagniE-cEcilia.BE

© Compagnie Cecilia

\ 13

\ arTs

WeeK in artS & cUltUre Cinematek to move archives

Belgian film archive Cinematek plans to move its one million reels of film from its current storage premises in the Brussels district of Elsene to the new Mediacity on the Reyers site in Schaarbeek. The archive, the second-largest in the world, is currently stored in less than optimal conditions. “None of the films have been lost so far, but when a film is stored in less than optimal conditions, its life span is shortened,” said deputy director Kristel Vandenbrande.

The archive will join VRT and RTBF on the new Mediacity site, currently under development.

Opera houses nominated for international awards Both Opera Vlaanderen, Flanders’ regional opera, and Brussels opera house De Munt have been nominated by the International Opera Awards in the coveted category of Best Opera House. The category focuses on an opera company’s work over the last entire season. The awards are organised by London’s Opera magazine, and Opera Vlaanderen was also nominated for the same award last year. A first, however, is a nomination for Opera Vlaanderen’s choir for Best Choir.

De Munt, meanwhile, was also nominated for Best Richard Strauss Anniversary Production with Daphne, for Best World Premiere with Au Monde and for Best Opera DVD with their production of Lulu. The winners will be announced on 26 April in London’s Savoy Hotel. \ www.operaawards.co.uk

Fire causes damage to Brussels Conservatory The fire brigade was called to the Royal Conservatory in Brussels’ Regentschapsstraat last week. About 150 students and staff were evacuated and the street closed to traffic. Emergency services were particularly vigilant because the conservatory is next door to Brussels’s main synagogue.

“The fire appears to have broken out accidentally, but all avenues are being investigated,” said the conservatory’s director, Peter Swinnen. The fire, which broke out in an unoccupied part of the building on the second floor, was quickly brought under control. The school said that there was only minor damage.

The conservatory is currently undergoing major renovation works.

\ 14

A reception to remember

kadir Balci’s new film examines culture clashes and youthful impulse lisa Bradshaw More articles by lisa \ flanderstoday.eu

M

ore than 20 years ago, Kadir Balci went on an Erasmus exchange to Bournemouth in the south of England. He followed a two-year course in filmmaking and worked as an assistant director before heading back home to finish his degree at Ghent’s art academy KASK. Aside from the tremendous learning experience, what stayed with the director was his identity among his peers as “just a guy from Belgium”. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t tagged as being Turkish.

For someone born in Belgium to immigrant parents, this is a huge distinction. “In the programme in Bournemouth, most of them were British,” Balci tells me. “Quite a lot of them had different roots, but nobody questions that they are British. And nobody questioned me; I was just Belgian.”

Balci’s first film, Turquaze, took on these complicated issues of identity as a young mixed couple struggle to stay together in the face of disapproving families – on both sides.

He visits similar territory in his new film Trouw met mij! (Marry Me!), in which a young couple – he from a middle-class Flemish family, she from a working-class Turkish one – tie the knot. Nearly the entire film takes place in and around the reception hall, where class and cultural differences clash – sometimes amusingly, sometimes angrily.

national identity

Belgium, says Balci, who was born in Ghent to Turkish parents, doesn’t find itself in the same place as the UK or the US when it comes to national identity. Belgians see him as Turkish first and Belgian second – if at all. Throw in regional distinctions like Flemish, and it gets even more complicated.

But it’s a two-way street, says Balci.

Immigrants and their offspring need to embrace national identity as well. “In America, even the very strict Italians will say ‘I’m an American’ not ‘I’m Italian’,” he says.

“I noticed that in America, everyone is an American. In the UK, it is similar. I think here, immigrants needs to say, ‘We are Belgian’. They should be proud of it.”

Balci, who, like his films’ protagonists, is in a relationship with a non-Turkish Fleming, sees a certain resistance not only among the majority but among the Turkish communities to embrace such a national identity.

