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The emergence of European-wide circular city agendas calls attention to the integration of circular economy (CE) policies in urban development trajectories. In post-industrial contexts like the Brussels Capital Region (BE), land scarcity and industrial gentrification pose significant challenges for emerging circular activities that do not conform to traditional economic valuation criteria. This article highlights the significance of land as a central resource and contested means for circularity transitions through qualitative research on cases of urban circular economy hubs. We propose a spatial approach for investigating these spaces, examining the influence of regional territorial policies, land value dynamics and the planning system. Resulting from these interplays are diverse forms of circular spatial experimentation, manifesting in three local pathways (i.e. anchoring, transitory and transformative). Public versus private land ownership, stakeholder expectations, and the dual role of public institutions are the primary drivers affecting the durability and socio-economic orientation of circular economy hubs in the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the challenges to international negotiation processes in a world where attempts have been made to create order, but, at present, disorder is on the rise again. Several historical cases are analyzed and compared to detect both positive and negative factors influencing the utility of negotiation processes as an instrument of conflict management and international governance. How has mankind managed to use negotiation as an alternative to warfare? What are the conditions for negotiation effectiveness? What is the utility of negotiation if the context is not ripe for solving problems in a peaceful way? What does history tell us about the ways to deal with interstate wars in the 21st century? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pieter Van Hees's Waste Land (2014) situates Belgian national anxiety in the country's White supremacist past and present, both of which milieux are shared by its language communities. The film suggests, perhaps in spite of itself, that the claim by Brussels to be a centre of power is ethnically, as well as ethically, problematic. It breaks a taboo in confronting Belgium's colonial past, on the eve of the 150th anniversary of Leopold II's accession (1865). Yet, it ultimately reproduces the economy of the racialized system it tries to critique, becoming particularly problematic from the point of view of Black women. The ineffability of spatial spectacle would betray the way in which its protagonist's narrative is 'mapped' onto the space of Brussels, with the character's breakdown – hence, a failed attempt at constructing his own narrative, at mapping his life in Brussels – bearing further unintentional testimony to the city's abject history beneath it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Целью настоящего исследования является изучение реализации концептуальной сущности топонима Брюссель в современном британском общественно-политическом дискурсе (ОПД). Материалом исследования послужили тексты британских медиа и национального корпуса британского английского языка (British National Corpora (BNC)), отобранные методом случайной выборки. Актуальность данного исследования обусловлена факторами текущей ситуации в мировой политике, а также лингвистическими факторами, обусловливающими формирование взглядов на Европейскую политику со стороны разных национальных дискурсов, в частности, британского общественно-политического дискурса. В ходе качественного контент-анализа изучалась реализация репрезентации топонима-концепта «Брюссель» в британском ОПД. На следующем этапе осуществлялся квантитативный анализ выявленных типов интерпретации с целью определения коннотативного аспекта изучаемого концепта в общественно-политическом дискурсе Великобритании. Сделан вывод о том, что на современном этапе в британском ОПД присутствуют традиционные когнитивные метафоры: «Артефактная метафора», «Социоморфная метафора», «Антропоморфная метафора», «Персонификация», «Природоморфная метафора»; а также, «метафора Пространства». Установлено, что в ОПД Британии преобладает отрицательная коннотация, которая выражает отношение к Брюсселю как врагу, сопернику, конкуренту.

Целью данной статьи является изучение коннотаций топонима Брюссель сквозь призму когнитивной метафоры в современном общественно-политическом дискурсе (ОПД) Германии. Материал исследования – Корпус Цифрового словаря немецкого языка (Korpora im Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache) (DWDS) [17], а также ряд газет и информационных порталов Германии таких, как «Spiegel» [21] или «Tagesshau» [31].Актуальность исследования обусловлена факторами текущей ситуации в мировой политике, а также ее репрезентации на языковом уровне. В ходе качественного контент-анализа определены характеристики топонима-концепта Брюссель в ОПД Германии. Квантитативный анализ позволил установить коннотативные аспекты, заключающиеся в преобладании положительной оценки концепта-топонима «Брюссель», представленной слотами «друг», «партнер», «жертва обстоятельств». Результаты исследования свидетельствуют о том, что в современном ОПД Германии в топонимическом концепте «Брюссель» выделяются следующие когнитивные метафоры: «Артефактная метафора», «Социоморфная метафора», «Антропоморфная метафора», «Персонификация», «Медицинская метафора», «Пространство», «Жертва».

