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may 31, 2017 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ rEad morE at www.flandErstoday.Eu currEnt affairs \ P2

Politics \ P4

Sheep in the city

Molenbeek’s pop-up Parckfarm will become a permanent fixture now that the city council has approved a permit \2

BusinEss \ P8

innovation \ P9

Full Speed ahead

Education \ P11

art & living \ P12

inviSible priSonS

The Brussels-based Greenlight4Girls is helping female pupils both at home and abroad to break into male-dominated ICT studies and jobs

A new exhibition at Ghent’s Museum Dr Guislain looks at mentally ill prisoners who have been in the wrong institutions for far too long

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sam sweeney will perform with the violin that British music hall performer Richard Howard was making when he was conscripted. Howard died in the Battle of messines

Making history

the Battle of messines remembered, 100 years on denzil walton more articles by Denzil \ flanderstoday.eu

A century ago, the largest man-made explosion until the arrival of the nuclear bomb signalled the start of the Battle of Messines, an operation in which more than 40,000 soldiers were killed. A series of events are planned to mark the centenary.

n the early hours of 7 June 1917, the German 4th Army holding the Messines Ridge, a natural stronghold south-east of Ypres, was coming under fierce artillery bombardment. It had been going on for days. In the previous week, more than 2,200 artillery guns had pounded their lines, firing as many as 3,000,000 shells.

Suddenly, at 2.50, the barrage stopped. General Friedrich Sixt von Armin, aware that the silence was likely to presage an infantry attack, moved his men into position. They stared through the dark and the smoke, armed and alert to repel the enemy, not realising that the danger lay beneath their feet. On the Allied side, a countdown had begun. Preparations had started the previous year for an ambitious operation directed, like the Battle of Messines that followed, by Field Marshall Herbert Plumer, commander of the British Second Army. He was aware that taking the Messines Ridge – one of the strongest points in the German line – was

vital to the Allies’ chance of success. By 7 June, preparations were complete: 21 tunnels over a distance of 8,000 metres had been built underneath the Messines Ridge and filled with 455 tons of explosive. General Sir Charles Harington, chief of staff of the 2nd Army, told British officers: “Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography.” The statement made it into the press and became history. At 3.10, the mines underneath the German lines were detonated. Over the next 20 seconds, 19 huge explosions (two mines failed to explode) rocked Flanders in what would remain the largest man-made explosion until the arrival of continued on page 7

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Parckfarm project in Brussels to become permanent

40,000 runners tackle Brussels 20km no serious problems during annual run with participants from 126 countries

The temporary permit for the project was extended for a year, and now Molenbeek councillor Olivier Mahy has said that the council intends to follow the advice of the committee and approve a permanent permit. “Over the last two years, Parckfarm has become extremely important to people using the park and to local associations that use the greenhouse,” he said. During a public consultation round, the local council received 65 letters and nearly 1,500 signatures in favour of maintaining the project. \ AH

Sint-Amands and Puurs municipalities to merge

alan Hope more articles by alan \ flanderstoday.eu

orty thousand people took part in the Brussels 20km run on Sunday, in temperatures reaching almost 30 degrees. It was the 38th edition of the annual event, and 40,000 runners from at least 126 countries took part. The Red Cross deployed 430 volunteers to provide emergency help along the course, while sponsors handed out 350,000 bottles of water. The largest group of runners was Running for Europe, with 1,240 members, and 530 people ran as part of the Braille League team, including 20 visually impaired runners. The Red Cross was reported to be prepared for the worst, given the high temperatures.

Parckfarm, a citizen-led initiative that saw a park with animals and communal spaces popping up on what was previously wasteland in Molenbeek, will become a permanent fixture. A committee in Molenbeek’s city council has advised the city to approve a permit for the property. Parckfarm, attached to the Tour & Taxis site in Brussels, includes a greenhouse, vegetable garden, wood-fired oven and chicken run. When it was put together in 2014, it was meant to be temporary. But the success of the initiative in bringing people from the community together has been considered invaluable. The park was the idea of local people who were responding to a call from Parckdesign, a biennial urban planning programme. The site attracted much interest in the neighbourhood, with residents clearing rubbish, bringing in chickens, beehives and even sheep. They organised events in the greenhouse, which doubles as a meeting place (pictured) and around the massive communal table.

Most cases where they had to intervene concerned overheating and dehydration, a spokesperson said. The organisation helped some 485 people with injuries or other problems during the run; 23 people were taken to hospital. Princess Astrid, sister of the king, gave the starting signal and ran as part of a relay team. Prime minister Charles Michel, who has taken part in previous years, also attended as a spectator. “I’m worn out but happy,” organiser Carine Verstraeten told Bruzz. “This was a tough edition, but we made it, thanks to the co-operation of security services, private partners and volunteers. It was a top day.”

The first municipal merger in Antwerp province since the 2016 decree making it possible is to take place between SintAmands and Puurs, the two city councils have announced. The two municipalities in the far south west of the province have been conducting talks in recent weeks about the merger. To encourage small towns to merge, the government of Flanders passed a decree last year that offers a debt reduction of €500 for each inhabitant. Puurs, with nearly 17,000 residents, has more than double those of Sint-Amands with just over 8,000. The merger announcement came as a surprise to Bornem mayor Luc De Boeck,

whose city was considering a merger with Sint-Amands. He claims not to have been consulted in the current merger talks and ruled out a merger with the other two. Puurs and Sint-Amands are already working together in such areas as health care, housing and education, explained SintAmands mayor Peter Van Hoeymissen. “In that way, this is a logical decision,” he said. This is the fourth municipal merger to be announced in Flanders since the decree. The Limburg municipalities Opglabbeek and Meeuwen-Gruitrode are to come together under the new name Oudsbergen, and the East Flanders towns of Aalter and Knesselare as well as Zingem and Kruishoutem are in talks. \ AH

Six degrees of separation between you and missing child Child Focus, the non-profit representing Belgium’s missing and exploited children, has launched a new campaign showing that the six degrees of separation idea links everyone to a missing child. The point, said the organisation, is that “missing children are closer to you than you may think”. The campaign was timed to coincide with International Missing Children’s Day on 25 May. Five people are featured in a campaign

video who all have a link with the same missing child. Gevriye Cavas was five years old when he disappeared from Molenbeek in Brussels in 1985. He was walking from his home to a nearby corner where his brother and friends were kicking a ball around. He has never been seen since. Gevriye’s family have never given up hope. His case is used as an example in the campaign

€109.3

million in dividends to be paid out by Brussels Airlines to shareholders, despite last year’s attack on the airport and the weeks of closure as a result

film. Child Focus linked five strangers to Gevriye through one specific acquaintance. “When the participants were invited to take part, we didn’t tell them what it was about,” said Dirk Depover of Child Focus. “Prior to the experiment, they all said they were reluctant to share missing persons notices. But afterwards, they changed their view.” The Brussels-based organisation also carried out a similar experiment with well-known

people, including prime minister Charles Michel and Red Devils goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. The point of the campaign is to encourage people to share alerts from Child Focus on social media, even if they do not know the child personally. In 2016, said Depover, Facebook had 1.6 billion active users worldwide, and the average distance between any two was not six degrees, but 3.57. \ AH

369.5

the median age at which students in Flanders obtain their higher education degree, the lowest of all OECD countries according to figures published last week

million journeys made on the Brussels public transit authority MIVB in 2016. The metro, with 36.5%, remains the most popular mode, ahead of tram (34%) and bus (29%)

€66,500

of pregnant women in Belgium request the Nip test, which predicts the probability of the baby being born with a number of sydromes, including Down’s sydrome

damages requested by De Lijn from a Greek man who was involved in a shooting incident in Ghent last year, in which the city centre was closed to public transport for six hours

may 31, 2017

WeeK in brieF The Flemish agency for nature and woodland issued a red alert for the province of Antwerp last week, the highest alert for fire risk. In Limburg, meanwhile, an orange alert was announced, one stage lower. The agency warned of an acute risk of fire in the Antwerp areas of the Kalmthoutse Heide, Eksterheide, De Merode, MostKeiheuvel and Tielenheide and advised the public to stay away. European journalists have started a collaborative investigation of the Malta Files, involving at least 491 Belgians who allegedly avoided tax by investing in the island’s financial establishments, investigative journal Mediapart has said. The massive leak involves 150,000 documents from the current presidency of the EU, showing tax evasion worth €2 billion a year. Flemish public transport authority De Lijn is selling two vintage trams from its former fleet used in Antwerp. The two PCC trams dating from the 1960s will be auctioned off from 1 June for a price starting at €250. Another 20 PCC trams are due to disappear from the city’s network in the coming year. Michelin-star chef Yves Mattagne’s culinary workshop business at Tour & Taxis has been declared bankrupt by a Brussels court. The workshop employed eight people and offered cooking classes to hobbyists and professionals. Mattagne continues as chef of the Sea Grill in Brussels, one of the city’s two two-star establishments. Dutch public broadcaster NTR has announced it will no longer take part in the Great Dutch Language Dictation, an annual competition in which members of the public and celebrities from the Netherlands and Flanders compete to make the fewest possible spelling mistakes in a complex written dictation. Flemish broadcaster VRT said it was not able to carry

Face oF FlanderS the event by itself and would be looking for alternatives. The new Eurostar train route linking London, Brussels and Amsterdam, due to come into service at the end of this year, will not stop in Antwerp, the company has said. The new route intends to cut the journey time from London to Amsterdam to under four hours, and will also not stop in Lille or Schiphol. The route should be inaugurated before the end of the year, to be fully operation with two daily runs in each direction by next spring.

Relativesandmembersoftheemergency services last week took part in a service in memory of the fire in the Innovation department store on Nieuwstraat in Brussels in 1967, in which 251 people died and 62 were injured. The service was held in the Finisterre church opposite the shop and was led by assistant bishop Jean Kockerols, who was nine at the time of the fire. Mourners later took part in a commemoration at the cemetery of Evere.

Customs authorities have announced the largest ever seizure of illicit cigarettes in the port of Antwerp – a haul of nearly 90 million units or 4.5 million packets. The cigarettes are “cheap whites” of unregistered brands like President Gold and Em@il Red, which may not be sold on the open market and are intended for the black market or for sale elsewhere.

It is still entirely possible to disappear from official view in Molenbeek in Brussels, despite the efforts of the home affairs ministry to make residents more traceable, according to the police union NSPV. When local officers discover a person registered at one address no longer lives there, the union said, it takes the municipal authority up to a year to amend their records, allowing potential criminals to fall under the official radar. According to the union, thousands of cases are still waiting to be handled.

The Brussels regional government has refused to take part in Anderlecht’s celebrations for winning the football league because the club has withdrawn from a promise to occupy the planned new national stadium at Heizel, minister Guy Vanhengel has said. “We’re not about to raise a glass with people who don’t behave properly,” Vanhengel, one of the major promoters of the stadium, told Bruzz.

Youth movements in Flanders can expect an end to the shortage of tents available for camping holidays, loaned out by the Flemish camping equipment service ULDK, according to youth minister Sven Gatz. In recent years, demand has outstripped supply, leading some youth organisations to put in special requests with sister organisations or even the defence ministry. The ULDK will obtain 150 new tents next month.