But, the 44-year-old admits, “it’s hard to do because you feel like you are betraying your home country. I have friends who still don’t have a

Trouw met mij! opens across Flanders and Brussels on 21 january

Belgian passport because they’ll feel disloyal to their countries. It’s a kind of fear. But if you just accept the situation you are living in now, then you help the next generation to get over that fear.”

All of these issues – and more – inform Trouw met mij!, which opens in cinemas this Wednesday.

Jurgen (Dries De Sutter) and Sibel (Sirin Zahed) are young and madly in love, but cracks in the relationship begin to show almost immediately.

As we proceed to their wedding reception, we meet a colourful cast of characters, including Jurgen’s jolly father, his scowlingly concerned mother and Sibel’s roughneck brother, Kemal (Burak Balci, the director’s brother).

The reception is certainly an evening to remember, as both bride and groom find out the other’s secrets and both sets of guests do their best to avoid the other. The Turks whisper disparaging things about the catering; the Flems do the same about, well, the Turks.

But the biggest problem is Kemal.

The oldest male in the family, he makes it his business to mercilessly harass his sister and her betrothed, of whom, it hardly needs to be said, he does not approve.

But rather than sticking to a story of cultural riffs, something interesting emerges: We discover that Jurgen and Sibel have known each other for less than four months.

Suddenly, many of the problems encountered in this single room come into much sharper focus.

More than about cultural differences, Trouw met mij is about impulsiveness and not allowing your loved ones time to get used to a situation many of them see as confusing, at best.

“It’s a very selfish decision,” confirms Balci. “They haven’t really thought about it – the fact that their families have feelings about this.”

Not that Balci is suggesting that mixed marriages don’t work. “But it’s naive to think that when you marry someone, you only marry them. You marry their whole family. My partner is Flemish, so this subject is very close to us.

She always says that in a Turkish family, you can’t get out of the house, while in a Flemish family, you can’t get into the house.”

The central couple’s devil-maycare attitude, he says, “is actually the centre of the film for me. You can take decisions in your own life, that’s not a problem. But your background comes with you, and you have to deal with the consequences”.

Critics, says Balci, are always focusing on “the Turkish thing,” but “I’m trying to tell stories that are really universal. If you put on the right glasses, and you look at them just as people and not as a culture, you can see that it’s really about people in general. If you see it as being all about Turkish/Flemish relations, you are missing the point of the film.”

Although Jurgen and Sibel are the belles of the ball, it’s the character of the older brother, Kemal, that holds the film together. Balci’s brother Burak played the sensitive, soft-spoken lead in Turquaze, and he’s unrecognisable here as a muscled, macho man, as heavily weighed down by his gold chains as he is by his family responsibilities.

For most of the film, he’s solidly the bad guy, but the events of the fateful reception affect him profoundly

and, if anyone has made a journey over this past 90 minutes, it’s Kemal.

“The weight they put on this guy,” says Balci. “Even without saying it, it’s instilled by the family culture.

I know from my own experiences that it’s the older brother or sister who is the least understanding about these kinds of relationships.

Even more so than the parents.”

Kemal, he says, is an archtypal character, who translates his worry and stress into violent behaviour.

“Not only is he frustrated because of the things he can’t do, he is really worried about his sister because she is so impulsive,” explains Balci.

“I have friends who had brothers like this, who were very aggressive towards their sisters because they couldn’t say ‘I love you and am worried about you’.”

Ultimately, Kemal has to make a decision to watch a speeding train he has put into motion crash and burn – or put a spoke in its wheels.

“That’s why I created this older brother,” says Balci. “He is coming to a point of essence.”

© rudy Tollenaere/Het nieuwsblad

“you marry a whole family”: kadir Balci

\ aGenDa

january 21, 2015

Chivalry gone wild

concert

Don Quixote 25 january to 1 february 7-15 february

R

oyal Ballet Flanders begins 2015 with Don Quixote, a Spanish-flavoured confection billed as a classic ballet for the whole family. Famously accessible thanks to its clearly defined characters, continual action and broad humour, Don Quixote also boasts acrobatic set pieces and a “white ballet”, whose hardly Hispanic tutus and pointe work are smuggled in through a dream sequence.