Federal principles do not encourage the dominance of a single locus of power. This is regarded as one of the federal glues that maintain a healthy equilibrium in a federation. By focusing on Brussels and Addis Ababa—the capitals of Belgium and European Union, and Ethiopia and African Union, respectively—this article examines the governances of contested federal capital cities that transcend national politics. The article uses "contested conditions"—historical and contemporary intranational and supranational rivalries and cooperation—to argue that rather than diffusing powers to promote alternative capitals, federalism appears to have enhanced competition over the existing "primate" capital cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disputes arising in the context of letters of credit, similar to other international commercial contracts, are unavoidable. This internationally used instrument involves partners that are located in several nations. Hence, it is important to ascertain the appropriate jurisdictional competence to adjudicate these conflicts, as it might significantly influence the final resolution of the issue. International businessmen and merchants often incorporate a provision in their agreements to choose a certain court, with the aim of enhancing predictability, minimizing litigation expenses, and expediting the resolution of their disputes. The stance of many nations on the issue of determining jurisdiction for the court is diverse. In Iranian law, it is noteworthy that the explicit statement of this particular subject by the legislator is absent, despite the evident business exigencies that warrant the inclusion of such criteria. In the realm of European Union (EU) law, as opposed to Iranian law, the Recast Brussels Regulations of 2012 included a provision that enabled parties to confer jurisdiction to the court for the resolution of disputes, subject to certain circumstances being met. Within the legal framework of the United States of America, it is observed that various states possess distinct mechanisms for the authentication of those conditions. However, it is generally acknowledged that these conditions hold validity in the majority of instances. In the event that the contract does not include provisions about jurisdiction, the determination of which court has jurisdiction should be made by referring to the applicable national laws. This article undertakes a comparative analysis of the approaches used by Iran, the European Union, and the United States of America with respect to forum selection and jurisdiction determination in cases involving documentary credit claims in situations when no specific condition is present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos Dieciochistas is the property of Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It was mainly thanks to the efforts of the Belgian artist Laurent Moonens, who had founded an art academy in the then Belgian Congo, that a group of young art students from Lubumbashi were able to travel to the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels. Today, their works are regarded as the first generation of modern art in the DR Congo. At the time, the issue of modern art in the Congo was incorporated into the national tasks of the Belgian colonial power; voices criticising power relations or definitions are difficult to find in the sources. Nevertheless, the way in which these works were presented at the World Expo was not a matter of course at the time. This essay analyses the conditions of this very first exhibition, in which European and Congolese works were shown together. All those involved embraced an idea of "humanism", albeit their respective conceptions of it varied.

Disaster management systems have been using digital communication channels for a decade now. While the utilization of digital platforms and smartphone applications enhances the dissemination of knowledge about risks, social networks seem to offer a promising avenue for addressing the issue of citizen engagement during emergencies. However, prior to the 2020 pandemic crisis, little action appeared to have been taken to actively involve citizens. This article aims to explore the role of digital technology in reshaping risk communication and citizen engagement in disaster management. In 2018, we conducted a survey in the Île-de-France and Brussels-Capital regions to assess citizens' expectations and the impact of territorial communication strategies on their perception of risks. Our results suggest that digital technology contributes to disaster management in two key ways: through official communication before and during crises, and by facilitating citizen involvement during crises. Nonetheless, our analysis reveals that while digital technology allows for the proliferation of information channels to reach a wider audience, it does not facilitate the establishment of a bottom-up approach, the revision of risk-related knowledge, or the enhancement of citizen understanding of their role in disaster management.

Abstract Background This paper aims at analysing the impact of partial non-response in the association between urban environment and mental health in Brussels. The potential threats of the partial non-response are biases in survey estimates and statistics. The effect of non-response on statistical associations is often overlooked and evidence in the research literature is lacking. Methods Data from the Belgian Health Interview Survey 2008 and 2013 were used. The association between non-response and potential determinants was explored through logistic regressions. Results Participants with low income, low educational levels, lower or higher age or in households with children were less likely to respond. When adjusting for socio-economic variables, non-response was higher in areas which are less vegetated, more polluted or more urbanised. Because the determinants of non-response and depressive disorders were similar, it is reasonable to assume that there will be more people with mental health problems among the non-respondents. And because more non-responses were found in low vegetation areas, the protective association between green spaces and mental health may be underestimated. Conclusion Our capacity to measure the association between the urban environment and health is affected by non-response in surveys. The non-random spatial and socio-economic distribution of this bias affects the research findings.