The city of Ghent is to amend some of its parking tariffs in the new city-centre traffic zone from July, to meet some of the complaints made by traders and the food industry and remove some of what it called “irrationalities”, councillor for mobility Filip Watteeuw has said. Changes include lowering the cost of parking in the city-owned Sint-Pietersplein and Tolhuis car parks.

Last week’s Nato summit in Brussels featured the work of one exceptional member of the Dutch security forces on secondment: a sea eagle trained to deal with illicit drones operating in protected airspace. The eagle is the offspring of an American parent and was on its maiden operation to protect the 29 heads of state and government, including King Filip, at the meeting at the new Nato headquarters.

oFFSide flipping the coin The speaker of the federal parliament, Siegfried Bracke, is facing a pay cut shortly, according to the parliament’s politic renewal committee. Bracke is currently paid €15,000 gross per month, but a special committee has proposed bringing that to just over €11,000. Earlier this year, politicians’ consulting fees for sitting on boards of public concerns was called into question. Bracke himself was influential in setting up the committee that has now made the decision to reduce his salary. The speaker of the federal parliament is considered, for reasons of historical

tamara stojákovic For the first time in four years, the winner of the annual Best Dutch Teacher in the Low Countries award is from Flanders. But what’s even more notable is that teacher Tamara Stojákovic only learned Dutch after arriving in Flanders as an 11-year-old refugee from Bosnia. The 35-year-old now teaches at the Atheneum MXM secondary school in Antwerp’s Merksem district. The jury gave her the award for her empathy for the students and the clever ways she involves them in the learning process, using tools like YouTube videos. “I know all too well what my students are struggling with,” Stojákovic told Gazet van Antwerpen. Her own experience with Dutch started in a primary school in the Antwerp district of Borgerhout. Reception classes for foreignlanguage speaking newcomers (Okan) didn’t exist at the time, and having to learn Dutch at school was a major challenge. Everything changed when a teacher took her to the local library. “I had never seen such a thing, it didn’t exist in the small provincial town in Bosnia where I’d lived,” she told De Morgen.

Reading books in Dutch gradually improved her knowledge of the language, to the point where the only accent that can be detected in her speech now is the occasional hint of Antwerps. She worked so hard that she dropped out of school in her fifth year of secondary education from exhaustion. But she went on to obtain her diploma through evening classes, and later got a bachelor’s degree in teaching. Her first teaching job was at the school in Borgerhout she had attended as a girl. At her current school, Stojákovic always asks her students what they think they need to know later in life. She has given lessons on topics including how to apply for a job and how to request a scholarship – in proper Dutch, without spelling mistakes. At the award ceremony, Stojákovic found herself speechless. “I am momentarily at a loss for words and punctuation marks,” she said. The competition is organised by the Radio 1 programme De bende van Annemie and the Dutch radio show Taalstaat. \ Andy Furniere

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

protocol, to be the second citizen of the country, after the monarch. So at official occasions, for example, the speaker precedes the prime minister, the idea being that the government serves the parliament, not the other way around. For that reason, Bracke will continue to earn €1 more than the prime minister. Charles Michel makes €11,000, so Bracke can count on getting at least €11,001. “The position of speaker of the chamber has to be an exclusive function,” said Kristof Calvo of Groen. “That’s the only way to show that the speaker stands above everyone and everything else.” \ Alan Hope

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 Bartosz Brzezi´nski agEnda Robyn Boyle, Georgio Valentino art dirEctor Paul Van Dooren PrEPrEss Mediahuis AdPro contriButors Rebecca Benoot, Derek Blyth, Leo Cendrowicz, Sarah Crew, Emma Davis, Paula Dear, Andy Furniere, Lee Gillette, Diana Goodwin, Clodagh Kinsella, Catherine Kosters, Toon Lambrechts, Ian Mundell, Anja Otte, Tom Peeters, Arthur Rubinstein, Senne Starckx, Christophe Verbiest, Denzil Walton gEnEral managEr Hans De Loore PuBlisHEr Mediahuis NV

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\ POlITICs

Protests during Nato summit security tight at event attended by controversial leaders trump and Erdoğan alan Hope more articles by alan \ flanderstoday.eu

ast week’s Nato summit in Brussels passed off without incident, in the presence of two controversial figures: US president Donald Trump and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdog˘an. The summit included a visit to the new Nato headquarters, nearly ready to house 4,500 staff at a cost of €1.1 billion. The old headquarters across the road was built in 1967, when Nato consisted of 15 member states. Over the next few weeks, staff will move from the old site to the new one, Nato said. Federal home affairs minister Jan Jambon congratulated the federal police and those of the Brussels-Elsene zone, the national crisis centre and the defence ministry, all of whom had been involved in preparations for the summit. Prior to the summit, Jambon said no additional security measures would be taken following the attack in Manchester in which 22 people were killed by a suicide bomber at a concert. He said he would be investigating whether the attack, claimed by IS, had any link with Belgium.

Some 100 opponents of Erdog˘an protested outside his hotel on Louizalaan, despite a ban on any form of demonstration imposed by Brussels-City mayor Yvan Mayeur. The hotel was heavily guarded by police, and no incidents were reported. Trump spent the night in the American embassy on Regentlaan, where a number of protesters from the environmental organisation Greenpeace climbed a nearby construction crane to hang a banner saying “#Resist”. First Lady Melania Trump was reported to have stayed at The Hotel on Waterloolaan. Earlier, between 9,000 and 12,000 people took part in an antiTrump protest in the centre of Brussels (pictured). Trump famously referred to the capital as a “hellhole” last year during his election campaign. He later thanked Belgium for the “warm welcome” he had received. Meanwhile, at a “peace camp” protesting against the summit close to the Nato headquarters, police said 128 activists were booked for disorderly conduct, including some climbing building facades to hang banners and holding up traffic.

Centenary chair honours Welsh poet killed in Flanders Fields

Colon cancer screening scheme extended to people aged 55

The Flemish government, Thomas More University College and the Welsh National Memorial & Hedd Wyn Society in Flanders are paying tribute to the Welsh poet Ellis Evans, who died in the Battle of Passchendaele during the First World War, with the launch of the Hed Wyn Centenary Chair. Evans – better known under his artist name Hedd Wyn (Welsh for “Blessed Peace”) – died on 31 July 1917, near the West Flemish town of Langemark-Poelkapelle, only six weeks before he was to receive the prestigious Bardic Chair prize for Welsh poetry. The laureates of this prize receive a wooden chair designed especially for them. The chair that was given to Hedd Wyn posthumously in 1917 – dubbed the “Black Chair” – was carved by Flemish carpenter Eugeen Vanfleteren, who fled his home in Mechelen

Everyone in Flanders aged 55 and older will be invited to a colon cancer screening, following the government of Flanders’ decision to extend local research. Extending the study will add €250,000 to the existing €3 million budget, health minister Jo Vandeurzen has announced. Under a system introduced in 2013, everyone in the region – both men and women – aged between 56 and 74 is invited to be tested every two years. According to the latest figures for 2015, 52% of the target group responded to the invitation. The results show one-fifth more cancers discovered by testing than before the study was launched. When colon cancer is detected at an early stage, it can often be treated by less invasive procedures, and patients have a better chance of recovery. Extending the screening to 55-year-olds takes Flanders one step closer to the EU

for the UK. In commemoration of the poet’s death, students in furniture design at Thomas More made their own versions, integrating references to the First World War and to Wales, including, for example, the red dragon from Wales’ national flag. The winning design, “Ravages of Time”, was made from wooden railway sleepers found buried in a field near the site of the battle. Railway sleepers were often used to reinforce trenches and shelters during the First World War. All of the chair designs made by the students are being exhibited at the Flemish Parliament. The winning design will be given to the Welsh government later this year. \ Andy Furniere

recommendation to screen all those over 50, Vandeurzen said. This year, that involves 72,291 people. Those who are already 55 will receive their invitation next month; the rest will get theirs on or around their birthdays. \ AH

Flemish foreign policy committee visits London and US

Environmental group calls for moratorium on tree-felling Environmental organisation Bond Beter Leefmilieu (BBL) has called on the government of Flanders to impose a new moratorium on the clearing of trees for building purposes until a new woodland map can be drawn up. The existing map was withdrawn recently on the orders of Flemish ministerpresident Geert Bourgeois. The map plotted trees growing in zones that are not protected as woodlands and put a ban on felling the trees. The land, however,

was zoned for residential, agricultural or industrial use, leading to controversy. Critics complained that the measure effectively dispossessed owners of their own land. “A new map should pay more attention to larger forests and less to smaller areas of a few trees,” said Erik Grietens of BBL. There should also be clearer communication for landowners and reasonable compensation, in an effort to maintain public support for woodland protection, he said. \ AH

The Flemish parliament’s foreign policy committee, together with the parliament speaker Jan Peumans, have completed an official visit to London and New York City. In London, the members met with Flemish expats, visited the London Assembly and were shown around the European Medicines Agency. The Medicines Agency is currently based in the UK capital but will relocate following Brexit. Brussels is one of the candidates for the new location. The committee had dinner with authorities involved with the centenary commemorations of the First World War. Next month, British royals and other representatives will be in West Flanders to mark the centenary of the Battle of Messines. Next year sees the culmination of four years of co-operation, with the centenary of the signing of the Armistice. The First World War also featured in the committee’s trip to New York, with the laying of a wreath at the In Flanders Field Memorial in De Witt Clinton Park, named after the popular nickname for First World War-era

The foreign policy committee in front of Flanders House in london

US infantrymen. The ceremony included the playing of the Last Post. The delegation also visited Congress in Washington, DC, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. “These visits allow members of the foreign policy committee to meet representatives abroad,” said a spokesperson for the parliament in a statement, “to get a clearer picture of their work as well as of the work of Flanders Investment & Trade and Visit Flanders.” \ AH

\ POlITICs

may 31, 2017

Passage to India

5th coluMn United we stand

flemish companies gain footing in world’s second most populous country alan Hope more articles by alan \ flanderstoday.eu

ast month, Brussels Airlines launched a direct connection between Zaventem and Mumbai, the latest in a series of agreements, contacts and close connections between Flanders and India, and surely not the last. Today, Flemish businesses and institutions are working hard on developing the contacts initially made during an official trade mission carried out by minister-president Geert Bourgeois last year. During that mission, more than 1,000 members of the public took part in organised events, while the business leaders accompanying Bourgeois made more than 230 business-to-business contacts. They signed eight agreements, most of them memoranda of understanding. “Just as in Flanders, the people here are very enterprising, and there are a lot of family businesses, some of which have been in existence for generations,” Bourgeois said at the time. Thanks to the success of the mission, his plan to was return to India, with the focus on the tech city Bangalore and the port city Chennai. Flanders has a particular interest in the Smart Cities project that’s part of the Indian prime minister’s Digital India programme. Narendra Modi’s dream is to build 100 Smart Cities across the country, and he set aside 980 billion rupees (€13.5 billion) for the project in 2014 alone. The project offers many opportunities for Flanders’ businesses to partner up with Indian enterprises in fields identified by Flanders Investment & Trade. These include energy management, green buildings, waste management, integrated multi-modal transport, water quality and public information. According to a spokesperson for

Flemish minister-President Geert Bourgeois (centre) and ambassador of Belgium in India Jan luykx pictured during last year’s economic mission to India

minister Bourgeois, “India is a land with an unbelievable amount of needs and potential. The country recognises Flanders’ highvalue products, which they need to develop their society and economy”. In recent years, India has been divided up into corridors for new motorways and railway connections that will one day criss-cross the entire country. Some are still in planning stages, others are almost completed. Among the latest is the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project. Located between the country’s two largest cities, the enormous project features towns that have been built from the ground up, high-speed lines, high-tech business parks, industrial estates and other infrastructure works in a zone measuring 1,500km long and 33km wide. It has cost an estimated $90 billion (€80.2 billion). One concrete initiative agreed to by Flanders and India last year is already working: the Clean Ganga Project aims to clean up the Ganges, the most polluted river on earth.