The ballet covers only part of Cervantes’ monster novel, replacing epic sweep with a more

Ghent Criolo: The Brazilian rapper and hip-hop artist performs from his second album, Nó na Orelha, which earned him the prize for best album at the Brazilan Music Video Awards. 28 January 20.00, Democrazy, Minnemeers 4

stadsschouwburg, antwerp Opera Ghent www.oPEraBallEt.BE

focused story of frustrated love.

Kitri, the beautiful daughter of an inn-keeper, and Basilio the barber are devoted to one another, but their passion is thwarted when Kitri’s father promises her to a rich nobleman. Everything seems lost, until Don Quixote turns up with his deluded chivalry and proceeds to upset everyone’s plans.

Don Quixote was created in 1869 for Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet, with music by Ludwig Minkus. It was choreographed by Marius Petipa, a Frenchman with a talent for spectacle who helped create classics

www.abconcerts.be

© Veerle Frissen

such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. He also knew a thing or two about Spanish dance and was able to blend the characteristic movements of the seguidilla, fandango, jota and bolero with classical ballet steps. More importantly, he used them to create character dances that advance the story rather than interludes that stop it dead.

The ballet handed down to us also owes a lot to Aleksandr Gorsky, whose staging for the Bolshoi in

event

perforMance

ghent light festival

golden Hours

29 january to 2 february Ghent has staged its Light Festival twice before, but it proved so expensive and required so much crowd control that they skipped it last year, much to the disappointment of a community that appreciated so much creative, energetic brightness during the long, grey month of January. From bridges made of paisley light designs to

across Ghent www.licHtfEstivalgEnt.BE

trees seemingly sprouting in the cathedral to projections that made buildings come to life or told stories right on the sides of an historic monuments, this parcours of blazing designs and narrative fantasies was a delight. The city says this year’s will be even bigger.

\ Lisa Bradshaw

© Visit Gent

viSUal artS

Young French photographer JeanLuc Feixa’s method is simple: travel a lot, wander around a given city centre and photograph anything that catches the eye. It turns out the things that attract Feixa’s eye are buildings and people, more so in combination. The beauty and distinctive character of a city’s architecture provide the frame against which the organic arabesques of the human figures spring to life. This solo exhibition Over the Course of the Lines takes us around the world and shows us slices of life from the artist’s hometown Toulouse, his current base Brussels and more exotic locales like Manhattan and Madeira. \ GV

For decades, seminal Flemish choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker has explored the relationship between contemporary dance and analogous developments in music. Her latest production takes this inquiry back in time, to the period when the avantgarde first met the masses. The performance is choreographed as a dialogue with British musician Brian Eno’s 1975 album Another Green World. Eno was among the first to introduce the mid-century contemporary values pioneered by ivory-tower composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen into pop and rock music. According to De Keersmaeker, this is the moment that contemporary art could leave the gallery and take its place in the collective consciousness. \ Georgio Valentino

concert

jean-luc feixa until 22 february

23-31 january

k’s choice

Verhaeren Gallery, Brussels www.galEriEvErHaErEn.BE

21 may, 20.00 The ’90s are back with a vengeance.

K’s Choice were among Belgium’s chief alt-rock emissaries of that grunge-laden decade. Built around the Antwerp-born sister-brother team of Sarah and Gert Bettens, the band scored an international hit (“Not an Addict”) and toured the world with other period luminaries like Alanis Morrisette and

1900 added new music and dances, including Kitri’s celebrated solo dance with a fan.