Phegea 50(4): 142–152 discussed the results of the inventory of moths (Heterocera) in the period 2015–2021 at the Jean Massart Botanical Garden in Auderghem. A total of 501 species was recorded. Since 2008 I regularly record moths in my own garden, adjacent to Auderghem about 5 km as the crow flies from the Botanical Garden and I have now named 874 species. In addition, I regularly make an inventory of moths with my colleagues in the Sonian Forest, which almost completely encloses the Botanical Garden. In the period 2010–2022, 809 different moth species were found in the Sonian Forest. This article summarizes and compares the observation results. In total, 1080 moth species have been recorded in the area around the Botanical Garden of Jean Massart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Swiss Political Science Review is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In April 2021, the Flemish government published their plans for the redevelopment of the R0, the larger ring road around Brussels. These plans include a social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA) and an environmental impact assessment report (EIA) in which the pros and cons of various plan alternatives are weighed against each other. The current paper is a critical analysis of both official documents, and assesses to what extent recent academic insights regarding induced travel are being dealt with in the planning process for this motorway redevelopment project. Drawing upon a literature review, it is concluded that the existing body of knowledge on induced travel is largely ignored by the planning documents scrutinised, which suggests that the SCBA overestimates the economic benefits of the project, while the EIA underestimates the environmental impacts. While a road pricing scheme would potentially support the achievement of the stated planning objectives, it is not included in any of the proposed plan alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the example of the metro in Brussels, we examine public transport as a public space. We uncover how the conception of the metro and its fare system reflects an idealisation of public transport that conflicts with the daily experiences and structural inequalities among its users, manifested, in part, in fare evasion. We explore this practice through qualitative interviews, observational studies and analysis of online evader platforms. In contrast with existing research, we recognise fare evasion as a complex practice that challenges and shapes the publicness of public transport through knowledge exchange, solidarity building, social encounters and a redefinition of social norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the communities of support that LGBTQ people from a Muslim background in Brussels build with other racialized LGBTQ people, and the spaces of disidentification and resistance that these produce. It does so by analysing qualitative data collected over a year of ethnographic research with LGBTQ people from a Muslim background in Brussels. In particular, the article focuses on the functions that queer de color communities serve in the lives of research participants. It shows how communication in these often takes place on a non-verbal level, in contrast to a 'pressure to explain' that marks participants' interactions in other contexts, and the sense of mutual recognition, understanding and political empowerment this communication produces. The article then discusses how the co-presence of LGBTQ people from a Muslim background and their collective resignification of cultural scripts produce counterpublic spaces that have the potential to disrupt social norms and dominant imaginations of difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the renewed attention for food production near cities, multiple concepts propose the creation of spaces for food production at the rural–urban fringe (RUF). The RUF is an area of multiple policy domains and, as a consequence, those new concepts are confronted with complexity when put into practice. Local planning history is part of the complexity as it casts shadows on contemporary planning debate and practice. This paper explores how past policies at the RUF impact the current and future policy work on spaces for local food production via comparative study of the post-war planning histories of the RUF's in Copenhagen and Brussels. The paper addresses both policies within the urban realm, e.g. the planning of urban open spaces at the border of the city, and policies within the rural realm, e.g. the land-use rights in agricultural land and land consolidation projects. The comparative study identifies some key challenges with regards to the supply of space for local food production at the RUF in Copenhagen and the RUF in Brussels. Moreover, the paper stresses that a thorough understanding of the planning history is a prerequisite for effective food planning near the city to avoid repeating errors of the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of poverty in Western European countries due to different processes such as the dualization and polarization of the labour market has led to different mechanisms of social exclusion. In this paper, low-income Colombian and Peruvian migrants in Brussels, Belgium) are the subject of study. This article highlights the different survival strategies employed by these households in different economic settings. Their survival strategies are analyzed in two municipalities – with different concentrations of Latin Americans – both located in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. These urban settings offer different opportunities for social integration and community development, primarily related to the neighborhood resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the second round on May 28, 2023, Turkish presidential candidate R.T. Erdogan defeated his rival. The victory was expected, but by no means triumphant, as the supporters of the current government hoped. This insignificant advantage was achieved, according to the author, due to the successes in Erdogan’s foreign policy. Thus, the main task was solved, in the name of which he sought to create the image of a «Strong Turkey», aggravating relations with his partners in NATO and the EU – the extension and strengthening of his own power. In this article, the author focuses on the question: will Erdogan also base his third term through a «tough» (forceful) policy or will he soften relations with partners in the alliance and the EU? An analysis of the available material gives grounds to believe that today Ankara is working for a second option (reducing tension) in relations with partners. The contours of this line appear quite clearly. The author also puts a question – what can Ankara’s progress in this direction mean for its relations with Moscow?