Every day, the Ganges carries some 2,700 million litres of unprocessed household waste water from 400 million people living along its banks. The Flemish Institute for Technological Research (Vito) has partnered with its German counterpart to help Indian authorities clean up the river and improve waste management systems in general. “The combination of the two things is an innovation,” Vito director Dirk Fransaer told Mo* magazine. “I know of only two companies in the world that provide similar solutions to environmental problems.” The main links between India and Flanders are in the private sector. The diamond business leads the field in both directions, accounting for €1.7 billion in India’s exports in 2013, and €6.5 billion in Belgian exports to India. The second most valuable Indian exports to Belgium, by contrast, were minerals and petroleum products, worth just half a billion euro in the same year, while Belgian exports of chemicals and chemical products amounted to only €330 million.

India is Belgium’s fourth-largest trading partner outside of the EU, behind the US, China and Russia. Precious stones and metals make up some 82% of all Belgian exports to India, and 40% of imports, leaving chemicals, mineral products and machinery far behind. Belgian businesses – most of them located in Flanders – are represented by the Belgo-Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, officially seated in Brussels, but operating for organisational reasons out of Kortrijk in West Flanders. “Our organisation is a platform for Belgian companies that do business in India, whether it’s manufacturing, exporting or importing,” says executive assistant Brigitte Claesens. “We bring business partners in contact with each other, to exchange information and to make things work more smoothly in general.” The companies represented by the Belgo-Indian Chamber – more than 150 of them – cover a range of private sector activities, including chemicals, pharmaceuticals and transport, but also law firms and banks. “A little bit of everything,” says Claesens. The Chamber also takes part in federal and Flemish trade missions, the most recent of which was a visit in April by the federal secretary of state for international trade Pieter De Crem. Though the Chamber helps organise these visits, it’s not in direct contact with Indian businesses. This responsibility falls in the hands of its Indian counterpart, the IndoBelgian Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce & Industry. “Of course, if there’s a mission we organise things together,” says Claesens. “They bring in their members, and we bring in ours.”

Q&a

wEcitiZEns.BE

To close the gap between politics and people, Jean-Paul Pinon has created WeCitizens, a political transparency website that helps citizens find their way among the thousands of electoral candidates. So what is WeCitizens? We are a citizens’ platform that produces voting advice applications. We work as a kind of Wikipedia for Belgian politicians and have developed a political directory – the biggest database of politicians available to the public. We thought that there was a lack of tools to find your way among the thousands of candidates. We are an independent bottom-up initiative, and among our trustees are 15 associations, mainly NGOs.

mentary activity, parenthood among politicians and others. From June onwards, we’ll propose in our monthly newsletter a “campaign” question. Our readers will see which politicians failed to answer and can send reminders with only a few clicks. We’re also able to produce voting advice applications at an affordable price, even for municipal elections, and we’re currently looking for interested partners to work with us on this.

Do you have any upcoming campaigns you are focusing on? We are adapting our political directory to include additional categories such as remuneration from public activity, statistics on parlia-

You have profiles from across the political spectrum. Are you nonpartisan? We look for a mix of political views among the members of our boards, and all the political parties have

When there is a rift between the politicians and the citizens, the victim is the citizen. We want to raise citizens’ interest in politics by producing useful transparency tools. The first condition to establish trust is transparency, and that’s our core business. Whenever someone feels that they’re being watched, they perform the best they can. By improving transparency, we give politicians an incentive to improve public service. © courtesy weCitizens/Facebook

appointed a liaison officer, who is asked, among other things, to survey our impartiality. I used to be a director in a Belgian federal regulatory authority, so I was trained to act impartially. What role do you think WeCitizens can play in turbulent political times?

In general, do you think Belgian citizens are well-informed or politically engaged? Too few citizens are interested in politics. Many citizens are scared to engage politically, as if they fear retaliation from authorities! Civic education is progressively improving and fostering active citizen participation. \ Interview by Mari

Eccles

Oudsbergen sounds like a Flemish town that has a century-long history, but in reality the name is brand new. It was chosen by the inhabitants of MeeuwenGruitrode and Opglabbeek, two Limburg municipalities that have decided to merge. Similar mergers have been announced between Aalter and Knesselare, between Zingem and Kruishoutem (all in East Flanders) and between Puurs and Sint-Amands (Antwerp province). More announcements are expected, so that the mergers can be finalised by the 2018 local elections. These mergers do not happen spontaneously. They are encouraged by the government of Flanders, which offers a debt relief of €500 for every resident, to a maximum of €20 million. This has been the main motivator for smaller towns to take the plunge. Interior minister Liesbeth Homans and her party, N-VA, are strong supporters of these mergers. Flanders’ 308 municipalities fragmentise power. Mergers will make municipalities more efficient and give them more bargaining power in Brussels. The upcoming mergers are voluntary, but N-VA hints that it will enforce new mergers if others do not follow. As you might have guessed, there is also a political side to this. Smaller towns are traditional CD&V strongholds. Those that have decided to merge all have CD&V mayors, who facilitated merger talks. CD&V does not support enforced mergers, as this would impact its power base. N-VA, on the other hand, hopes it will be easier to get a foot in the door in larger towns. Merging municipalities has advantages, but also drawbacks. Economies of scale are one advantage: It makes it easier to attract qualified staff or to invest in infrastructure such as swimming pools, many of which are now closing because of rising maintenance costs. All of this has an impact on the municipalities’ budget. Larger projects and more qualified staff are more expensive, which can neutralise the debt relief. Redundant jobs cannot simply be cut, as most municipal staff have tenure. Either way, the towns still have to pay the pensions of former staff. And larger structures do not automatically result in savings. All merging municipalities have pledged to keep local offices in the smaller of the two, to see to the needs of the locals. The main reason the mergers are so few, however, is local sentiment. Many Flemings prefer to live in a town where they know the mayor personally. \ Anja Otte

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\ COVeR sTORy

may 31, 2017

Today the mine craters caused by explosions during the Battle of messines are used for private fishing

Making history

music and light show among events marking centenary of landmark battle continued from page 1

the nuclear bomb. The crest of Messines Ridge was catapulted into the air, taking 10,000 German soldiers with it. Watching journalists reported seeing “clods of earth the size of houses hurtling through the air”. At Lille University’s geology department, the shockwave was mistaken for an earthquake. Tremors were detected by seismographs near Utrecht and on the Isle of Wight. Reports suggested that the sound was heard in London and Paris. “First, there was a double shock that shook the earth … like a gigantic earthquake,” artillery officer Ralph Hamilton recalled. “Then an immense wall of fire that seemed to go halfway up to heaven. The whole country was lit with a red light like in a photographic darkroom.” The surviving German troops were stunned and dazed. The remains of their comrades lay in huge craters opened by the mines; the largest was 15 metres deep and 80 metres in diameter. One British lieutenant inspecting a crater reported finding no human remains larger than a single foot encased in its boot. Immediately after the explosions, 80,000

infantrymen, largely from the British 9th and 10th Corps and the 2nd Anzac Corps, attacked, covered by a rolling artillery barrage. In the afternoon, the second phase of the attack started, with reserve divisions pushing on further, supported by tanks and artillery. By this time, the Germans had regrouped, and their artillery, once it had found its range, inflicted significant casualties on the advancing Allied soldiers. The Battle of Messines lasted for seven days. It was considered a British tactical and operational success that greatly boosted morale among the Allies. In particular, there was praise for the successful co-ordination of various parts of the Army – artillery, infantry and engineers. An estimated 25,000 German soldiers were killed in and after the explosions. The cost to the Allied forces was almost as high: 17,000. Unfortunately, Allied senior commanders, boosted by their victory in Messines, became complacent and saw victory in their next major attack – the Third Battle of Ypres at Passchendaele – as a foregone conclusion. They couldn’t have been more wrong. Amid the audacity of the plan and the

success of its implementation, one feature of the Battle of Messines often goes overlooked: its significance in Irish history. “At the start of the First World War, the dominant issue in Ireland was Home Rule – the British government’s pledge to transfer power to an all-Ireland parliament in Dublin,” explains Richard Grayson, professor of 20th-century history at Goldsmiths, University of London. “Although it was popular with the bulk of the Irish people and the main political cause of the Irish Nationalists for almost a century, it was deeply unpopular with Ulster Unionists in the north-east of Ireland – what is now Northern Ireland.” As a result, the Unionists pledged to “use all means necessary” – including violence – to resist the imposition of Home Rule and set up the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force. In parallel, the Irish Nationalists set up their own paramilitary group, the Irish Volunteers, to fight in favour of Home Rule. By 1914, Ireland was on the brink of civil war. When the First World War broke out, the causes of both groups were somewhat subsumed by a greater cause, and they joined the British Army to form the 36th Ulster Divi-

sion and the 16th Irish Division. Grayson: “These were two units of the British Army that under different circumstances could have been fighting against each other in a civil war in Ireland.” The Battle of Messines was the first time these two divisions had lined up and fought side by side; it happened again at the Third Battle of Ypres. Grayson is wary of attributing too much contact between the groups, though. “It’s important to understand that even though they fought together, they didn’t necessarily mix much,” he says. “There is a story of a football match taking place between battalions of the two divisions. However, even here, somebody in the Ulster Division said to their officer ‘I thought we weren’t supposed to be fraternising with the enemy!’” After the war, the survivors returned to Ireland – and took up their own political causes once again. “In many cases, when the men got back home, the gulf reasserted itself,” explains Grayson, “and in the years that followed, the co-operation that had been seen in Messines was not overtly celebrated.”

in MeMory

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On 7 June, the UK and Irish governments will hold a shared commemoration ceremony of the Battle of Messines. A series of other events is taking place in West Flanders to mark the battle’s centenary.

a music and spoken-word performance based on the story of Richard Howard, and featuring Howard’s actual fiddle (pictured on cover). 6 June, CC Het Perron, Fochlaan 1, Ypres