This production comes from Russian choreographer Alexei Fadeechev, who first staged Don Quixote while he was artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet between 1998 and 2000. The Flanders Symphony Orchestra will be under the baton of musical director Benjamin Pope. \ Ian Mundell

kaaitheater, Brussels www.kaaitHEatEr.BE

viSUal artS antwerp Papegaai (The Parrot): The parrot in 16th- and 17th-century art, a source of inspiration for countless artists, including Rubens, Savery, Fijt, Jordaens, de Heem, Dürer and Schongauer. Until 22 February, Rockoxhuis, Keizerstraat 12 www.rockoxhuis.be

Antwerp Art Weekend: First edition of the contemporary art event that features two nights of late openings, artists talks at M HKA and more than 50 exhibitions with works by hundreds of artists spread over 40 galleries, museums and art spaces, culminating in a party at HISK (31 January). 29 January to 1 February, across Antwerp www.antwerpart.be

feStival Ghent PINX 2015: Sphinx cinema’s annual LGBT film festival presents nine features, including four premieres and the Flemish film Violette by Martin Provost. Every feature is preceeded by a short film www.sphinx-cinema.be

faMily Ghent © anne Van aerschot

get tic k

ets no w

De Casino, sint-niklaas www.dEcasino.BE

Indigo Girls. After a hiatus early in the 21st century, the Bettenses return with the new album Phantom Cowboy, recorded in the US, where Sarah now lives, with well-known rock producer Alain Johannes. A handful of spring dates follow this premiere concert in Sint-Niklaas. \ GV

Off the wall portraits: Art workshop for aspiring artists of all ages to try their hand at painting a portrait, or even posing for portraits while dressed in fun costumes.

25 January 13.00-17.00, IN-Gent, Blekerijstraat (Registration via Kom-Pas) www.facebook.com/ komPasgent

talK Brussels Data Protection on the Move: Annual international conference in which a group of experts from the IT industry, professors, jurists, policymakers and representatives from various NGOs debate topics around computers, privacy and data protection in the digital age (in English).

21-23 January, Hallen van Schaarbeek, Koninklijke Sint-Mariastraat 22 www.cpdpconferences.org

© Frank Clauwers

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\ BaCkPaGe

january 21, 2015

Talking Dutch count your chickens

In response to: Talking Dutch, You’ve got a friend in me Brendan Mullooly Surprised they didn’t end up in a “Pulp Fiction” situation.

derek Blyth More articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

Y

ou might have thought chickens belong on farms, but they could soon be running around back gardens in Brussels. The Etterbeek district has launched a pilot project to encourage residents to keep a couple of chickens about, according to Brussel Deze Week.

Families are being encouraged to raise city chickens to cut down on household waste. Eén kip is in staat om elk jaar 50 kilo huisvuil te verwerken – A single chicken has the potential to dispose of 50 kilograms of household waste every year, the newspaper said.

Etterbeek has become the first district in the capital to turn to chickens as part of its environmental policy. “Wij doen al mee aan een gewestelijk pilootproject om organisch afval te composteren” – “We are already involved in a regional pilot project to turn organic waste into compost,” explained Marie-Rose Geuten, the local councillor responsible for sustainability.

“Maar een deel van dat afval kunnen we ook aan kippen geven die in ruil eieren produceren” – “But we can feed a part of the waste to chickens, who will produce eggs in return.”

In eerste instantie gaat de gemeente twintig Etterbeekse gezinnen twee kippen en een kippenhok geven – In the beginning, the council is going to hand out two chickens and a hen house to 20 Etterbeek families.

But what if you don’t have a garden? No problem, according to the councillor. “Bij voldoende interesse plant de gemeente ook een collectief kippenhok” – “If enough people are interested, the council is planning to set up a collective chicken coop,” Geuten explained.

“Daarnaast krijgen de vijf gemeentescholen het voorstel een kippenhok te installeren” – “We are also asking our

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In response to: Brussels Beer Project finds success, community – and criticism Per Heister Proud crowdfounder.... with Kajsa Wilhelmsson

© IngImage

five local schools if they want to install a hen house,” she continued, “om de kinderen vertrouwd te maken met de hoenderen” – “so that children can learn how to handle the fowls.”