As globalisation changes the sociocultural architecture of urban areas, adolescents increasingly interact with different sets of values and worldviews, which can be a potential cause of conflict and anxiety. To date, there is little empirical research on how adolescents perceive and experience social cohesion in a superdiverse metropolitan context such as the Brussels Capital Region. In this study, we elaborate on the relationship between social cohesion and ethnic diversity, using controversial topics as instruments to examine the erosion of social cohesion. To expose these processes, 34 in-depth interviews were conducted with pupils from Dutch-speaking secondary schools in Brussels. Through thematic analysis, the data revealed four overarching themes of controversies: Brussels, religion/philosophy, ethnicity/national belonging and political horizon, epitomising a paradox of conflict and consensus. Notably, during the interviews, the adolescents reported a climate shaped by actions of ‘silencing’, ‘avoiding’ and ‘voicing’ when discussing controversies in a heterogeneous classroom context. This analysis of adolescents’ perceptions of social cohesion hence corroborates the premise that conflict is not the opposite of cohesiveness, but rather an integral part of a pluralistic society.

ABSTRACTIn April 2021, the Flemish government published their plans for the redevelopment of the R0, the larger ring road around Brussels. These plans include a social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA) and an environmental impact assessment report (EIA) in which the pros and cons of various plan alternatives are weighed against each other. The current paper is a critical analysis of both official documents, and assesses to what extent recent academic insights regarding induced travel are being dealt with in the planning process for this motorway redevelopment project. Drawing upon a literature review, it is concluded that the existing body of knowledge on induced travel is largely ignored by the planning documents scrutinised, which suggests that the SCBA overestimates the economic benefits of the project, while the EIA underestimates the environmental impacts. While a road pricing scheme would potentially support the achievement of the stated planning objectives, it is not included in any of the proposed plan alternatives.

Today, design disciplines such as ecological urbanism aim at fusing natural and social sciences to restore the equilibrium between social and natural systems, and in extenso the urban and natural environment. But recent literature in urban political ecology and urban history has shown how this socioecological approach is generally stripped down to a merely ecological perspective, ignoring the sociopolitical side of the urban ecological project. I therefore argue that there is a need for a research programme that interrogates the history of the interaction between ecology, planning and politics. In this article I respond by developing a historical perspective on the rise of the ecosystemic approach towards the city, delving into the agency and political nature of ecological science itself. Through an in‐depth historical analysis of the Brussels school of urban ecology and urban ecologist Paul Duvigneaud, I highlight how urban ecology influenced politics through its association with the regional government and vice versa to argue that ecological knowledge was used to overcome political opposition, incorporate a specific regionalist agenda and build an ecological zoning practice in urban planning policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper aims at analysing the impact of partial non-response in the association between urban environment and mental health in Brussels. The potential threats of the partial non-response are biases in survey estimates and statistics. The effect of non-response on statistical associations is often overlooked and evidence in the research literature is lacking. Methods: Data from the Belgian Health Interview Survey 2008 and 2013 were used. The association between non-response and potential determinants was explored through logistic regressions. Results: Participants with low income, low educational levels, lower or higher age or in households with children were less likely to respond. When adjusting for socio-economic variables, non-response was higher in areas which are less vegetated, more polluted or more urbanised. Because the determinants of non-response and depressive disorders were similar, it is reasonable to assume that there will be more people with mental health problems among the non-respondents. And because more non-responses were found in low vegetation areas, the protective association between green spaces and mental health may be underestimated. Conclusion: Our capacity to measure the association between the urban environment and health is affected by non-response in surveys. The non-random spatial and socio-economic distribution of this bias affects the research findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comic media exists in historical and geocultural variations. The historically dynamic identity formation of comic media in some geocultural versions is accompanied by the emergence of mediatic hybridisations that manifest themselves in a street art activity. In this article, we examine these comics-based hybrid media and their use from a media theoretical perspective in the context of two different media cities of the Francophone bande dessinée. In Brussels and Geneva, the institutionalisation of comics has been partially different, but both cities have seen a significant role in hybrid media related to street art. In Brussels, this is the case with comic murals, which have a canonising function and also generate tourist activity. In the case of Geneva, the importance of comic posters and comic-style street signs linked to political communication, civic education, and campaigns by NGOs is striking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Throughout several decades, English has been strengthening its position as lingua franca in international communication. The relevance of the given study is justified by the examination of the English language from the perspective of contact variantology and in the context of gradually emerging new version of English – Euro-English. The aim of the presented work is to consider the socio-political prerequisites for the strengthening of the English language role for intra-European communication, as well as to try to explain