Richard Howard walk Richard Howard, a music hall performer from Leeds, was conscripted in 1915 and killed two years later at the Battle of Messines. During the war, he started to make a violin. It lay for nine decades until it was found by Sam Sweeney, fiddle player with British folk big band Bellowhead. 6 June, CC Het Perron, Fochlaan 1, Ypres

Musical walk Early morning walk and musical story-telling in commemoration of Major William Redmond, a victim of the Battle of Messines. The walk takes you to the mine craters around Wijtschate and then to Redmond’s grave in Loker. 7 June, Redmond’s Pub, Dikkebusstraat 135, Loker (Heuvelland)

Violin performance Speaking of Sam Sweeney, the violinist has collaborated with award-winning storyteller Hugh Lupton, Bellowhead bandmate Paul Sartin and concertina player Rob Harbron to create

\ madeinthegreatwar.com

7 June ceremonies 8.00, National New Zealand remembrance ceremony, Messines Ridge cemetery, Mesen; 10.00, Remembrance ceremony Australia, Strand military cemetery, Comines-Warneton; 14.00, National remembrance ceremony Ireland

& UK, Ireland Peace Park (pictured); 16.00, Closing Ireland, Northern Ireland & UK ceremony, Wijtschate military cemetery; 19.30, New Zealand ceremony, Messines Ridge cemetery, Mesen International concert Musical commemoration of the battle, featuring Nga¯ti Ra¯nana London Ma¯ori Club (New Zealand), Mary Black & Band (Ireland), Chris Latham (Australia), Koninklijke Harmonie Ypriana, Wannes Cappelle and Flanders’ Ozark Henry. 10 June, Prefamed, Kemmelstraat, Heuvelland Sound and light show An artistic sound and visual happening in 11 illuminated craters, featuring Brussels artist Shelbatra Jashari and Canadian band Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The event will also incorporate 2,100 candles made by West Flemish children. 10 June, Kemmelstraat, Heuvelland

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WeeK in buSineSS air air Belgium The first flights of Air Belgium to China have been postponed until the winter season, while the company awaits the grant of an Air Operator’s Certificate by Belgium’s civil aviation authority. The delay is a result of how complicated the procedure is to obtain the certificate, said Air Belgium.

air Brussels airlines

Brussels Airlines is to replace seven of its fleet of 10 longhaul aircraft in 2018 and 2019, replacing them with Airbus A330s. The company said this was its largest investment in its 15-year history. The aircraft, between seven and nine years old, were previously in service with Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific.

Film productions Caviar

The Flemish production house Caviar has sold the rights to its US production The Rider to Sony Pictures Classics in a deal reached at the Cannes festival. The film, the debut feature for Chinese writer and director Chloé Zhao, is the fourth production by Caviar’s Los Angeles wing.

Retail leen Bakker

Home furnishings chain Blokker Holding has sold off its Leen Bakker subsidiary to investment house Gilde Equity Management. The price of the deal was not revealed.

Transport mIVB

Representatives of Brussels public transport authority MIVB accompanied Brussels region’s mobility minister Pascal Smet on an information visit to Montreal in Canada last week for the biannual world congress of the UITP, the world union of public transport authorities. Among private sector companies exhibiting at the congress, MIVB was particularly interested in tram and metro rolling stock, electric buses and payment systems.

Television VIeR

Television channel VIER is to produce a new series in which homeless people are each given €10,000 and professional support in order to start a new life. The series is a spin-off from the Dutch series The Amsterdam Project. The Belgian Network against Poverty described the project as “a refreshing idea”.

Cultivating mussels part of new Flemish marine project Project looks to own coast to grow locally consumed products andy furniere more articles by andy \ flanderstoday.eu

he Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries Research and Ghent University have started a trial project to examine if mussels, algae, oysters and scallops can be cultivated off the coast of Belgium. The institutions are carrying out the project, called Noordzee Aquacultuur (North Sea Aquaculture), together with a consortium of seven companies. The project has three goals: research into innovative cultivation techniques of shellfish and algae, the efficient use of space in Flemish

waters and the development of a market for new regional products. Two concrete initiatives make up the project: Edulis and Value@Sea. Edulis focuses on the cultivation of mussels in the wind farms operated by C-Power and Belwind. While mussels are a very popular dish in Flanders, they are imported – mostly from off the coast of Zeeland in the Netherlands. For Edulis, mussels will be cultivated in the open sea, 50 kilometres from the coastline, where they are expected to grow faster than near the coastline. The first mussels were put in

place last week. Experts should be able to draw conclusions about the ecological and economic feasibility of this cultivation of mussels within two years. Value@Sea, meanwhile, concentrates on the cultivation of oysters, scallops and algae off the coast of Nieuwpoort. Researchers will also study whether growing such specimens can help purify the water. Flemish agriculture and environment minister Joke Schauvliege has invested €2.4 million in the research.

Businesses urged to act before new privacy laws come in

Lingerie firm and modular stands vie for Maker Award

A year before new Europe-wide privacy regulations are introduced, a survey by the union for independent businesses Unizo has revealed that 84% of local business owners are not fully aware of what the rules involve. “We have to act urgently to inform businesses and bring them up to speed,” said Unizo director-general Karel Van Eetvelt. The rules concern businesses’ responsibilities in managing their customer databases. Most companies now keep records of their customers, manage newsletters and other mailings and keep records of the details of suppliers and in some cases patients. The new rules set out the way in which records should be managed, the rights of people included in the

Five businesses have made it to the final of this year’s Belgian Maker Award, given to companies that show innovation in production and corporate social responsibility as well as impressive financial results, particularly in exports. Unizo, which represents the selfemployed in Flanders, presents the award with freight courier DHL. There were 15 applicants this year, with five chosen as finalists. Aluvision in Deinze, East Flanders, designs and builds modular exhibition stands, light walls, displays and interiors (pictured). At Brewery Huyghe in Melle, East Flanders, CEO Alain De Laet has invested hugely in energy efficiency, including solar panels and recuperating heat from waste water. HTMS in Mechelen designs hightech metal seals for applications where normal seals are inadequate in meeting the demands of extremes of temperature or pressure. La Fille d’O in Ghent is the

data and the company’s responsibilities to respect customer privacy and confidentiality. There will also be penalties for businesses that do not meet their responsibilities, something Van Eetvelt is unhappy about. “Business people are not enemies of privacy; quite the reverse,” he said. “The privacy of businesses themselves is under pressure in this digital economy. Solid privacy legislation is essential. Our businesses want to play by the rules, but the efforts required are enormous and take up a huge amount of time – and in some cases a good deal of money.” Meanwhile, Unizo is offering a thorough explanation of the rules on its website, as well as tailored advice for members. \ Alan Hope

Flemish teenagers among Europe’s most financially savvy About 80% of 15-year-olds in Flanders earn some money themselves through holiday jobs, weekend and evening work or helping with a family business. The figures come from the OECD’s latest international Pisa study on financial literacy, carried out in Flanders by Ghent University in 2015. On average, 64% of 15-year-olds in OECD countries earn money themselves – significantly lower than the Flemish figure. The OECD sees it as a positive trend, which better prepares young people for later financial independence. The study also shows that threequarters of 15-year-olds in Flanders have their own bank account and seven out of 10 get pocket money. “Young people are an important group of consumers,” Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits said. “It’s very important that they learn how to deal with

brainchild of lingerie designer Murielle Scherre, set up in 2003. The brand describes itself as a mixture of innovation in design, smart and clean sourcing, and honest production, from design in Ghent to production in Kemmel and Wevelgem. The final finalist is Slabbinck of Bruges, which makes ecclesiastical apparel and accessories. The winner will be announced on 22 June. \ AH

1.3 million still haven’t registered SIM card © Ingimage

pocket money, what it means to have a loan, to save money and to manage a budget.” The Flemish participants also scored well on tests concerning financial knowledge, which included questions on banking, invoices and insurance. Flanders was in second place in the ranking of 15 regions taking part. However, 12% did not have a sufficiently high level of knowledge, and Crevits wants to improve that by making financial literacy part of the basic literacy attainment for every student. \ AF

More than 1.3 million Belgians will see their mobile phone service cut off unless they register their prepaid cards before 7 June. With the measure, the government hopes to put an end to the use of anonymous SIM cards as part of the fight against terrorism. From 7 June, all phone cards must be registered under the user’s name. Mobile operators will at the same time block all anonymous SIM cards. Customers have received multiple notices about the change over the last few months. Yet one in three has not yet registered, said telecoms minister Alexander De Croo.

While some members of parliament believe that the minister should give the customers more time, De Croo disagrees. “People have known about this measure for a long time,” he said, adding that “there is no reason to panic. It’s not as if 1.3 million Belgians will lose their mobile numbers. I think many people are just waiting until the last minute to register.” There are several ways to register a mobile number with a prepaid card, including via the service operator’s shop or website or by recharging at a cash point. \ Robyn

Boyle

\ InnOVaTIOn

may 31, 2017

Girl power

WeeK in innovation

Brussels organisation empowers girls worldwide with digital training mari Eccles more articles by mari \ flanderstoday.eu

grEEnligHtforgirls.org

icture an engineer, a scientist or a doctor. What’s the first image that pops into your mind? Is it a man or a woman? If you see the former every time, you’re not alone. Women account for a small fraction of those employed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – the so-called Stem sectors. What’s more, they often leave the profession long before their male counterparts. A recent study found that women represent just 7% of the cyber-security workforce in Europe. Another report showed that women take up only 9% of all IT leadership roles in the world. One local organisation is trying to change that, with the help of some of the biggest names in science and technology. Greenlight4Girls, a Brussels-based project with a global reach, was founded in 2010 by Melissa Rancourt, an American engineer who was previously head of faculty at the Boston University Brussels campus. The association teams up with science and tech firms, which welcome girls between 11 and 15 years old for afternoons of interactive workshops. Rancourt founded the organisation after “a moment of frustration,” having spent more than 20 years of her life encouraging women to enter these fields. “I was far from the only one doing so,” she says, “but despite the great intentions, it wasn’t working. The percentage of women in these fields wasn’t changing; it was stagnating. I needed to take a different approach.” One evening in 2010, Rancourt sent an email to 100 people working in science and tech around the world, asking them about the essential components in encouraging girls to get into science. Since then, the

During workshops, teenage girls gain boost in confidence and learn practical skills, like creating their own electronic circuits

initiative has expanded to cover six continents and has been hosted by the likes of Nasa and Oxford University. When setting up the organisation, Rancourt drew on her own experience, recalling the “hands-on” workshops that inspired her as a youngster. It is this element that remains a consistent feature of a Greenlight4Girls afternoon. A recent event in Diegem, Flemish Brabant – hosted by cybersecurity firm Cisco – saw the girls engage in a coding session and oneto-one “speed meet” sessions with employees. They also learned how to develop their own electronic circuits and took part in a videotechnology exercise based on the movie The Martian. At the end of the day, they each received a certificate as a Cisco Certified Future Engineer. According to Aurelia Takacs of Cisco, a global ambassador for Greenlight4Girls, the goal of the workshops is to make it as hands-on and as fun as possible. “We don’t want someone standing there and lecturing them,” she says. “We want to break down stereotypes that technology is boring, or

just for men.” Cisco also works with Greenlight4Girls as part of its own annual Girls Power Tech initiative, in which the company partners with local NGOs to celebrate the international Girls In ICT day. As part of the event, Cisco sent an invite to girls aged between 10 and 15 from the Association of Young Moroccans in Molenbeek. The sessions, says Takacs, have proven to be an eye-opening experience for the participants. Working with younger girls, she adds, is what makes the project so appealing. “We’veworkedwithalotwithyoungsters at university and secondary school levels, but they already have an idea of what jobs they want to do,” she explains. “It may be too late when they’re at that level, but with girls that are younger – we can still inspire them.” The age between 11 and 15 is crucial, Takacs continues, because during this period, girls’ confidence often plummets. “Wherever you are, whatever the differences are, the issues around girls are the same – they feel like they are being boxed in.” Nevertheless, with a reach that