The urban chicken plan is just one of a range of projects launched by Etterbeek to create a more sustainable municipality. Zo heeft de gemeente al sinds 2011 een ‘Sociale vestiaire’, waar OCMW-klanten kledingstukken voor een euro kunnen kopen – The council has been running a “communal wardrobe” since 2011, where residents on benefits can buy clothes for €1.

De gemeenten lanceerde in juni ook een weggeefwebsite en fysieke weggeefboxen – The council is also launching a donations website in June, along with donation boxes – en in oktober een sociale kruidenier die producten uit de eigen volkstuintjes verkoopt aan leefloners – and in October a community greengrocer will start selling vegetables from allotment gardens to people on low incomes.

It all adds up to an impressive series of initiatives – although you probably shouldn’t count your chickens before they hatch.

Tweet us your thoughts @FlandersToday

Poll

a.Why not? He has the right to end his suffering, just like anyone else

67% b. No. Prisoners are in no state to make that kind of decision

8% c. No. He gave up his rights when he killed someone. He should be forced to serve his life sentence

25% rape and murder, received permission to be euthanised. He had had no mental health treatment in his three decades in prison and deserved to end his suffering if he so chose, he argued.

Days before Van den Bleeken was to be euthanised, federal justice minister Koen Geens announced

\ next week's question:

that he would be transferred to a special prison facility in the Netherlands, where he would receive treatment for his mental health problems, which Van den Bleeken said, led him to commit his crimes in the first place.

Soldiers have been deployed to the streets of Antwerp and Brussels amid fears of terrorist attacks. What do you think?

Log on to the Flanders Today website at www.flanderstoday.eu and click on VOTE!

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In response to: Teachers asked to be alert for signs of radicalisation Patrick Moloney Stop marginalising certain groups of society and you will find those groups are more likely to be peaceful.

In response to: Commuting to Brussels takes longer than ever before Miranda Martin The number one remedy is planning control. Permission to build a house is given with no thought for the transport consequences.

THE RIVER CARD @TheRiverCardUK Big thanks to everyone who came out to see us in Essen and Antwerp over the last 2 nights.

Michał Kwiatkowski @michalkwiatek He or she? ;) Star from last night in #Ghent. @etixx_quick_step #kwiato http://instagram.com/p/x4fV08HwFO/

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the laSt Word

should a convicted murderer have been afforded the right to euthanasia in order to end his psychological suffering in prison?

We see a pretty strong majority of support from our readers this week on the subject of prisoners being afforded the right to euthanasia. The question was based on a story that dominated headlines earlier this month when Frank Van den Bleeken, who has served 30 years of his life sentence for serial

voiceS of flanderS today

strange days

“Clearly some people have trouble telling the difference between fiction and non-fiction.”

Dilbeek mayor Willy Segers has asked the producers of drama series De Buurtpolitie (Neighbourhood Police) to stop location filming after anxious reactions from members of the public

slippery slope

“A few kilometres out of Kampenhout, I had to stand up for a second to push on the pedals, and that’s something I shouldn’t have done. All of a sudden the bike disappeared from under me, and the whole of my right side hit the ground.”

Weatherman Frank Deboosere came a cropper, shortly after warning TV viewers of the danger of icy roads

making every cent count “I can’t put a figure on the budget, but, by international standards, it’s quite modest. For what Angelina Jolie’s make-up costs, we can make a feature film.”

Flemish comedian Urbanus is making an animated film based on his comic strip

display model

“We’ve nothing against a bit of a show, and it might even be a little sexy. But this was too sexy. That’s why we requested an aesthetic intervention.”

A spokesperson for auto industry federation Febiac, which asked Suzuki to cover up its models at the Brussels Motor Show

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