the significance of Brussels for this process. Methodology and sources. Scientific publications of domestic and foreign linguists, sociolinguists (D.S. Borodina, Z.G. Proshina, B. Kachru, D. Crystal, E. Edwards), as well as interviews with European politicians and public figures (Michel Guerin, Pascal Smet, Sven Gatz) all comprise the research material. The method of synthesis and analysis, descriptive method, comparative language analysis is used in the process of work on this article. Results and discussion. The widespread usage of English in Europe has led to the creation of several mixed language variants and intra-European communication in English gives the latter the status of a supranational communication language. Belgium is seen as the center for the formation of this new language variant, which is explained by the representation of a significant number of international organizations and corporations in Brussels. In the context of the competition between French and Dutch, the difficult linguistic situation in Belgium finds a peculiar resolution in the regular use of English which some activists propose to make the third official language of the Brussels-Capital Region. Euro-English has already acquired several characteristic lexical, morphosyntactic and phonetical features, whilst the withdrawal of Great Britain from the European Union has provided serious possibilities for Euro-English to continue its formation as an independent language variant free from “care” and control of English native speakers. Conclusion. The existence of the English language variants involves the preservation of uniqueness for each nation where these are used, as well as the enrichment of the language from which these variants are derived from. Gradual formation of Euro-English confirms the presence of high number of professional and everyday communications under which the representatives of various European nations find common language – and that is English.

This article examines how the re-institutionalisation of transport policies starts with the everyday insurgency of fare evasion practices which exist at the fringe of social innovation. In the case of Brussels, fare evaders organised themselves at the heart of the digital world, as virtual communities to claim their rights to mobility and to re-common the public transport infrastructure by mobilising offline evasion actions. This perspective allows to understand fare evasion not as an illegal or criminal practice but as a symptom that embodies how transport policies fail under marketisation. The article concludes that fare evaders have the potential to be bottom-up actors, yet they are limited by socio-economic cleavages and the predominant transport policies.

In Belgium, several incidents and public debates have highlighted ethnocentric conceptions of the nation held by public opinion and prominent politicians where immigrants and particularly Muslims are marked as the unwilling "others". In this framework, immigrants maintaining ethnic identities and transnational ties is classically seen as weakening their integration in the receiving countries. Based on results drawn from 16 focus group discussions and 50 individual semi-structured interviews conducted in Brussels with youth with a foreign background, we show that while a minority of our respondents still identified themselves primarily in reference to the country of origin of their (grand)parents, emphasizing ethnic boundaries and family heritage, most of them have developed a multiple-identity strategy for themselves, which acknowledges both their ethnic background and their belonging to Belgium and Brussels as a multicultural city. Those involved in upward social mobility strategies through higher education or better secondary schools also have more facilities to express the double-presence narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretically federations are meant to divide and decentralise power with sub-national governments that are closer to the people, which can better accommodate diversity with policies best suited to each community. However, such differences may be inequitable and counter-productive rivalries among multiple governments can emerge. Thus the relationship between federalism and democracy is neither clearly beneficial nor non-existent. If federalism does enhance representative democracy, then the process of federalisation should strengthen it, with the comparatively younger Belgian federation providing a valuable case to interrogate this premise. In recent decades Belgium has been transformed from a unitary state into an intricate asymmetrical federation where power is primarily shared between the Dutch and French language groups. Several new sub-state polities have been created and empowered and minorities have been guaranteed political representation, but arguably they are not as locally oriented as they could be, and the executives are relatively powerful. The process of federalisation has been most concerned with holding the country together than advancing principles of good governance either at the federal level or through maximising decentralisation. Yet the Belgian federation has succeeded in improving representation compared to the previous unitary state and maintaining peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Second Pan-African Congress of 1921 was an international meeting organized around three sessions in three different European capitals (London, Brussels, and Paris). Notwithstanding its moderate program, colonial powers regarded it as an offshoot of Bolshevik and Garveyite propaganda. These allegations sparked a fierce internal debate between the French Pan-African leader Blaise Diagne and the US delegation, the former accusing the latter of being too critical of colonialism. However, the US delegates were mainly members of the Black bourgeoisie, hardly accountable for the radicalism denounced during the Congress sessions. They exemplified a depiction of the intellectual elite described by their leader, W.E.B. Du Bois, in his influential writings on the “Talented Tenth.” Based on an analysis of the US delegation, this article examines the characteristics of early Pan-Africanism and the ambiguous relationship between the Pan-African Congress and the European colonial powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As globalisation changes the sociocultural architecture of urban areas, adolescents increasingly interact with different sets of values and worldviews, which can be a potential cause of