Molenbeek goes geek with digital training and creative hub The federal minister for the digital agenda, Alexander de Croo, has earmarked almost €20 million to teach children and young adults the basic skills of coding and internet security. The Digital Belgium Skills Fund focuses on youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds, including the Brussels municipality of Molenbeek. Last year, the community received €500,000 from the fund. “We used that funding to establish an ecosystem that didn’t exist here,” says Ibrahim Ouassari, who organises technology-related events in Molenbeek. In 2015, he founded MolenGeek. “Before that there was nothing here to make computer and internet technologies and innovation accessible to young people from lowerincome neighbourhoods,” he says. “We are very proud to have inspired many initiatives that are emerging now, and to see that we really started a tech movement that addresses the specific needs of certain neighbourhoods.” Today, MolenGeek is a creative space and open workspace where young people can work on their projects, exchange ideas and be challenged. The

core of the project is a coding school where youngsters learn to code and program. Each course generally takes six months and transforms jobseeking young adults between 18 and 25 years old into web and mobile developers. Ouassari, who dropped out of secondary school, is a self-taught programmer, coder and web developer. He likes to say that MolenGeek helps disadvantaged and disillusioned to “hack the system”. “For the majority of jobs you need the right diploma, the right references and sometimes even the right name,” he explains. “These things are of

stretches from Brussels to Lagos and New Delhi, local contexts are important, she says, and girls of all backgrounds are welcome. “There are common themes, but we look at what’s going on in a specific place.” In Belgium, this can be as simple as making sure that events cater to Brussels’ French- and Dutchspeaking populations, as they did at Cisco’s event. In more impoverished areas, the teams provide lunch. Rancourt has found that all of the girls share a lack of self-confidence, even in places like San Francisco, home to Silicon Valley. Over time, she became encouraged again by seeing how quickly the mentality changes. “It’s amazing how much you can achieve in a short period of time,” she says. “At a recent event in Belgium, we asked how many of the girls had been to one of our events before. Half the hands were in the air.” And while the enthusiasm of these returnees is hard to beat, some of the best feedback has come from their parents. Rancourt has received emails from mums and dads who told her they couldn’t get their daughters to take off their lab coats. With growing interest, Greenlight4Girls has been able to fund a scholarship programme that provides university-level education in Stem fields to girls in impoverished areas. As for future plans, Rancourt says she’s always happy for more companies to get in touch. She’s currently in talks with Nokia about organising a workshop in Antwerp. For all her aspirations, Rancourt is thrilled with what Greenlight4Girls has achieved so far, from seeing how quickly girls defy stereotypes to helping them – quite literally in the case of Nasa – reach for the stars.

molEngEEk.com

little importance at MolenGeek.” Just don’t go calling it a coding or programming workshop. MolenGeek, he adds, is much more than that. “Our students receive an intensive training in coding, project management and entrepreneurship, while working on real cases provided by customers, public administrations and private companies.” Everything they learn, he continues, “they learn by doing. With this methodology we can guarantee useful and relevant training, which immediately prepares them for a job or an entrepreneurial activity by working on their own start-up ideas.” Background in computer and ICT is not necessary. “Motivation is more important than a skill set,” Oussari says. “Our preselection is based on motivation, because everything else can be learned.” He does recognise, however, that more work needs to be done to improve mainstream education, before young people can recognise the value of digital training. But once that’s done – and done well – the young people, he says, come out filled with energy and motivation. “The potential is there, we just need to activate it.” \ Senne Starckx

Coma expert wins Belgian nobel Prize

Flemish neurologist Steven Laureys has won this year’s Francqui Prize – dubbed the Belgian Nobel Prize for science. Laureys, who lives in Hoeilaart, Flemish Brabant and is part of the Coma Science Group at the University of Liège, has published several books on the subject of coma and consciousness and won numerous prizes, including the William James Prize from the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness and the Young Investigator Award from the Cognitive Neuroscience Society. His research has shown that no less than 40% of the patients who live in a “vegetative state” following a coma actually possess minimal consciousness. They can still feel emotions, according to Laureys, and suffer pain.

Bacteria cream tackles spots

YUN Probiotherapy in Niel, Antwerp province, has developed a skin cream containing bacteria cultivated at Antwerp University to treat spots. The cream removes spots in a more natural way than well-known brands or antibiotics. “Those remove all bacteria from your face – the bad ones but also the good bacteria, which means there is little natural defence left,” YUN Probiotherapy CEO Tom Verlinden told Het Nieuwsblad. The new cream spreads good bacteria with a positive function, so that unwanted bacteria are “overgrown”. Every time the cream is used, about one billion bacteria get to work on the spots.

Blood test to diagnose burn-out

Researchers at the University of Leuven are working on a blood test that can define whether someone is suffering from burn-out. The blood test should make it easier to distinguish the condition from depression, which has similar symptoms but requires different treatment. The researchers focus on two sorts of genes: a group that plays a role in stress reactions and a group that influences mood and behaviour. The researchers will now run additional tests to examine if DNA taken from the blood can be used as a substitute for brain cells. They are confident that such a blood marker would be more effective at diagnosing the disorder than determining the condition on the basis of a list of questions and symptoms. \ Andy Furniere

\ eDUCaTIOn

may 31, 2017

Mechelen’s Mad Men

WeeK in education

Pop-up agency gives students a taste of the real world of advertising ian mundell follow Ian on Twitter \ @Ianmundell

goudHaan.Eu

he Goudhaan advertising agency only started up on 15 May, and by 21 June it will be closed. But this pop-up still aims to make a difference, both for its clients and the aspiring creatives and account managers working there. The agency is the final project of students of the Belgian Advertising School, a year-long postgraduate programme devised by industry insiders and hosted by Thomas More University College in Mechelen. Each year the programme takes 25 students with a range of educational backgrounds who are driven to get into advertising. The programme was founded by advertising consultant and strategist Koen Thewissen. “He felt that the gap between school life and work life was too big,” explains Sofie Papen, one of Goudhaan’s account managers. “And this is a very practical programme; it really helps to build up your experience and knowledge about how the advertising world works.” The programme begins with a nineweek boot camp, with students visiting agencies to find out about different aspects of life and work in the industry. And each week, in small groups, they prepare and pitch a new project. After that they spend five months on internships with agencies around the country. Finally they have to do something for themselves, such as set up and run their own agency. “We invented the name, the concept, we found the location – we basically decide everything ourselves,” says Emily Michiels, a

copywriter with Goudhaan. The concept is that the agency spans the generations. “Goudhaan means upcoming talents in Dutch, and that’s what we are,” she explains. “We’re ‘millennials’, so we are fresh and young and ready to get at it, but the thing we are missing is experience. So we went looking for professionals in the industry to support us.” So alongside the youngsters in Goudhaan there are 14 people with least 25 years of experience in the sector who can act as an inspiration and as quality control. Yet these veterans also have problems with the industry. “If you are not in a management function by around 40 you get pushed out because you get too expensive, and they want the young fresh minds,” says Michiels. “And that’s ironic, because we are the young fresh minds, yet we don’t have enough experience to get in.” The students have backed up this observation with research on

the age profile of people working in advertising in Flanders and Brussels. Said to be shocking, the results should be released in the coming weeks. “We wanted to talk about that problem and, with our pop-up, to get those people involved again and show their worth, because they are of great value to us,” says Michiels. Then there are the clients. The biggest is Anderlecht football club, where Goudhaan is working on a complete rebranding for its ketjes club, aimed at kids from four to 12. “Right now we are doing everything from the logo to the subscription methods, and the entire website,” says Papen. Also in Anderlecht, the agency is working on a strategy to help the Abattoir market boost visitors across the whole weekend, rather than the bump it currently has on Sundays. And for waste-busting organisation Mooimakers, Goudhaan is thinking of ways to get

Social entrepreneurs focus of new VUB support platform With a constantly shifting political landscape, today’s Europe is increasingly unpredictable. Some Flemish education experts and business organisation have pointed to the need to encourage a sense of autonomy and entrepreneurship in young people. This, they say, would allow them to bring their own solutions to the table. With that in mind, the Free University of Brussels (VUB) has launched the new Platform for Social Entrepreneurs. The online platform enables entrepreneurs to crowdfund their projects and receive financial and practical support from the public for a period of one year. The new project is an initiative of the VUB Chair of Social Entrepreneurship, with help from founding partners Euroclear, a Brussels-based cross-border risk management firm; Close the Gap, a Brussels non-profit that aims to close the digital divide between developing and developed countries; and ICT consultants Wolters Kluwer. “Our societies face several sustainability issues that are not yet being addressed properly by the government, businesses or other institutions,” says professor Nikolay Dentchev, current chair holder. Passionate social entrepreneurs are constantly

The launch of the Platform for social entrepreneurs earlier this month at VUB

looking for ways to improve the world, he says, “but they are confronted with a lack of resources, funding and business and managerial knowhow”. The platform just launched this month and currently hosts four projects. Projects have their own dedicated page, with a description of the targets, the funding required and contact information for the entrepreneurs behind it. Dentchev, a professor in entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility, notes that the whole VUB community is in favour of supporting social entrepreneurship. “The platform perfectly

teens involved. “For some reason it’s not cool to recycle at that age,” says Papen. “Before and after it’s no problem, but from 12 to 18 they just hate it, so we are trying to change that.” Other clients include the Fun toy and party stores, fundraising organisation SOS Kinderdorpen, and fabric entrepreneur Lotte Martens. While six weeks is not such a long time, Goudhaan can still do a lot for its clients. “We can have teams that are fully focused on one client, so we can do a lot in one day,” says Papen. But they also know their limitations, stopping short of the production work and media placement a permanent agency might do. Unlike the internships, which the students do without pay, their work at Goudhaan earns real money. Half the agency’s revenue goes to the school, where it forms a fund for the following year, and half is shared between the 25 students. It isn’t a fortune, but the recognition is important. “We are students, but we are doing the work and working very professionally,” says Michiels. As for the future, Michiels has already found a job with De Vloer, the advertising agency in Antwerp where she did her internship. Papen, meanwhile, has changed direction a little after her internship as an account executive. “I realised along the way that I would love to start as a producer or product manager, so I’m looking for a job right now.” Prospective students for the next intake of the Belgian Advertising School have until 21 June to apply.

vuBsocialEntrEPrEnEursHiP.com

fits the institution’s values, such as social engagement, community service, openness and encouraging creativity,” he says. Many of his colleagues, students and alumni, he continues, have already expressed an interest in helping with the platform. So have several local organisations, including Ashoka Belgium, a network of social entrepreneurs, and The Shift, which supports sustainability efforts. “The support network is growing, and we welcome new partners,” he says. The platform hopes to help social entrepreneurs to shorten the path to success for what it calls “warm-hearted projects” with a social mission. After the projects are selected, a variety of professionals coach the entrepreneurs to create a business plan and present their projects for crowdfunding on the platform. One such project is Solidare-it, which works to facilitate solidarity in communities by connecting people who need help with people who are willing to help. To achieve this, the project needs ambassadors to initiate the movement in their neighbourhoods and IT specialists to design promotional material and an app. \ Miriam Galea

Pupils win €5,000 in railway challenge

Pupils from VTI Diksmuide and VTI Torhout secondary schools in West Flanders have won the Belgian Railways Competition for Technicians to improve the operation of the railways. The national competition, organised by national rail authority NMBS and its infrastructure partner, Infrabel, targets students in the third grade of technical and professional education streams. The students at VTI Diksmuide created a concept for a system in which entrance gates on the platform and sensors on the train automatically scan a tag installed on each ticket, to measure per carriage how many passengers get on and off. The students at VTI Torhout developed a roof box with solar panels to ensure that the Infrabel vans’ batteries can be charged anytime and anywhere.