conflict and anxiety. To date, there is little empirical research on how adolescents perceive and experience social cohesion in a superdiverse metropolitan context such as the Brussels Capital Region. In this study, we elaborate on the relationship between social cohesion and ethnic diversity, using controversial topics as instruments to examine the erosion of social cohesion. To expose these processes, 34 in-depth interviews were conducted with pupils from Dutch-speaking secondary schools in Brussels. Through thematic analysis, the data revealed four overarching themes of controversies: Brussels, religion/philosophy, ethnicity/national belonging and political horizon, epitomising a paradox of conflict and consensus. Notably, during the interviews, the adolescents reported a climate shaped by actions of 'silencing', 'avoiding' and 'voicing' when discussing controversies in a heterogeneous classroom context. This analysis of adolescents' perceptions of social cohesion hence corroborates the premise that conflict is not the opposite of cohesiveness, but rather an integral part of a pluralistic society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explored the temporary facilities created during the pandemic for use as COVID-19 test centers at Zaventem Airport, the main airport for the city of Brussels, Belgium. The possibilities of modular construction technology and the impact of the building envelope on users' perception of indoor space comfort and privacy were closely observed. The three main problem statements were as follows: (1) the COVID-19 crisis indirectly influenced the creation of temporary modular buildings with glass envelopes; (2) the modular envelope is adaptable to the existing context; and (3) the envelope meets the needs of the users. This study's objectives were to identify the critical factors for users' well-being in temporary modular buildings, and to conduct factor comparisons among different users and between different building-enclosure systems. The study data were collected through a subjective assessment using a SWOT analysis and a survey questionnaire. The glass facade affected the users' acceptance levels of comfort and privacy. The main results show that the users were satisfied with the level of comfort and dissatisfied with the level of privacy. This information can be used to identify areas for improvement and provide useful feedback to designers and engineers about specific design features and operating strategies for temporary modular emergency healthcare buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulation studies on Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs) could offer several insights to transport policymakers about future mobility. Case studies using the agent-based approach have recently emerged worldwide to test the impacts of SAVs on local networks. However, as the most densely populated area in Belgium, a relevant SAV study for Brussels is currently lacking. In this paper, we have simulated the impacts of substituting Brussels private car trips for people who either only travel in Brussels or do not travel to external places by car. The simulation was carried out with various SAV fleet sizes implementing vehicle relocation strategy. This paper describes how we transferred certain car trips to SAVs, and the respective SAV parameters used for simulation. The results suggest that under a 10% current travel demand, if all current studied drivers groups are willing to carpool as long as the additional travel times do not exceed a certain threshold, 1000 SAVs will be sufficient to replace these car trips in Brussels with the average daily request waiting time of around 5 minutes. By deploying SAVs with the proposed operational scheme, agents' overall travel time and traffic congestion in Brussels can also be significantly reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a critical analysis of the mobility, labor, and political strategies of migration from Spain to Brussels following the 2008 economic crisis, comparing it with past migration flows. The data used in this study is based on fieldwork conducted from 2018 to 2020, which involved qualitative interviews with Spanish migrants. The results allow us to identify two distinct mobility profiles: first, individuals who relocated to Brussels and interrupted their labor trajectories in Spain, and second, those who migrated as part of a transnational professional project. These two profiles exhibit different strategies in terms of mobility, labor insertion, and transnational political participation. Our analysis contributes to the existing literature on new intra-European mobilities from South to North, specifically focusing on the context of Brussels as a global city with dual characteristics, which provides opportunities as well as precarious conditions for these new migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the experiences of LGBTQ people from a Muslim background in their navigations of different areas of Brussels, and their narratives on such experiences. It builds on literature on the territorialization of homo/bi/transphobia to neighborhoods framed as "Muslim" in continental Western Europe, and the imagination of rigid borders separating these areas from other parts of the city. The article presents analysis of semi-structured interviews with LGBTQ people from a Muslim background on their experiences of these demarcations. The analysis of data calls for a deconstruction of rigid discourses of difference and division at work in the city. This allows for an understanding of the complex ways in which LGBTQ people from a Muslim background relate to different areas of the city, and how their multiple crossings into/from racialized-as-Muslim neighborhoods escape the rigidity of essentialized imaginations of the city along civilizational lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the possibility to enroll in courses in nineteen different languages, the free university of Brussels (ULB) has opted for a linguistic offer that reflects the city's highly multilingual character. In the faculty of languages and literature, students interact in and with multiple languages on a daily basis. In a study which interrogated these students on their linguistic representations, representations related to prestige were shown to be an important part of the collected responses. This paper aims to provide an overview of the different manifestations and interpretations of the 'language of prestige' linguistic representation in this sample