Fewer students graduate in four years

Education experts speaking to De Morgen have expressed concerns about the high costs involved with making higher education more flexible. In 2005, the bachelor’s and master’s system was reformed to rely on study credits rather than years, to allow students to work at their own pace. Government statistics show that in 2014, far fewer students completed their university or college degree in four years compared to 2012. Apart from the costs, the trend is also troubling higher education institutions because it makes it difficult for them to organise the students’ individual paths.

scholarship students less likely to succeed

According to figures released by education minister Hilde Crevits, students who attend universities or colleges in Flanders with a scholarship are far less likely to graduate than those without a scholarship. While 52% of students without a scholarship obtained a Bachelor’s degree within four years, only 38% of the students on a scholarship reached the same level. At university colleges, the figures were 48.5% and 42%, respectively. According to MP Tine Soens of SP.A, who requested the statistics, the figures indicate that students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to graduate and get a good job. The difference, according to Soens, could be attributed to how many students on a scholarship must work alongside their studies. \ Andy Furniere

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\ lIVInG

WeeK in activitieS saga of the Unicorn An annual family favourite, this festival on the grounds of a historic abbey has something for everyone: sword-fighting, storytelling, a unicorn garden, acrobats, and puppet shows. Plus creative workshops, food tastings and more. 4 June 10.00-18.00, Abdijsite Herkenrode, Herkenrodeabdij 4, Hasselt; €10 \ abdijsiteherkenrode.be

Innovation Beer Festival Brewery Hof Ten Dormaal will host 18 international brewers with a focus on new ideas and techniques. Your ticket gets you entry, eight tastings, a souvenir glass and a beer list. Workshops include beer tasting and beer-and-food pairing. 4-5 June, Sluisstraat 79, Leuven; €25 \ leuveninnovationbeerfestival.com

street Theater Festival This festival takes place on the streets of Flanders’ outdoor museum, with the historic buildings and farms as backdrop. Twenty-five professional groups and amateur companies will deliver a programme of acrobatics, comedy, folk music, theatre and puppetry. 5 June 10.00-18.00, Bokrijk Openlucht Museum, Bokrijklaan 1, Genk; €12,50 \ bokrijk.be

eco-Garden Days All across Flanders, private gardens of every kind will be open to the public – and all of them pesticide-free. Get inspiration for your own garden, or just enjoy a day out among the plants, flowers and trees. Find a garden near you via the website. 3-4 June, various locations; free \ velt.nu/ecotuindagen

Flanders Open Rugby International men’s, women’s and old boys’ teams will compete in the largest10-a-siderugbytournament in Europe. Come to cheer on your country’s team, or just to enjoy the atmosphere. Guaranteed spectacle, as well as food, drink and entertainment. 2-4 June, Van Langenhovestraat 302, Dendermonde; €14 \ flandersopenrugby.be

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Mind our language

as the use of English rises, should we fear for the dutch language? linda a thompson Follow linda on Twitter \ @ThompsonBXl

he plentiful English that Flemings use in the workplace, on social media and in lecture theatres might appear to be slowly crowding out Dutch. So many English words – from hacken to babysitten – have crept into the Dutch vocabulary that a handful of organisations have made it their mission to fight the influence of English and preserve the Dutch language culture. Johan De Caluwe’s answer to people with such existential language fears: Relax, Dutch is doing just fine. And he’s got the data to back it up. With a handful of colleagues at the Meertens Institute in the Netherlands, De Caluwe, a professor of Dutch linguistics at the University of Ghent, oversaw a large-scale study that explored the state of Dutch in Flanders and the Netherlands, the first of its kind. The study found no evidence to suggest that Dutch – spoken by 24 million people around the world and the eighth biggest language in the European Union by number of native speakers – is at risk of disappearing any time soon. “Dutch is by no means a language under threat. Dutch is assured of a future as long as so many people in Flanders continue to pass on the language to their children,” he says, noting that children born today have a life expectancy of 90 to 100 years. “So if the language dies out, that’s not something we will experience; it will be for the generation after us.” The expansive study was commissioned by the Dutch Language Union, the organisation that defends the interests of Dutchspeakers by serving as knowledge centre, think tank and policy institute, and it will be repeated every two years.

One in five master’s degrees in Flanders is currently taught in a language other than Dutch and the preference for english is having a ripple effect

It was launched in response to the worries of ordinary citizens in Flanders and the Netherlands, De Caluwe explains, noting that the Dutch Language Union regularly received complaints and letters from Dutch-speakers genuinely worried about the future of Dutch in an increasingly global world that has adopted English as its common language. “There’s a real worry, and it’s increasing,” he says. “I think everyone felt that research was needed.” The study surveyed some 6,000 people in Flanders and the Netherlands on the social settings in which they choose to speak Dutch, and those in which they choose to speak, for instance, English, Italian or Arabic – from ordering takeaway food to commenting on a Facebook thread. The study found that Dutch continues to be the main language in all the domains surveyed but that it is facing strong competi-

tion from, and sometimes even being displaced by, English in four areas: internet and social media, academic publishing, university education and popular music. According to figures from the union, 22% of master’s degrees in Flanders are currently taught in a language that’s not Dutch, and usually that language is English (separate figures for English do not exist). In the Netherlands, that figure is 66%. The preference for English in higher education is having a ripple effect, with some primary schools now offering English as a separate subject – traditionally taught only in secondary school – or teaching subjects like history or geography in English. De Caluwe isn’t against such developments. But, he warns: “This is a domain where I think public discussion is needed – to what extent do we want to go along with this bilingualism? Because I think

that is something that’s moving closer, an increasingly broader Dutch-English bilingualism.” For a professor in Dutch linguistics, De Caluwe is coolly pragmatic about the importance of the language. “I don’t have an unconditional attachment to Dutch,” he says. “What’s important for me, and for the Dutch Language Union, are the interests of language users; that they are able to do everything they want to in that language,” he says. For instance, accessing Dutch-language texts on a particular topic, or being able to read user manuals and medicine package inserts. “We have to ensure that everyone has access to information in the language they know best,” he says. “But if, over time, it just so happens that everyone also has a good level of English, as far as I’m concerned, we could do a lot of things in English.”

bite less car, more bar: ghent cafes react to new traffic plan Car-free zones in Ghent are the new norm in the city’s historic centre. The newly enacted traffic plan has met with both applause and criticism, with many raving about the eco-friendly and pedestrian-centric focus. One of the few streets lined with bars and restaurants that was full of traffic a few weeks ago is now car-free. And Oudburg is working to adpat. Oudburg is a nice stretch of cobblestoned street between the Leie canal and the medieval Paterschol neighbourhood. It’s home to countless bars and restaurants, and only residents and permit holders can access the street by car under the new traffic plan. This means there’s

now space for patrons to sit out on cafe terraces this summer. Oudbar is a cosy retro-style bar that opened just last autumn. Owner Sira Kane says the new plan has created more room for outside tables. The new large terrace faces east and catches the sun until 15.00; Kane says she hopes it will attract customers this summer. In response to the new circulation plan, bohemian-chic restaurant Mima added white wooden benchestoitsfrontterrace.According to owner Ekram Talbi, the traffic plan is a nuisance for them, and she believes it has deterred locals and tourist from making the effort to drive in to the centre and search for parking, which is now

limited. She’s not a fan and hasn’t yet noticed an increase in customers wanting to sit outside. Situated at the top of the street, Jiggers cocktail bar might be Oudburg’s most famous spot. Having been here for five years, its staff has witnessed Oudburg’s transformation to an eatery hotspot. Owner Olivier Jacobs says that two years ago it was more of a through-street and was much busier. But as the years have passed, the city has focused more on tourism, making it more pleasant. He says April was his best month for business, and he’s optimistic about the new terrace in front of his bar this summer. \ Monica

Cisneros

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may 31, 2017

Raising the bar

WeeK in artS & culture

guislain exhibition breaks the silence around mental health in prisons sally tipper Follow sally on Twitter \ @sallybtipper

musEumdrguislain.BE

hronic overcrowding in psychiatric institutions is one reason why more than one in five mentally ill offenders in Belgium ends up in prison, without full mental health care. Many have committedcrimes forwhichtheyare not considered legally responsible due to psychiatric conditions, leading to lengthier incarceration. Since 1998, the situation has been officially condemned 23 times by the European Court of Human Rights. But things are improving. The number of such vulnerable people being held in prisons has gone down from 1,000 a year ago to just over 700 now, and a law came into effect last year providing for more humane treatment of people in this position. A major new centre is due to open in Antwerp, and there have been significant political breakthroughs. The new law was the inspiration for the latest exhibition at Ghent’s Museum Dr Guislain, which is housed in a former asylum and focuses on mental health issues in its temporary and permanent shows. “This is an important political moment, and things are changing,” says Patrick Allegaert, the museum’s artistic director. “There are fewer people in prison and more in psychiatric institutions. It’s a very positive evolution.” Historically, Belgium has been relatively progressive in its attitude towards – and treatment of – mental health, but this is a difficult issue. It’s at the intersection of justice and public health, the ministers for which are frequently from different political parties. (Un)treated is a mixture of original photography, video, archive documents and outsider art. More than an indictment of an unacceptable situation, it also highlights positive change. Ministers Maggie De Block

(health) and Koen Geens (justice) were both at the opening of the exhibition, and say they are committed to resolving the problem. The first exhibit is based on the life of Piet van Haut, a notorious Flemish fraudster. Newspaper articles are plastered all over a wall, and a video interview plays. “We wanted to show this man’s personal story,” explains curator Yoon-Hee Lamot. “He speaks about how lonely he is, his childhood, how he buys friendship. He talks about how when he flies, he buys chocolate to give to the crew so they’ll be nice to him.” Van Haut was considered not responsible for his actions by reason of mental illness and was interned. He has since been released and regularly visits other detainees. Filmmaker Ellen Vermeulen made a documentary for the exhibition, called 9999. It refers to the year of expected release written on a person’s documents when they’re committed. In other words: never. It’s full of long, silent shots of bare rooms, of washed-out clothes and complexions. In one lingering offwhite frame, your eyes adjust until it becomes clear you’re staring at a wall, just like the people living there. It screams monotony, tedium, isola-

tion. “There’s no dialogue, only background noise,” says Lamot. “It’s just about being confronted with yourself the whole time. Waiting.” Allegaert: “Waiting for nothing.” Next is a section of outsider art – work by self-taught artists; typically psychiatric patients and children – by inmates held either in prison or in a psychiatric centre, and a place to sit and listen to recordings from Radio Begijnenstraat, which invites men detained in Antwerp prison to make a radio show using fictional and real-life stories, texts and music. The museum hopes to organise a live broadcast from the exhibition shortly. In each section of the exhibition, and continuing in the courtyard outside, there are black and white photos by award-winning photographer Sébastien Van Malleghem, whose work deals with marginalisation and failure. Many of the photos were taken in psychiatric institutions where he spent several days. A recent evolution in care for mentally ill offenders is the establishment of a forensic psychiatric centre in Ghent, which holds more than 250 people; a second is due to open soon in Antwerp. These

are high-security institutions that provide tailor-made care in a clinical setting, with the aim of returning people to society. Psychiatric problems vary widely and include personality disorder, psychotic conditions, anxiety and depression, drug and alcohol addiction and sexual offences. There are also pathways of secure units and homes providing care for medium-risk patients. One such unit is in Leuven, and is home to a man called Leonart, who is filmed talking about his situation in the final exhibit. “Leonart killed someone, and was recently moved from prison to longstay sheltered housing after more than 20 years,” Allegaert says. “He knows he will have to live there for the rest of his days, but he’s happy there.” It’s a relatively new development, he continues, “and politicians increasingly want to get people with psychiatric illnesses out of the prison system and into psychiatric care, or specialised centres like this. The policy now is that prison is not the right environment for these people and they need treatment.” Whether the perpetrator is of sound mind or not, their acts nevertheless have victims, who recently gained the possibility to have their voices heard. When a court is deciding if an interned person still presents a risk, the victims’ concerns are taken into account. One wall of the show is covered in letters from victims and their families explaining the impact on their lives. Some are forgiving, others less so. But the final word goes to Leonart. “What would I advise to other interned people? Don’t despair. I am convinced there will be other long-stay centres established in the future and you’ll be out of prison. The system is changing.”

€2.4 million for Stuk renovation in Leuven Flemish culture minister Sven Gatz has approved a budget of €2.4 million for the Fund for Culture Infrastructure to carry out a major renovation of the Stuk cultural centre in Leuven. The project is also supported by the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) and the city council, which together are providing an additional €750,000. Stuk is one of Leuven’s two main cultural venues. It hosts stage performance, exhibitions, concerts, film screens and festivals, in addition to lectures, readings and workshops both for artists and for the public. Since arriving at its current home in 2002, the centre has experienced spectacular growth and now sees 100,000 visitors a year. More than 150 artists have been offered residencies there.

The cafe terrace at stuk

Stuk was founded in 1977 on KU Leuven’s social sciences campus. The original name, ‘t Stuc, was an abbreviation of Student Centre. Almost immediately, it became a crucial space in helping artists to launch their careers, with a list that includes polymath Jan Fabre,

playwrights and stage directors Jan Decorte and Guy Cassiers and dancer and choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. Stuk’s current building on Naamsestraat has multiple spaces for performances, rehearsals and lectures, including a cafe, cinema, audi-

stuk.BE

torium and the Soetezaal theatre, which seats some 220 people. The renovations will take place in both indoor and outdoor space and include new flooring and toilets and improvements to seating in the Soetezaal as well as to disabled access. More sustainable insulation will be installed and other improvements to energy efficiency will be made. “This arts centre is an important place for creation and the development of new talent,” Gatz said in a statement. “Over the last few years, Stuk has seen a major evolution and now reaches a broad audience. The renovations are essential to allow further growth. Once they are completed, this place will provide new contemporary opportunities for both artists and the public.”

Opera Vlaanderen director to head up Geneva opera

Aviel Cahn, director of Opera Vlaanderen since 2009, is leaving the post to become director-general of the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Switzerland’s largest opera house. Cahn is a Swiss national and will take up the post at the end of his term with the opera in 2019. Like Opera Vlaanderen, Geneva’s opera is a fusion of an opera and ballet and has its own chorus. Cahn is credited for ushering Opera Vlaanderen into a new era of innovative and creative productions of both traditional and modern operas, with a slew of awards and critical recognition received over the last eight years. His successor will be announced this summer, Opera Vlaanderen said. \ operaballet.be

VUB honours scientist and author

Jan Terlouw, the Dutch author of books for young adults, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Free University of Brussels (VUB) last week for his success at breaking down boundaries between literature and science. Terlouw is also a physicist and former politician. His latest work, Het hebzuchtgas (The Greed Gas), deals with climate change. VUB also bestowed honorary doctorates to three American and one Dutch scientist as part of the title Break Down the Walls.

Pukkelpop new partner for south african festival Flemish summer rock and pop music festival Pukkelpop in Hasselt has become a partner of the Oppikoppi music festival in Northam, South Africa. The festivals have worked together before on an exchange programme of artists but had lost touch over the last 10 years. Now their co-operation has been formalised under the name Matchbox Live and also includes other South African concerns as well as Flemish entrepreneurs Pieter Goiris and Werner Camps (of Leuven-based communications agency Boondoggle). Oppikoppi takes places in South Africa’s Limpopo province every October and attracts about 20,000 people a year. It is a mixed music festival of local and international bands performing everything from rock to jazz to hip-hop. Pukkelpop, meanwhile, takes place from 16-19 August. \ facebook.com/pg/ oppikoppifestival

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Love letters

flemish author’s debut novel tackles love in the modern age rebecca Benoot more articles by Rebecca \ flanderstoday.eu

Zita Theunynck has taken lessons learned in her day job as a copywriter to create a first novel that has won her admirers in high places.

be able to do it’.” The novel is set in Antwerp, for the most part, and the city’s essence flows through the veins of the story. “I never set out to write about Antwerp; it simply happened,” says Theunynck. “I wanted it to feel real and be relatable to readers.” She initially created fictional locations, she says, “but I realised that when I was writing that I was using specific places in my head. So that’s when I decided to incorporate Antwerp”.

ita Theunynck loves words. While working as a copywriter, she contributes to online magazine Charlie and runs Emoshit, a blog on which she and her sister ponder life. A week after she released her debut novel, she was already working on her second. But it took her a while get into writing, she says. “In secondary school I wrote terrible essays, but I liked it so much that I worked on it and got better,” she says. “I read a lot, but I never thought I’d be able to write a novel.” On sentence from her father, though, provided the encouragement to try. “He looked up from his newspaper while we were having breakfast and said: ‘Someday you’ll write a novel.’ And then just carried on reading. I guess it stuck with me.” The 27-year-old Antwerpenaar says she’s learned a lot about composing prose through her job: “How to get to the point and entertain people.” Het wordt spectaculair. Beloofd (It’s Going to be Spectacular. I Promise) begins with a woman, Anna, standing on a station platform in France. She is inconsolable as the train rushes past because she has mistakenly left a book on it stuffed with 23 letters from her boyfriend. It’s the story of two people and their journey to reunite, a premise that isn’t completely fictional, Theunynck explains. “I went on a Erasmus exchange seven years ago, and my boyfriend had written me letters, and I indeed left them

emotions and charismatic characters are authentic. It’s a love story, but not the kind you expect. The story flows like a river, sometimes smooth and sometimes racing, and even touched the heart of one of Flanders’ most “macho” authors, Herman Brusselmans. “I contacted writers who write in the same genre to get a quote for the book,” Theunynck explains, “as I’m often influenced by author’s quotes on the back of novels.” Many of the writers she contacted

I read the Flemish classics, but in this day and age, there aren’t a lot of new young voices in Flemish literature

in a book on the train. I cried terribly.” But the rest of the story, she says, is fiction. “This event had such an impact on me, I just had to do something with it.” After three years of writing, the novel was born. She enjoyed the writing process, because it was something

completely different and all her own. And she didn’t tell anyone she was writing a book. “I had days when I thought: What am I doing? Is anyone ever going to read this? It’s not easy to create a 300-page narrative. But ultimately I thought, why not? To quote Pippi Longstocking: ‘I’ve never tried that before, so I think I should definitely

Het wordt spectaculair is staunchly contemporary, not just because of its refreshing twist on a classic love story, but also because it incorporates present-day media and communications. “I read the Flemish classics, but in this day and age, there aren’t a lot of young new voices in Flemish literature,” Theunynck says. “I love to read, but there’s little for young people to relate to in our contemporary fiction. So I wanted to make my novel appealing to a new generation.” She read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green while she was writing, she says, “and he also uses texting and so on in his novel. It just makes the story more real and relatable”. While Het wordt spectaculair is a light and entertaining read, the

were too busy to read the novel and provide something in a timely matter, so she expanded her reach. “I thought I would send it to Herman Brusselmans. Even if he says it’s a crap novel for emotional women, it would at least be a statement!” And Brusselmans took the time, penning: “Writing a good novel is like crossing a swamp on a surfboard, like sailing down Veldstraat in a canoe, like seeing the sun up close from inside a black hole. With her debut novel, Zita Theunynck has found the surfboard, discovered the canoe, and seen the sun.” Het wordt spectaculair. Beloofd ) is published in Dutch by ( Vrijdag

More neW booKS thiS WeeK de verlossing (the salvation) • Willem Elsschot (Polis) Willem Elsschot is hailed as one of Flanders’ greatest authors. He was born 135 years ago this year, and part of his oeuvre has been reissued. His novels are filled with compassion and humour despite their frequent bleak circumstances. De verlossing describes the relentless battle between socialist freedom fighter Pol van Domburg and the local clergy. An eloquently written satire by one of Flanders’ finest. Het lijk in de boomgaard (the Corpse in the Orchard) • Geert van istendael (Houtekiet) At 70, author, poet and journalist Geert van Istendael proves it’s never too late to try something new and has published his first

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thriller. A body is found in an orchard in Brussels; the victim’s throat has been cut and there are no signs of the murder weapon. The investigation leads detectives into the capital’s criminal underbelly, where all bets are off. A dark and somewhat predictable whodunit set in the heart of Belgium. Mazzel Tov • Margot vanderstraeten (atlas contact) Author Margot Vanderstraeten has ventured into the world of non-fiction with this book based on her experiences as a tutor for the children of an orthodox Jewish family in Antwerp. Daughter Elzira and son Jakov introduce her to their world of the 1990s. Religious laws and timeless tradition are in conflict with the thoughts of

Flemish students who ponder the duality between and ancient culture and modern life. Vanderstraeten gives us an interesting peek inside a sheltered community. Bella • Joost Vandecasteele & jeroen los (lebowski) Author Joost Vandecasteele and illustrator Jeroen Los have created a wildly imaginative graphic novel that mixes Vandecasteele’s literary musings with stand-up comedy and science fiction. A larger-thanlife tale of a girl born in the Great Doubt, Bella explores the galaxy and all the wacky creatures that inhabit it. Bold, bright and original, Bella is a unique reading experience by one of Flanders’ most provocative authors.