of participants regarding the languages taught at the faculty. It also explores various implications that this representation has for language learning, as well as questions raised by the possible interpretative bias of the researcher trying to observe and study linguistic representations. In addition, this paper written in English relating research conducted in French addresses the issue of 'epistemological translation' and the challenges it poses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literary output of Marian Pankowski (1919--2011) is rich in all literary genres. Nevertheless, relatively little has been written about his poetry, which is the subject of this study. Shaped by his personal experience, both as a human being and as a reader, Pankowski's poems reflect the clash he faces every day, trying to master French and become part of the French-speaking world. In his carefully thought-out lyric form (alliterations, metaphors, similes), which is an explicit reference to the avant-garde and to the Skamander group, a group of experimental Polish poets, there is no place for the verbosity present in his prose. The analysis of some of Pankowski's lesser-known or even unknown poems undertaken in this study proposes an alternative way of reading his poetic texts. The author of the article points out certain poetic images built upon a sensuous yet controlled perception of the world, based mainly on the senses of hearing and sight. The sense of touch, however, is completely suppressed, as if suggested by the heightened sense of sight. For the poet, his own corporeality is a taboo. He therefore seems to transpose it to the presented world. Pankowski's poetry, wrongly associated only with his early works, is worth knowing. It is interesting, educational as well as visually and verbally intriguing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to challenge Global North spatial imaginations of war as 'there' and peace as 'here'. It proposes this spatial rethinking against a background of migration being a defining feature of our time. Based on participant observation and an action research project, the article analyses embodied, emplaced encounters with violence and care that migrants experience in the Belgian capital Brussels. These encounters can be violent, but also productive of trust. The concepts of streams of violence and streams of peace are used to theorize these dynamics, thus reconfiguring understandings of where and when war and peace take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on the mobility aspects of big cities and metropolises, the paper starts with the assessment that the Slow City is linked, in terms of mobility, to slowing down traffic. This paper proposes the following working hypothesis: if the Slow City concept is relevant for making our bigger cities sustainable, it needs, in terms of mobility, to be adapted to the slowest mode of transportation: walking. To that extent, our research develops atool to evaluate the design of public spaces with regard to their affordance to walking (walkability) and to their prioritization of pedestrian mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has received considerable attention in transportation research and policy. The MaaS discourse emphasizes its user-oriented nature and flexibility, which, at least in theory, fits well with the more complex mobility patterns of mothers. We use five key perspectives to analyze MaaS and compare this to the existing system and needs of multi-modal mothers: technology, transportation, economics, subject and policy. The study focuses on Brussels, Belgium where MaaS is promoted as a flexible, efficient, multi-modal alternative for private automobile users. Nevertheless, the main offers do not seem to be family-oriented, and the multi-modal and digitally literate mothers included in the study did not find shared modes useful, except for shared cars. MaaS does not seem to capture the challenge in Brussels since walking and transit are already dominant modes, and goods and services, as well as jobs and housing, are spread throughout the city. The needs expressed by participants through interviews included better station access and tram access with strollers, and better infrastructure in general. The elements of MaaS that were useful for participants (integrated fare cards, apps with better information about public transportation arrival times, and infrastructure improvements), were already present in Brussels without a change to the core idea of public transportation, marketization of transportation services, or addition of shared services. This leads to the conclusion that with the development of MaaS, it is important to not lose sight of basic transportation needs. This suggests that MaaS proponents need to focus more on how to meet users' needs rather than trying to "reduce resistance" to MaaS. • MaaS proponents should shift focus from barriers to MaaS uptake to addressing user needs. • Being multi-modal and digitally literate does not always make shared modes useful. • Family-oriented options are needed for MaaS to reach a larger user base. • Users still benefit from integration efforts, with or without full MaaS adoption. • Focus on MaaS could distract attention from needed infrastructure improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the relationship between urban planning and mobility management, TeMA has gradually expanded the view of the covered topics, always following a rigorous scientific in-depth analysis. This section of the Journal, Review Notes, is the expression of a continuous updating of emerging topics concerning relationships among urban planning, mobility and environment, through a collection of short scientific papers. The Review Notes are made of four parts. Each section examines a specific aspect of the broader information storage within the main interests of TeMA Journal. In particular, the Urban practices section aims at presenting recent advancements on relevant topics that underlie the challenges that the cities have to face. The present note provides an overview of the policies and initiatives undertaken in four global cities in response to the Covid-19 outbreak: Madrid (ES), London (UK), Milan (IT) and Brussels (BE). A cross-city analysis is used to derive a taxonomy of urban policy measures. The contribution discusses the effectiveness of each measures in providing answers to epidemic threats in urban areas while, at the same time, improving the sustainability and resilience of urban communities.

From the 1950’s onward, the myriad qualities of all plastic objects were praised without a second thought. This enthusiasm significantly delayed the awareness of their enormous impact and it took almost half a century to consider these objects a part of post-war culture. This essay aims to sketch the history of the appreciation of the relevance of plastics in the museum world, specifically as a part of design heritage, seen from the viewpoint of the collector and the conservator-restorer. The case of the Design Museum Brussels, established in 2015, shows how a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach on conservation can be developed to the benefit of our plastics heritage.

This study answers essential questions about the life and work of Servandoni, who had both French (Lyon) and Italian (Florence) roots. His most important patron was the pope, and his work was influenced by ancient and Vatican Rome (Bernini). Early in his career, he became famous throughout Europe, and his reputation continued to grow after his death in 1766. He was active in London, Lisbon, Brussels, Dresden, Stuttgart and Vienna, where he, for the wedding of Archduke Joseph of Austria to Isabella of Bourbon-Parma in 1759, transformed the Redoutensaal for three different entertainments: a banquet, a ball and a serenata by Gluck, Tetide. In Paris, however, he was not always successful as an architect or painter.

The fill of two late and post-medieval cesspits in Brussels was analyzed using a multidisciplinary approach, including the study of macrobotanical and faunal remains, pollen, and parasite eggs. These show that in the diet plant foods were dominated by cereals while the animal remains document the consumption of mainly fish and birds. The presence of foods that were luxuries at that time would indicate that these were affluent households, although with an admixture of meals related to those of lower socioeconomic status. Seven species of helminth and protozoal parasites were identified, with dominance of those species spread by poor sanitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to highlight the contextual impact of proportional representation (PR) rules on the intersectional representation of gender and ethnic groups. We assert that the combination of the institutional and sociodemographic context generates barriers and opportunities for the inclusion of intersectional identity groups in politics. We analyse how the sociodemographic make up of the district electorate influences parties' and voters' behaviour within PR systems to shape electoral outcomes in Brussels local elections. We focus on parties' list composition strategies and candidates' personal score to determine parties' and voters' leverage on representational outcomes. Our research demonstrates that ethnic minority male and female candidates experience a similar advantage on their ethnic majority counterparts in the (s)election process, and that their advantage grows as districts get more diverse. We show that ethnic minority candidates' advantage comes mainly at the expense of ethnic majority women, while ethnic majority men's dominant position is not affected by the sociodemographic context. This research emphasizes the importance of local context factors for intersectional groups representation. Our study overall calls for a clear definition of intersectional categories and the social cleavage(s) they represent within societies in order to understand political inequalities and opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This dissertation comprises two studies: the European Research Council-funded ChildMove Project, which studied the impact of transit experiences on the psychological wellbeing of unaccompanied refugee minors, and the Sub-Saharan Women In Prostitution Ethnographic Research (swipser) Project on the wellbeing of Nigerian and Ghanaian women working in prostitution in the red-light district of Brussels, funded by the municipality of Schaerbeek, Brussels. The ChildMove Project has various aspects: the present study focused on the complex experiences of Nigerian victims of trafficking in Italy. To better understand respondents' experiences during their migration trajectories, we employed a multi-site, longitudinal approach which included semi-structured interviews with the participants. Using a multi-method ethnographic approach, the swipser Project highlights the experiences of Nigerian and Ghanaian women working in the red-light district of Brussels: their daily challenges and how those challenges impact their wellbeing. Both studies discuss the challenges, violent experiences and stigmatisation that the respondents encounter, as well as their coping strategies and their inability to escape the labelling and abuse that they experience, even though the migration journey has ended for many but continues for others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]