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may 31, 2017

No words

concert

Encounters until 20 august

antwerp

mas, antwerp mas.BE

rt often sticks to discrete forms such as painting, sculpture or dance, and it’s rare to see them combined. But Encounters at Antwerp’s MAS museum does just that. The show sets a selection of esoteric artworks against a team of dancers who liven up the exhibition space. Encounters is a collaboration between MAS and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), currently closed for renovations. Curated by KMSKA’s Paul Vandenbroeck, it features nearly 100 paintings, sculptures, tapestries and audio-visual works dating from 6000 BC to the present day. Flemish choreographer and dancer Pé Vermeersch has gathered together a team of international dancers to perform in the exhibition space. Their role is to act as intermediaries and create a link between the visitor, the artworks and time itself. To minimise distractions, there are no explanatory panels next to the art – just a simple number.

A booklet gives you more information – but, intriguingly, not why the artwork was selected.

The dancers are also wordless throughout their performance, which runs continuously for three hours, four days a week. The dance process itself is a work of art in the making, so it is probably unfair to judge it on a 30-minute sample at the beginning of a threemonth run. However, for this visitor, the dancers proved to be more of an annoying distraction than interpreters of art. Also missing was a relationship between the works selected and the venue. What do they have to do with Antwerp, why are they here? But that dissonance is compelling in itself; I can’t get this exhibition out of my head. It did force me to consider each work individually, and I will be back to see how the dance develops over the summer. \ Dan Smith

viSual artS

MuSic FeStival

Beauty of the Beast

Ezperando

until 15 october Artists have taken inspiration from the animal world since their earliest days of cave painting. Beauty of the Beast charts the changing representation of animals in Flemish art across the most recent half-millennium. The exhibition pairs selected works from the permanent collection of Antwerp’s Royal MuseumofFineArtswith their contemporary counterparts. Paintings and sculptures from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries are confronted by mixed media, installation and performance art from the 20th and 21st centuries.

Ursel Castle, knesselare kastEEldursEl.BE

Golden age painters like Frans Snijders and Paul de Vos rub shoulders here with the likes of Wim Delvoye and Koen Vanmechelen. \ Georgio Valentino

4-10 june Antwerp’s Zonzo Compagnie has been introducing young audiences to experimental music for years. Its original multimedia production Slumberland won a Music Theatre NOW prize on its premiere in 2015. Now the filmconcertexperiencereturnstothestage to delight youngsters aged six and up. An exploration of the weird and wonderful world of dreams, Slumberland features film elements by Flemish director Nathalie Teirlinck and a powerful musical score composed and performed live by Flemish pianist An Pierlé and Dutch multi-instrumentalist Fulco Ottervanger. The music has proven so compelling that it was recently released as a stand-alone CD by Zonzo’s own imprint Zonzo Records. \ GV

Music festivals may be big business, but Ezperando puts people over profit. The free world music extravaganza is put on by a coalition of development organisations and benefits international efforts to bridge the divide between global North and South. Festival highlights include Middle Eastern dance ensemble Fata Murgana, Nige-

\ trixonline.be

claSSical Brussels

Concertini: Musicians from De Munt Symphony Orchestra perform in small ensembles, allowing for close, congenial contact with the music and the performers. 2, 9 & 16 June 12.30, KVS, Arduinkaai 7 \ kvs.be

circuS Bruges

Het Breeven, Bornem EZPErando.BE

rian-Italian reggae singer Raphael and Flemish dancehall group the Soul Shakers. There are also workshops, family-friendly games, global cuisine and an international market. Ezperando also promotes sustainability in all its forms, from fair-trade products to recyclable containers to waste-free catering. The festival even boasts composting toilets. \ GV

Chinese National Circus: Some of the world’s best acrobats present their latest show, The Grand Hong Kong Hotel, filled with Asian poetry, humour and amazing physical stunts. 3 June 20.00, Concertgebouw, Het Zand 34 \ concertgebouw.be

viSual artS Ghent

Verlust der Mitte: Exhibition featuring art from Smak’s permanent collection, including works by Cobra artists, members of the Young Belgian Painting group and the museum’s three key artists, Joseph Beuys, Marcel Broodthaers and Panamarenko. Until 27 August, SMAK, Jan Hoetplein 1 \ smak.be

FaMily slumberland

4 june

Amanda Palmer: The American singer-songwriter from the Boston musical duo The Dresden Dolls performs together with Edward Ka-Spel, founding member of The Legendary Pink Dots. 9 June 19.30, Trix, Noordersingel 28-30

claSSical

Het paleis, antwerp Vooruit, Ghent ZonZocomPagniE.BE

QEc laureate concerts 7-13 june Every year the Queen Elisabeth Competition showcases a new class of young musicians from around the world. Today’s laureates are destined to become the headliners of tomorrow’s classical music scene. Each edition is devoted to a different instrument. This year is all about the cello. Although the public final rounds and closing concert are already sold out, there remain tickets to a handful of laureates’ recitals (7-9 June) and a laureates’ concert (13 June). There are also a slew of tour dates across Flanders until the end of June. \ GV

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literature ets no w

Flagey and Bozar, Brussels QEimc.BE

Brussels

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Suzanne Vega: A couple of hours before her concert at Ancienne Belgique, the American singer-songwriter and guitarist talks about the life and work of her literary idol, cult writer Carson McCullers, and her own creative process (in English). 12 June 18.00, Passa Porta \ passaporta.be

Food & drinK eeklo

Meetjesland Cafédag: Local cafes come together at Eeklo’s oldest farm for a day of fun for all ages, featuring an aperitif concert, folk games, breadbaking demonstration and live music. 5 June 11.00-18.00, Huysmanhoeve, Bus 1

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may 31 , 2017

Talking Dutch

voiceS oF FlanderS today

can someone please turn out the lights? derek Blyth more articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

Mike Jarrey: I’ve read pretty much every issue from front to back since I moved to Belgium 6 years ago. All our UK visitors enjoy reading it too. Your reach goes far beyond the expats in Belgium...

aarom is ons land zo helder? – Why is our country so bright? De Morgen asked in a recent article. Hele wereld gefascineerd door Belgische voorliefde voor licht – The whole world is fascinated by Belgium’s enthusiasm for light. It all started a few weeks ago when French astronaut Thomas Pesquet posted a photograph on his Facebook page. Taken from the International Space Station, it showed Europe at night. Pesquet added a comment below the photo saying Belgium clearly distinguishes itself, as usual. And the internet went crazy. De foto’s lokten tienduizenden reacties uit op Facebook – The photos sparked off tens of thousands of responses on Facebook, De Morgen said, en buitenlandse media, van de BBC tot The New York Times – and international media, from the BBC to the New York Times bogen zich over de vraag waarom ons land zo helder is – asked themselves why our country is so bright. So what made Belgium glow so brightly compared to other aeas on earth? Buitenlandse media werpen een licht – The foreign press shed some light op de bron van de lichtvervuiling – on the source of the light pollution. Het dichte wegennetwerk in het land – The country’s dense road network is bijna volledig verlicht – is almost totally lit up, en de lichten blijven de hele nacht aan – and the lights stay on all night long, the BBC reported. The New York Times then came up with some hard figures. Het land gebruikt ongeveer 2,2 miljoen lampen – The country uses roughly 2.2 million lightbulbs om de wegen te verlichten – to light up its roads. Dat zijn 186 lampen per vierkante mijl – That works out to 186 lights per square mile. The comments were far from positive. Wat een verspilling – What a waste, someone said. Ik hoop dat de Belgen stop-

In response to: Our days are numbered: Flanders Today contract cancelled Stijn Swinnen: Absolutely sad. You are one of the few Flemish sources I do like to read. Hope you can keep on going because this audit is wrong about one thing: this other source is not nearly as interesting as you are.

pen met hun wegen zo te verlichten – I hope the Belgians stop lighting up the highways this way, someone else added, als ze niet willen dat buitenaardse wezens er landen – unless they want aliens from outer space to land. But the Agentschap Wegen en Verkeer – the Flemish Road Traffic Agency – was quick to defend itself. We stralen inderdaad nog – It’s true that we shine out, maar toch minder dan vroeger – but it’s less than before. In 2011 al – Back in 2011 doofde toenmalige minister van Openbare Werken Crevits de verlichting – the then minister for public works [Hilde] Crevits turned out the lights op de snelwegen en geweestwegen tussen middernacht en 6 uur – on motorways and regional highways between midnight and 6.00. Still, the Bond Beter Leefmilieu is calling for less street lighting. Bij de mens leidt lichtvervuiling tot slaapstoornissen – Light pollution leads to sleep disorders in humans. En dieren krijgen last – And animals suffer van een ontregelde winterslaap – because of disrupted winter hibernation. It seems Belgium needs to dim the lights.

PHoto of tHE wEEk

In response to: Brussels food shop spreads organic, seasonal gospel Liliana Bordeianu: Overall a great initiative and hope to see more of these in the future! In response to: Molenbeek goes geek with digital training and creative hub Alexander Ivantchev: Truly inspiring! S. Pretzer @spretzer Flanders Today may be the only non-US news I follow regularly. I’d definitely miss it. #saveflanderstoday Jeremy Banning @jbanningww1 No better way to see the battlefields than by bike. If you fancy doing this then get in touch. #cycling #bike #ww1 #Ypres #Flanders

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the laSt Word music madness

“I think it’s going to be really tough, but I’m not complaining.”

Yanni Kalala, 20, will be covering 33 festivals in Belgium this summer for Studio Brussel, as well as separate concerts by U2 and Coldplay

small effort

“Sorry, but there’s a rubbish bin every 200 metres on our seafront. Is it really so difficult to bring your trash from the beach and throw it away?”

party at the palace staff at the palace in Brussels prepare for a royal reception to mark the visit of Us president Donald Trump, who was in the capital to meet nato leaders at the organisation’s new headquarters

An exasperated Johan Vande Lanotte, mayor of Ostend, following the pile of litter created by half a million day-trippers during the long holiday weekend

Pennies from heaven

“We get €4,000 from the government to hold three exhibitions a year. It’s sometimes a question of scraping the means together to make ends meet.”

The museum in Mol dedicated to the little-known artist Jakob Smits is the lucky beneficiary of the estate of Ronald Luyten of Herentals, worth a cool million euros

throwdown

“I’m surprised that the person who assaulted me in that way is still active at the top levels of judo.”

Flemish Olympic medallist Ann Simons has begun a campaign to represent the one in five female judokas who research shows is subject to sexual harassment by coaches

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